Desert Cry scores for Moyes

By Gordon Brown

SUNDERLAND football manager David Moyes was all smiles after his colours were carried to victory by Desert Cry at Ayr last Saturday. His club are rooted to the bottom of England’s Premier League, so it was a welcome change of luck for Moyes, who co-owns the gelding with former Stranraer and Ayr United manager Neil Watt.

Moyes, who loves a day at the races, told me trainer Donald McCain wants to run Desert Cry at Aintree next month, so hopefully he’ll have another big day to look forward to.

There was the usual sell-out crowd at Langholm Rugby Club last Sunday for the annual Cheltenham Preview night in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund. The panel featured Jim Goldie, Sandy Thomson and Craig Nichol and their horses to follow were added to the Festivals tips.

Sandy revealed that his stable star Seeyouatmidnight could run over hurdles at Kelso this weekend on his way to either the Irish or Scottish National.

Jim’s one-liners prompted plenty of laughter and he told everyone to look out for Picture Painter when he goes over hurdles later in the spring.

Nearly £2500 was raised for a very good cause.

There was an even bigger crowd at a Festival Preview night in Hamilton last Friday when the star turn was Paul Carberry. A Grand Nationalwinning jockey aboard Bobbyjo in 1999, Paul, who is now retired also scooped no fewer than 15 winners at Cheltenham during a stellar career.

“Alice”, as he’s known, had the punters in stitches with some of his antics, and his stylish riding is sorely missed since he was forced to retire last year due to a serious leg injury.

I hear there will be an announcement this week regarding the new boss at Kelso Racecourse. The vacancy arose after long-serving managing director Richard Landale decided to take a back seat at the Borders venue. The next action in Scotland takes place at Musselburgh on Friday followed by Kelso on Saturday when ITV will broadcast two races from a decent card.

If you would like to receive a monthly e-newsletter with all the Scottish-related racing news you can now get the Scottish Racing RoundUp sent to your email by subscribing via the website below.

Don’t forget to check out our Twitter feed (@ScottishRacing) and www.scottishracing.co.uk for all the latest news.