Hong Kong Racing Tips: Hayes and Shinn to keep Fire burning November 24, 2020 IT WAS good to see former Hong Kong champion and Melbourne Cup-winning trainer David Hayes and Australian compatriot jockey Blake Shinn team up with a welcome winner in Harmony N Blessed at Sha Tin last Sunday. The pair have found it tough going since the beginning of the season, with Hayes only having trained six [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: Jerry’s Jazz looks smooth over six November 24, 2020 RIDING sensation Jerry Chau looks to be the jockey to follow at Happy Valley on Wednesday. There are numerous professional racing judges in Hong Kong who reckon 20-year-old Chau is the best claiming rider to have come out of the territory in the last 10 years, and it’s easy to see why. Currently lying fifth [...]
Surrey and Harlequins welcome return of fans but warn that capacity limits will lose clubs more money November 24, 2020 Two of English sport’s biggest clubs have welcomed the imminent return of fans but warned that staging matches with restricted capacity is not financially sustainable. Spectators will be able to attend live sport in limited numbers when the country’s second lockdown is lifted on 2 December, it was announced on Monday. The move is a [...]
Pots of money: Here’s how much snooker players can win at the UK Championship November 24, 2020 The UK Championship, the second most lucrative event on the snooker circuit, begins this week. Despite the absence of ticket revenue due to events being played in empty venues, prize money has remained the same. That means the winner will receive £200,000 from a total prize money fund of £1,009,000. Players are guaranteed £6,500 just [...]
PM confirms return of fans to live sport when lockdown lifts on 2 December November 23, 2020 Spectators will be allowed back to live sport when the second national lockdown is lifted in England next week. Prime minister Boris Johnson confirmed today that up to 4,000 fans will be able to attend sport outdoors in low-risk Tier 1 areas. Up to 2,000 will be able to attend outdoor sport in Tier 2 [...]
Safe, sterile football is undermining Arsenal’s progress under Mikel Arteta November 23, 2020 It is little more than three months since Mikel Arteta and Arsenal swept to the FA Cup on a wave of optimism, but it feels a lot longer. Victory at Wembley and a run of eight wins in 11 games appeared to confirm that, under their former captain, the Gunners were on the up again. [...]
Cover story: How the Premier League ‘wrapped’ every stadium and hid the empty seats November 20, 2020 Football fans will by now be familiar with Premier League “stadium wraps” or “seat kills”, even if they don’t recognise the terminology. The vast seat coverings, typically emblazoned with club colours and slogans, have provided a backdrop to the action since English football returned to empty grounds in June. But who makes these displays and [...]
The City A.M. Punter Podcast EP:27 Haydock, Ascot & Hong Kong November 20, 2020 Olly Murphy talks to us about his chances of landing a winner or two this weekend. He has runners at both Haydock and Ascot. Racing editor Bill Esdaile looks at the best of the weekend jumps action, and Wally Pyrah talks us through Sunday’s big Hong Kong race meeting. Hosted by Chris Barnett The City [...]
MPs threaten football regulation as they urge bosses to end funding ‘fiasco’ November 20, 2020 MPs have called on the bosses of England’s top football leagues to end the “fiasco” over emergency funding, warning they could introduce new regulation if the game failed to reform itself. The Premier League has been locked in fraught negotiations over a bailout deal for clubs in the English Football League (EFL), which have seen [...]
The Big Rebuild: Why sport must recognise importance of PR before it’s too late November 20, 2020 Covid-19 has ripped the sports industry to shreds, leaving a trail of bare-bones teams who are overworked and stretched. During a second lockdown it might seem hasty to think about rebuilding and planning for the coming months. But we know that one day sport’s fan ban will be lifted. Once it does, it will happen [...]