West Indies result positive step for England but they need more than draws March 13, 2022 Well it wasn’t a loss, but if England had fallen in the opening Test in the West Indies it would have been a surprise mark on their record card. Other than their reverse this winter in the opening Test of the Ashes, England haven’t actually suffered defeat in an opening Test of an away series [...]
Chelsea keep going but controversy follows club onto the pitch in ‘sportswashing derby’ March 13, 2022 After a week in which Chelsea’s future was plunged into grave doubt by the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich, today’s visit from Newcastle was about keeping going. Keeping going in the Premier League, where their hold on third place suddenly looked less secure; keeping going as a business, if technical advisor Petr Cech’s pre-match comments which [...]
“Honeysuckle has never let me down to this day and I can’t see why this year would be any different.” March 13, 2022 ON A relatively gloomy day at an uninspiring midweek fixture at Punchestown, the room was suddenly lit up by the arrival of horseracing’s brightest star. Rachael Blackmore spared some time in her busy schedule to chat to the assembled press who had travelled over to talk to her about all things Cheltenham. We are almost exactly 12 [...]
Home team likely to be steamrolled again March 13, 2022 THERE was a sense of embarrassment 12 months ago when the Irish left Cheltenham with a record 23 winners from a possible 28, and there is much hope the home team will put up a sterner defence this time around. Talk in the build-up has been of Great Britain winning the first three races with [...]
Dominant Allaho looks most likely to win by daylight in Thursday’s Ryanair March 13, 2022 IF THERE was one performance at last year’s Cheltenham Festival that will live long in the memory, it was Allaho’s demolition job in the Ryanair Chase. Willie Mullins’ eight-year-old set a blistering pace from just after the third fence and slowly went clear of his field, running out an impressive 12 length winner. He’s looked [...]
Don’t be surprised if there is another big price shock winner at the Festival March 13, 2022 THERE is always plenty of talk about the ‘bankers’ at the meeting with Honeysuckle (Unibet Champion Hurdle), Sir Gerhard (Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle) and Allaho (Ryanair Chase) the three obvious ones set to carry that label this week. However, with 28 races over four days, the one certainty is that there will more than likely be [...]
Put your faith in Jack at 10/1 to land Festival top jockey prize March 13, 2022 THIS time last year, jockey Paul Townend was as short as 2/5 to be crowned the Cheltenham Festival’s leading jockey only to be beaten to that title by Rachael Blackmore. He heads the betting for that much coveted crown at 4/5 with Fitzdares again this year having won it back in 2020. Willie Mullins’ stable [...]
Renton relishing racegoer return March 13, 2022 LAST year’s Cheltenham Festival was a very different one with no fans on course but there’s now only one sleep before we hear the famous Cheltenham roar again. Ian Renton, Jockey Club Regional Director, is looking forward to welcoming racegoers back to the Festival for the first time since 2020 and expects over 275,000 fans [...]
Chelsea FC: Candy wants a fan representative on board March 13, 2022 Potential Chelsea FC buyer Nick Candy wants a ‘fan representative’ on a future board and will offer short-term funding to secure the club. The property developer is one of a series of interested parties looking to buy the London club, who’s sanctioned owner, Romain Abramovich, put up for sale. Candy is a childhood Chelsea supporter [...]
Premier League clubs under fire for crypto fan token partnership March 13, 2022 Premier League football clubs have come under fire for partnering with Socios, a firm which issues crypto fan tokens for sports clubs.