Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Appeal for information!

Does anybody know how do I get to one of the Wednesday General Papal Audiences? Do I have to reserve in advance? Do I need tickets? How much to they cost, etc, etc? Also, if I was planning to be in Rome on a certain Wednesday, how do I know whether or not BXVI will be having a General Audience, and not way somewhere?

Any help will be gratefully received.

The Glorious Triviality

I admit I hadn't fully noticed. I know there was a lot on my mind the last few weeks with the exam and work and everything, but the other day I looked through the Racing Post and noticed that the leading trainer in prize-money in Britain so far this season is the Master of Ballydoyle himself, Aidan O'Brien.

Just for the record, he (so far) has won nine races from fifty runs, a strike rate of 18%; and total prize-money of £1,031,022.

Currently second is Michael Bell, with £993,317. Obviously, Motivator is responsible for most of that, and Bell could be top of the table after the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown next Saturday.

Incidentally, Aidan's largest earners this season so far are:

Virginia Waters, £221,448;
Footstepsinthesand, £185,600;
Yeats, £145,000;
Ace, £77,000;
Gypsy King, £68,950;
Ad Valorem, £49,500;
Oratorio, £40,750;
Indigo Cat, £35,240;
Wolfe Tone, £31,990;
Mona Lisa, £29,532;
All Too Beautiful, £29,000.

Unfortunately, neither Footstepsinthesand nor Gypsy King will be running any more races for the Ballydoyle/Coolmore team. But I have a hunch that Ace could be the main standard bearer for Ballydoyle in Group 1 races for the rest of the season.

But if you look at bare statistics, do they mean that John Oxx is the leading Irish trainer? So far in Britain this season, his record is two runs, two victories, both at Royal Ascot at York (Azamour and Beautyandthebeast), for a total of £232,000 in prize-money and a 100% strike rate. So does that mean he's a better trainer than Aidan? Answers on a postcard!

P.S. I must acknowledge the Racing Post for statistics.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Thanks to everybody who helped

. . . and the saga of my examination is over - at least until I get the results.

By the way, the examination was for a Certificate of Professional Competence. See here for details.

You will have to go to the sidebar, and click Education/Training, and then click the link for Certificate of Professional Competence.

There are two papers, morning and afternoon. I must score a total of 60% average, but I must get minimum 55% in each paper. A certain amount of "compensation" is allowed, but you must score 55%.

If you fail, you do the exam again; but depending on the actual results, you might only have to repeat one paper.

Thanks to a lot of people in work who gave me useful advice. Thanks also to those who remembered me in their prayers.

I am very confident, but it will take about six weeks before I get the results.