Birchy, please read his blog on Post website

Just to add, Millington obviously oks this, sack him

Where is it on the site, cant seem 2 find it? ;)

may as well post the blog so people dont need to go on that joke of a site

So much to cram in as Derby draws ever nearer

I'VE only just recovered from the exertions of hosting my two young nieces - aged 10 and seven respectively - for the weekend. The amount we crammed into two and a half days was quite extraordinary.

On Friday afternoon we went swimming, sat in a steam room, cheered home my £150 each-way bet on Noble Future at Kempton (9-1 down to 4-1; won£187.50 from Stan James), went hunting for shells on the beach, and put down 'deterrents' - otherwise known as traps to adults - to prevent a family of moles from destroying Uncle Richodd's back garden.]

During the evening we enjoyed burgers and fries at a beach-side restaurant, watched 12-rated The Nutty Professor on DVD - the girls under strict instructions not to repeat any of the language to their parents - and then pretended to have a midnight feast (it was 10.30pm), but I surreptitiously changed the time on the front-room clock and DVD player!

On Saturday morning at the crack of dawn - clocks back to the correct time! - we all went for a jog on the beach, noticed that the mole 'deterrent' had appeared to work, ate breakfast outdoors, and watched a DVD of Problem Child. Then I took seven-year-old Holly to the pier, while Jacky went shopping with Rebecca.

After two hours of smash-ups on the bumper cars, persistent candy-floss consumption and penny arcade-playing, we all met up for another swim at my sports club. Then it was off to McDonald's for a late lunch, and onto a riding school to watch Auntie Jacky on horseback.

As soon as that was finished - the closest I got to the Grand National was listening to the direst commentary imaginable via mobile-phone (Big Fella Thanks not even mentioned until Becher's for the second time; I was under the impression he'd either fallen or had been withdrawn for about six or seven minutes) - we drove off to the cinema to watch Nanny McPhee 2 and munch large amounts of sweets and chocolate.

Back home at 8pm, we enjoyed dinner and then went off to frequent a nearby children's disco at a holiday camp. Two hourslater, after heartily singing the alternative version to 'In The Navy' - 'In The Gravy' - it was a return to base camp to watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit on video.

Sunday morning started off with a walk on the beach, continued with a visit to the best breakfast establishment in the area, and ended with a competitive game of Ten-Pin Bowling. Then it was back to the club for a final swim, a visit to an ice-cream kiosk, and off to a favourite local inn for traditional Sunday lunch.

My sister and brother-in-law came to pick the girls up late in the afternoon, and were duly astonished at the amount we'd all packed into the two and a half days. I understand neither a totally worn-out Holly or Rebecca surfaced from bed until 10am on Monday morning!

There are clear parallels to be drawn from this weekend tale to the forthcoming williamhill.com Greyhound Derby. I've been asked to appear on a GOBATA-arranged Derby forum panel at Henlow on Sunday week - April 25.

All the reports I've heard about Henlow in the last six months or so have been highly, highly favourable, so I'm particularly interested in seeing what the place is like for myself.

As part of the panel, I'm supposed to come up with a greyhound for each of the following categories: win a round contender; promising puppy; leading lady; dark horse; Irish raider, and ultimate champion.
It was only when sitting down to produce some answers on Monday that I realised what a truly thankless task it was. There might be less than two weeks until the Derby kicks-off in earnest, but an awful, awful lot can happen in that time.

There are Wimbledon trials on Saturday. There are plenty of Irish dogs coming over to trial. There are key races such as the bettor.com Scottish Derby to complete. There are trial stakes at Wimbledo. There are crucial decisions to be made by trainers and owners on whether to enter or not.

In fact, I would go as far to say that of my six original answers to those categories, it would come as no real surprise if at least three of them were radically different by Sunday week.

And that's not attributed to any lack of research or self-confidence on my part, it's purely down to the sheer amount of new information that will be available for punters to digest by that time.

Obviously, I've a reasonable idea of what I think could happen atWimbledon during the merry month of May. But just like that thoroughly enjoyable, action-packed weekend with my nieces, there's stacks still to be squeezed into a very short space of time.


I fully intend to embrace it all,and give myself the best possible chance of making the right choices before and throughout the competition.

And if you fancy attending that forum at Henlow next Sunday, it starts at 7pm and is expected to finish around 10pm.

Cheltenham forums are always popular; lets hope this new initiative proves a winner with greyhound racing fans, too.

so basically he bores you with tales of his nieces

then says he'll be at a forum to discuss something he hasnt a clue about but hopes it will be a good iniative

brucie, p45, GET IT READY

ffs

Any reply Birchy or Bruce?

I urge everyone to email Brucie and ask his views

Good christ that is bad, even for birch :(

Excellent blog imo.

I would imagine Birch 'qualifies' under both cvounts ...

Racing Post privileges -

and a serial Loser.

it appears the Birchmeister General has got you all in the palm of his hand - fishy, fishy, fishy

i rather enjoyed his blog

but i do not believe his betting tales, i think they are imaginative!

What do you expect for free?