blanket coverage for festive period

Time to get the blankets out.

Frost blankets are at the ready for the Boxing Day programme and it is no exageration to say it can ruin many a fine man's festive season if old Jack does his worst and the turf programme is wiped out.

For purely selfish reasons I am hoping all the clerks of the courses see sense and if they must call inspections for Boxing Day morning, please make them at a respectable time. I still haven't recovered from having to defrost the Ford Escort at an unearthly hour back in the late 1990s to reveal to all the BBC Ceefax viewers that Market Rasen had bitten the dust before 6am.

I nearly did too when I reversed over my parents' wheely bin as I headed to Leeds for the crucial phone call from Charlie Moore.

There was a time when a few bails of straw on the landing side of fences was our only protection against the elements, now we have blankets. Who says this is not a progressive sport?

I'm in favour of employing students with portable heaters to tend to the turf but I seem to be fighting a losing battle.

Cheltenham too has mother nature to contend with, most notably the problems of the low sun. Fences and hurdles being dolled off is now a regular occurence and in September we were told the track was investigating the feasibility of erecting a large screen near the stable yard to negate it's impact. It may sound like something from It's A Knockout but could work.

Back to the racing and there should be a plethora of Festival clues on offer over the next ten days or so.

But what relevance does Kauto Star's run in the King George have to his Gold Cup chances?

The only question mark over him is whether he will get up the hill in March if the ground is riding on the soft side. Whatever he does at Kempton - and another Grade One win is the most likely occurence - that will remain unresolved until the day itself.

The Champion Hurdle is bubbling away nicely and the Stan James Christmas Hurdle on Boxing Day could have a big bearing on the ante-post market.

I am yet to be totally convinced by Detroit City, although I am in a minority of one on this with my friends, and was very taken by Straw Bear's Fighting Fifth win at Newcastle.

He needs to step up significantly on that to win the blue riband in March but the scalp of Iktitaf on Boxing Day would do very nicely for starters.

But for now I'll ask Santa for a full festive racing programme and no inspections before 9am. I must say though the omens are not looking good.

It's time to reach for the blankets.