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!

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

It's been such a long time...

As the song by Boston went. Well, there's been holidays and gigs and pubs and gigs and beer. Anyway, what prompted me back was that my mate is off to York for the meeting on Friday, so I thought I'd give him some rockin' tips! All of my choices are in the 3.40 - don't know if they'll all run though.
First up is Bungle in the Jungle, a great song by the wonderfully eccentric Jethro Tull, led by possibly the only flute-playing salmon farm-owning bearded scotsman in the world, Ian Anderson.
Next is Slade Power. If you've never heard a Slade song, then you're either deaf, or you have never been in the UK during Xmas for the last 40 years.
Finally, we have Spirit Quartz, which evokes memories of two bands from the 70s - Spirit, and, er, Quartz. Spirit were American and boasted the wonderfully named guitarist Randy California. Brummies Quartz used to be called Bandy Legs, but sensibly changed their name. My mate saw them once, and went into the record shop the next day and asked the women behind the counter 'Have you got Bandy Legs?'. Didn't go down well. Quartz released a great version of Mountain's Nantucket Sleighride, and their first album was produced by Mr Heavy Metal himself, Tony Iommi.
Best of luck!

Crikey! I only picked the National winner

Auroras Encore won the Grand National at 66/1... and I tipped it!!! You could say that my rock & metal method of tipping now works - or you could say it was pure luck. I know which one I think!
OK, now to this week. My selections all run at Kempton Park on Saturday.
First up is in the 2.05, Alice's Dancer. This is in tribute to the wonderful Alice Cooper. You may not know (or believe) that Mr. Cooper has been happily married for over 30 years, and that his wife was originally one of his dancers. Nowadays, his dancer is his daughter! Keep it in the family.
Next is I'm So Glad, running in the 3.15. This is the title of a song by Cream, a superb band from the 60s comprising Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. A true supergroup.
Finally, in the 3.50, is Nazreef, a favourite of this blog, as it combines two fantastic groups spanning many years - Nazareth from the 70s, and Reef from the 90s.
Good luck to everyone!!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

No, I'm not counting in a song, but pointing the way to this year's Grand National, where an each way finish in the top four could see the winnings come rolling in (some hope!). Here are my selections...
The Rainbow Hunter, simply because of the magestic band Rainbow, and the Free song "The Hunter".
Auroras Encore, because all good bands should come back for an encore!
Mr Moonshine, because it sounds a bit like the Supertramp song "Sister Moonshine".
And finally, Join Together, a song by The Who.
Best of luck to everyone.

Easy peasy

Sometimes I have to think about the connections between horses and rock music. This week, it's a no-brainer.
Kempton Park. 2.15. Saturday. Uriah Heep.
Uriah Heep are a band that I've followed since the mid 70s. Wonderful band. I went to see them a couple of weeks ago, and they were fantastic.
Nuff said.

This is what we want...

When I started this blog, I emphasised the tenuous nature of the way I chose my tips. This week is no exception. My tip runs in Saturday's 3.15 at Newbury, and is called Knight in Purple. One of my favourite bands of all time is Deep Purple, and their biggest hit, and still a great live staple, is Black Night. So Knight in Purple works brilliantly, even though it's Knight, not Night. Can you see what I've done there?
As always, best of luck!

Rock and Real Ale

One of my other passions, apart from rock music, is real ale. So it's nice to report that a couple of races at today's Chepstow meeting are sponsored by Bath Ales, brewers of superb beers.
My tip runs in one of these, the 2.45. Presence Felt reminds me of one of Led Zeppelin's albums, Presence. Released in 1976, it is a tremendous album, with the cover causing a lot of speculation, as it featured images of everyday life, but in each photo was a "presence" - a black, obelisk shape, that no one knew what it was (apart from the designers, Storm Thorgerson and Hipgnosis, presumably... or maybe not)..
Not the best album cover in the world, but a bloody good album.

Trying to beat those winter blues...

Well, you never know - one day, one of my tips will come good.
My choice this week runs in tomorrow's meeting at Ascot, in the 2.40. The Rainbow Hunter has a dual connection with two, now defunct, bands. Rainbow were a superb band, existing between 1975 and the mid 1980s. Formed by former Deep Purple maestro Ritchie Blackmore, they went from bombastic hard rock to commercial success, all the time underpinned by Blackmore's wonderful guitar playing.
The Hunter was a song performed by Free, a fantastic short-lived band. The singer, Paul Rodgers, along with drummer Simon Kirke, went on to form Bad Company. Sadly, their troubled guitarist, Paul Kossoff, died in 1976.

Let's try again

Last week's tip, Thunder Sheik, was a non-runner, but it's going tomorrow in the opener at Wetherby, so we'll give it another chance.
My other tip also runs at Wetherby, in the 2.45. Sammys Gone reminds me of Sammy Hagar. A brilliant guitarist and singer, he was part of the classic Montrose, fronted Van Halen for a time and now fronts Chickenfoot. In between, he has produced some fantastic solo stuff. All round, a true rock legend.

New Year - here we go!

I know it's been a long time but here we go. This week, assuming it goes ahead, my selection runs in the last race at Cheltenham on Saturday (4.10). Thunder Sheik. I saw this horse run at Warwick a couple of weeks ago, and it came 2nd after a very good run. This time, it'll be an outsider, but you never know. You know it makes no sense at all. However, Thunder, as I've said many times, are one of the best British rock bands around. Although they have officially split up, they still reform occasionally, presumably when they need some cash!