Surprise, Surprise

Well, I was the last person who thought that I would be sitting here, extolling the virtues of Sancho Panza. However, the son of Zaffeen shocked us all yesterday by winning (well, bolting up really) at Windsor at odds of 33/1.
He had become very frustrating as he had shown ability in a few all-weather runs but had not reproduced it on turf. The race he was in at the Thames venue was an amateur race for jockeys from different countries around the world. Luckily, we drew not a bad jock in Jacob Smith who was one of the few who could talk English as he hailed from America.
His orders were simple - jump out and make the running. It was all going to plan until he left the stalls...where he commenced to sit last of the field of nine!
I thought it was now a lost cause and began to focus on my son Ross who was riding for John Bridger in the race and looked to have a good chance three furlongs from home when he was passed by a dark coloured horse - Sancho Panza!
Sancho scooted clear under a hands and heels ride in front of a silent crowd. Mr Smith didn't mind though as he punched the air like Tony McCoy winning the National.
Then, in the winners enclosure, Smith stayed aboard Sancho for a hell of a long time - we thought he might have been waiting for someone to put a laurel of flowers over the horse's withers like in the Breeders' Cup. He wasn't the only one getting excited - one racegoer from across the pond was shouting "USA! USA! USA!" Ryder Cup-style.
Anyway, it was great to get back into the winner's enclosure after a slightly quiet run and I'm sure the victories will come thick and fast after this.

I've got quite a few interesting runners this week.
Night Orbit will tackle fences for the first time at Huntingdon on Monday providing the ground isn't too soft. He has been schooling over the bigger obstacles very impressively which has led his jockey, Colin Bolger, to label him "the best novice I have sat on". Let's hope he's right.
Bavarica and King Columbo run at Epsom on the same day and both will have great chances with preference over the latter.
We have some entries later in the week but all will depend on what the weather does - we've had a ridiculous amount of rain in the past seven days and the ground is at saturation point so we will have to keep a close eye on the forecasts.