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I’d be astonished if this meeting got the go ahead.
Heavy ground (and that’s being polite), another deluge of rain through the night, persistent (and heavy) rain forecast today, some public areas waterlogged etc. How can it go ahead?
I think if this were just an ordinary one day card then it would have been abandoned, probably on Sunday. If that’s the case (and it’s just my opinion) I don’t see why anything should be different for this top class meeting.
Hope I’m wrong.
Mike
Nah, Usain isn’t a cheat – with his golden spikes he is clearly a Bolt from the shoe
Mike
Couldn’t have got it more wrong. Portsmouth never got a look in.
You could – you could have put Newcastle in the subject title!
Happens to us all Insomniac – best get these bad results out of the system early season, at least we’ve got another 9 months to claw back the losses
. Good luck.Mike
Spitfire,
What makes you think he will have a nicer retirement at Pipe’s stable than at any other?
If I’m not wrong, then I’d say the Pipe stable is well known for running older horses in claimers/sellers rather than retire horses. In fact, didn’t the Pipes get rid of a few former high profile horses (who had served the stable so well) via the claimers just last season (sorry, the names escape me)?
Mike
Football betting can be extremely frustrating at times and I’ve already had a kick in the bollocks from the ‘late goal’ gods.
I had four teams yesterday, all winning bya single goal with five minutes to go, but I sensed it was going to go pear shaped. And true to my thoughts Bristol Rovers equalised at Brighton with an 86th minute penalty
Like David said, the key is not to let it get to you. There will be weekend and midweek coupons for the next 40 weeks or so – plenty of time to get it right
Mike
I agree Drone,
So surely that makes the 2.74 that is currently available extremely good value (at this stage). However, with possible multiple winners in the cycling I would be inclined not to have a bet at this stage. Not because I don’t think Rebecca will win, but because her price might get more tasty if someone like Bradley Wiggins or Chris Hoy do extremely well.
The Overseas market is shaping up magnificently. Padraig Harrington wins two majors and may well be part of a successful Ryder Cup team, Rafa Nadal wins everything and becomes world number one, Michael Phelps could win eight golds in one olympics – how the hell do you split them?
Mike
That coxless fours race was magnificent
Yes, it certainly got me excited Clivex, amazing what live sport can do to you isn’t it?
Becky Adlington was magnificent also this morning, shaving two seconds off the previous world record that had stood for 19 years.
I’m just about to settle down and watch the cyclists do their thing now. Team GB may no longer be a major force in athletics, but we have certainly become the nation to beat in rowing and cycling now.
Mike
Sad news, but I’m sure his cheery personality will aid him terrificly. I wish him well.
Mike
Team GB are set to win a mass of golds over the weekend – let’s hope the nerves don’t get the better of our lot.
Becky Adlington is fav to win her second Gold early tomorrow morning and we have a few chances of gold in the sailing with Ben Ainsley almost a shoe in. In the rowing I think we have six or seven finalists over the weekend with talk of winning at least three of them. But in cycling we have stacks of chances and could easily win six plus gold medals (one in the bag already).
In athletics Kelly Sotherton has a chance in the heptathlon, while dear old Paula will be stutting her stuff in the marathon. I’d love to see Joe Pavey win a medal in the 10,000m also.
Come on team GB – make us proud.
Mike
Good debate David.
I had this conversation with my mates yesterday and dismissed Phelps as the greatest ever olympian quite easily. Nothing to do with him, like you say he seems a lovely chap, but more to do with the amount of options available to him to win gold.
If you’re a heavyweight boxer, you only have one gold medal to go for, if you’re a marathon runner, you only have one gold medal to go for etc. However, if you’re a swimmer you get lots of disciplines availale to you and therefore lots of gold medals to go for.
I know there are different kinds of events, like freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke etc, but within each event you still have many options. It’s not an exact science, but generally if you’re good enough to win the 200m freestyle you will probably be good enough to win the 100m or 400m.
I appreciate Phelps is in a different league and still has to go out and win (which he does), but having the chance to win eight gold medals within a week, compared to someone like Sir Steve Redgave who won his 5 gold medals over 16 years, seems a bit bizarre to me.
Statistically Phelps is the greatest olympian of all time, but despite what he has achieved (for which I have massive respect and admiration) I would have no hesitation in putting up someone like Redgrave up there with the all time best, along with your own choice Carl Lewis.
Mike
Sorry I didn’t post any selections guys.
I have been to and from the hospital quite regularly the last few days. Good news is I’ve got my pot off, bad news is I’ve got a bizarre looking clamp attached to my hand, designed for holding the bone together and making it stronger. However, I’ve discovered it’s real intention – to hit every door frame possible when entering rooms, thus making my hand very painful
.Mike
Mark,
Sorry for the late response, I was out yesterday.
I stand by my opinion that the Cheltenham Festival will not decrease in quality because of this additional race.
You were quite right to question what I said about the Coral Cup, however I was meaning the festival as a whole rather than just the racing. I still believe that an additional race, that will cater for horses that never made the Coral Cup, will add to the festival rather than detract from it. In fact, I believe it will add to the quality of racing rather than do the opposite.
Yes, if you take it quite literally, then the race will be weaker than the Coral Cup. But I still don’t see how a 20 runner competitive handicap for horses rated a few pounds lower than what run in the Coral Cup will mean the racing is actually decreasing in quality.
You will still have the other 25 or so races that won’t be affected by this new race. If any of those races were affected then yes, I would be dead against it. But the fact is that Cheltenham will now stage the 25 races that we have had previously, plus one extra competitive betting heat. I don’t see how this decreases the quality of racing as a whole.
Mike
The quality of racing will never decrease Zippy.
When Cheltenham was just a three-day (20 race) festival, many horses were not getting a run because the maximum field size had been reached.
Switching to a four-day festival gives horses that would previously miss out an alternative option, and a race to run in. This extra race will give the many horses that don’t get into the Coral Cup a chance to run at the festival. I imagine it will be a full field handicap hurdle, 8/1 the field etc
I know where you are coming from and understand your concerns, but take a look at the recent Galway festival. It was over six days/nights, had something like 40-45 races, and contained a few weakish races – but the enjoyment wasn’t decreased in the slightest, and the races that weren’t perhaps strong on paper were at least competitive.
Of course, we don’t want to see Cheltenham introduce a maiden hurdle, an extra bumper race or a veteran hunter chase (despite Jeremy lobbying for a full day of them
), but I’m not too worried about an extra handicap hurdle or a few more handicap chases or something. There are plenty of quality horses crying out for a run around festival time to ensure such races would be competitive.Mike
Given the overall medals winner is a two horse race, surely 6/4 about the Yanks is a good price.
They’ve won it the last 3 Olympics and given that the likely winning total will be in excess of 100, China will almost have to double their tally achieved at Athens. The Yanks are as strong in the pool and track and field as Athens and will be in backs against the wall mode, spurred on by their huge national pride. The Chinese will be under enormous pressure from the home crowd and may well have a few bottlers.
6/4 the Yanks!
3.15 on BF now Cav, generally 2/1 – are you going back for some more
Mike
