It's the big one...

You could be mistaken for thinking there's only one race this weekend, with all the hype surrounding the Grand National. I'll come to that later, but other horse races are available.
My first two selections run on Saturday at Newcastle. First up in the 13.35 is See Emily Play. This is the title of a very early Pink Floyd song, when Syd Barrett was still with them, and before they became hugely huge. Next is Hardrock Diamond, running in the 15.20. I chose this because it's got 'hard rock' in the name, and the 'diamond' refers to Diamond Head, a band from the Black Country, one of the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). They were tipped for huge things, but a combination of bad management, bad luck and poor decisions scuppered that. Widely acknowledged as a huge influence on bands like Metallica and Megadeth, they are still going today with original guitarist Brian Tatler at the helm.
Now, the Grand National. Two tips from this. First up, Midnight Haze. This is a combination of two Jimi Hendrix songs, Midnight Lightning and Purple Haze. If you haven't heard of Jimi Hendrix, shame on you.
My tip of the week, again from the big race, is Deep Purple. You can't go wrong with Deep Purple, one of the best rock bands ever. They wrote Smoke on the Water, for heaven's sake. Now, a lot of people like to look for links and coincidences when trying to pick a horse in the National. So how about this. The race is on 14th April. Deep Purple, the horse, was born on 14th April (see, I do research things properly). Here's the spooky bit - Deep Purple's guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, was born on 14th April.
Get down the bookies right now!