Friday 6 December 2013

Be bop a lula...

My selection this week runs in Saturday's 12.25 at Chepstow. Be Bop Boru reminds me of Be-Bop Deluxe, who were in their heyday in the 70s. Hailing from Yorkshire, they had a hit in 1976 with Ships in the night, from their excellent Sunburst Finish album.
Have a great weekend and may all of your choices be winners!

Friday 22 November 2013

The week after the week before...

Went to the Cheltenham Open last week. Wonderful time, and guess how many winners I had? Correct. None. Ah well.
This week's selection runs tomorrow in the 1.15 at Haydock. It's called Ace High, and it reminds me of one of Iron Maiden's best songs, Aces High, from their majestic Powerslave album, one of the best metal albums, full stop.
Good luck.

Friday 1 November 2013

The real McCoy

Attention will be focussed on the legend that is A P McCoy this weekend, who rides a few at Wetherby, He is only a handful of wins from reaching 4,000 career wins - a phenomenal achievement, especially over the jumps.
However, from a heavy metal point of view, we have two selections from that meeting.
First up, in Saturday's 1.15, is Satanic Beat. There are some people who argue that the devil has all the best tunes. Others are convinced that metal is influenced by Lucifer himself. Of course, this is all bollocks - metal is just bloody good music!
My other selection runs in the 3.35. Unioniste reminds me of The Union, a band which is just about to hit the road again. Formed by ex-Thunder guitarist Luke Morley, and former Winterville front man Pete Shoulder, they are a wonderful band.
Best of luck to you all!

Friday 4 October 2013

Bonjour tous les mondes!!!

The big race this weekend is the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, at Longchamps on Sunday. My tip for that is Joshua Tree, which is the name of an album by U2. A few years ago my wife backed this at Ascot and it came in at 16/1, so here's hoping for a repeat performance.
Speaking of Ascot, there is a plethora of horses with rock song names at Saturday's meeting, so here goes.
There's two in the first race at 1.30. Eton Rifles was a big hit for The Jam, and Medicean Man is a great track by 'proper' Whitesnake (when they were bluesy, before the hairspray years). Obviously, they spelt it properly.
In the 3.15 is a nod to the mighty Led Zeppelin and the grand sport of golf. Fairway to Heaven. Can you see what they've done there?
In the 3.50 we have blog favourite Arnold Lane, that wonderful Pink Floyd song from way back in the psychedelic sixties.
Finally, in the 4.25 is I'm so glad, which is the title of a song by Cream, again from the sixties.
Bon chance, as they say en Francais.

Friday 20 September 2013

Where it all began....

When I started this blog, it was a lovely coincedence that one of the horses running on that first day was called Heavy Metal. You couldn't make it up. The horse ran quite well, but it was a great start to this silly indulgence of mine. Well, Heavy Metal is running again tomorrow in the 5.55 at Newmarket, so I've got to give him the nod.
Also running tomorrow in the 1.20 at Newbury is Baker Man. One of the greatest and most eccentric (and angry) drummers is Ginger Baker, famous for his time with Cream. Check out the brilliant film 'Beware of Mr Baker'.
Finally, in the 5.40 at Catterick is No Quarter, one of Led Zeppelin's best tracks. Wonderful stuff. Ta-ra

Friday 30 August 2013

This week... song titles

This week's selections all run at Beverley on Saturday, and they are all song titles (sort of).
First one runs in the 3.05. Hit the Lights is a Metallica song from their "Kill 'em all" album, and one which they often start their gigs with. Next up is Relight my fire, which runs in the 4.15. This sounds like a re-run of the epic Doors track, "Light my Fire". Finally, running in the 4.50, is Division Belle, the name of one of Pink Floyd's albums. The album title comes from the lyrics of the song "High hopes", and the story goes that the sci-fi author Douglas Adams, a friend of Floyd's David Gilmour, struck a deal whereby if he came up with an album title, then the band would let him play on stage with them. He read the lyrics, came up with "Division Bell" and promptly played guitar on one of their songs at a show. Brilliant.

Friday 23 August 2013

Bank Holiday tips

This weekend's tips run at Goodwood on Saturday.
First up is Valen in the 2.20. I've picked this simply because it's an abbreviation of Van Halen. Excellent band with a rich history. Next one runs in the 2.55. Arnold Lane is the title of one of Pink Floyd's earliest singles, during their Syd Barrett psychadelic era, before they became mega mega. The song is about a bloke who's hobby was stealing clothes from washing lines! The title is spelt 'Layne', but who's nitpicking? Finally, in the 5.50 we have Rock God. Nuff said. All the best.