CHELTENHAM

FESTIVAL

2009

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Yesterday's opening day of the Festival left us with another bloody nose, when our 'best bet' Osana failed to run any sort of race in the Champion Hurdle. Only four of our five 'other bets' ran as Hobbs Hill was withdrawn before the start of racing. Of these we managed one winner thanks to Garde Champetre (Won 7/2). Today is another day and we shall remain optimistic as we head into day two. The 'best bet' today is the Willie Mullins trained Cooldine in the Rsa Chase run over 3m.110yds at 2.40. In his last race at Leopardstown Cooldine beat Forpadydeplasterer, who franked the form here yesterday by winning the Arkle Trophy. It is also significant that Ruby Walsh has opted to ride Cooldine in preference to his own stables well fancied What A friend.

Other Bets

1.30 Pangbourne

2.05 Karabak

3.20 Master Minded

4.00 Lough Derg

4.40 Wolfall Treasure

5.15 Cadspeed

Profit and Loss -5 Points

Looking Back - Gorbachev Becomes Soviet Leader

On this day in 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev took over as the new leader of the Kremlin, following the death of his predecessor Konstantin Chernenko. At the age of 54 Gorbachev became the youngest man ever to take over as secretary of the Soviet communist party. Despite being a strict orthodox Marxist, he was also a great modern day reformer, introducing 'glasnost' and 'perestroika', leading to an openness hitherto unheard of in the Soviet Union, which brought about deep political and economic changes. He also instigated new initiatives in foreign policy, announcing that he would hold arms talks with the Americans in Geneva and signing a number of agreements with the United States on nuclear disarmament. However, at home the Soviet economy fell into decline, and this, coupled with his more pro-western policies, caused unrest amongst his political opponents. In the face of growing support for his rival, Boris Yeltsin, and after surviving an attempted coup by communist hardliners in 1991, later that same year, on 25th December, he was forced to resign.

Gorbachev then went on to become president of the Green Cross, an organisation concerned with the clear-up of chemical and biological weapons. His wife, Raisa, died of leukaemia in 1999.

Today's Smile

Just before the funeral service, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked,
"How old was your husband?"
Ninety eight, she replied. "Two years older than me."
"So you're ninety six," the undertaker commented.
She responded, "Hardly worth going home is it?"

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Blankney Pictures

Blankney Hall

This is a very old picture of Blankney Hall (date unknown), taken from, what is now the B1188 road. The trees in the centre of the lawn and to the right of the picture as you look at it, have long since gone. The Hall was later obscured by a large yew hedge planted above the wall where the chain-link fencing runs across the picture. The hedge remains today and the chain link fencing was still there up to fairly recent times.

Who Am I?

Another famous celebrity waits to be uncovered in today's Who Am I? The usual ten clues are set out below to help you unravel their identity.

01 My middle name is Jade.
02 I am 25 years old.
03 I am a singer songwriter.
04 I sing soul, jazz, rock and roll, and R&B.
05 I made my debut album 'Frank' in 2003.
06 My husbands name is Blake Fielder-Civil.
07 I was born in the Southgate area of Enfield, London.
08 When I was 10 years old I formed a rap group called Sweet and Sour.
09 I won the Ivor Novello songwriting award three times 2004,2007,2008.
10 My record label is Island,Republic(US).

Do you know who this mystery celebrity is?