Visor may just spark Santini back to life on the biggest stage March 18, 2021 ALL eyes will be on the Willie Mullins-trained Al Boum Photo as he looks to land his third consecutive WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3.05pm). The nine-year-old has once again been wrapped up in cotton wool since landing the Festival feature 12 months ago with only the one prep race at Tramore on New Year’s Day. There is [...]
How to pick the Gold Cup winner March 18, 2021 | Sponsored Forget natural instinct, paddock picks or pure luck. The only way to consistently back winners is with cold, hard data. Trends are clues. If you find enough, you’ll solve the puzzle. This puzzle is called the Cheltenham Gold Cup and it’s been going since 1819. Just don’t ask us for a receipt… Age No horse [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Tokyo 2020 Olympics hit by another sexism scandal; World Rugby boosts women’s game; LaLiga brings tiki-taka teachers to East Sussex March 18, 2021 “I would like to show a new direction,” said Seiko Hashimoto upon taking over as president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the wake of a sexism storm last month. Four weeks later, Hashimoto’s hopes have been torpedoed by revelations that another senior male official for this summer’s Games made derogatory comments about women. Tokyo [...]
EP: 47 Cheltenham Festival Day 4 – Friday March 18, 2021 The final day of the Festival is many people’s highlight of the week with the youngsters kicking off the action in the Triumph Hurdle and the prestigious Gold Cup, run over three and a quarter miles the feature race of the day. We are joined today by jockey Richard Johnson who rides Native River in [...]
Why the Premier League TV rights bubble really might be about to burst this time March 18, 2021 The Premier League TV rights for 2022 to 2025 will go under the hammer in the next few months. The outcome of that process could put the competition’s very existence at risk. In 2018, the UK segment of the Premier League TV rights sold for £4.5bn, down from a £5.1bn high in 2015. The rights [...]
Mount the best Plan Of Attack in Kim Muir March 17, 2021 AFTER the meeting they have had already, it will be no surprise to hear that I’m sticking with the Irish when it comes to the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase (4.50pm). Normally restricted to amateur jockeys, the new Covid-19 rules surrounding elite sport mean that only the professional jockeys can ride at the meeting. Hold [...]
More Stars on show at Cheltenham March 17, 2021 BOOKMAKERS all over the land will be desperate to get Envoi Allen beaten in the opening Marsh Novices’ Chase (1.20pm) after the successes of Shishkin in the Sporting Life Arkle and Monkfish in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase. The unbeaten Irish superstar is the final leg of plenty of short-priced trebles and I expect the [...]
Porter can floor his rivals in Stayers’ Hurdle March 17, 2021 A LARGE field of 15 is set to line up for Thursday’s highlight, the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (3.05pm), where Paisley Park will bid to join the likes of Big Buck’s, Inglis Drever and Baracouda as dual winners of this race. Emma Lavelle’s stable star won the 2019 renewal impressively but he was a bitter [...]
Stakes are high for Envoi Allen March 17, 2021 | Sponsored To everyone who has successfully hurdled their way over the first two days of Cheltenham with their wallets intact, that is a commendable effort. After the first day, it was a winning draw for the bookmakers. After Wednesday, the balance is marginally in our favour again. Despite Monkfish doing his best to make his odds [...]
EP: 46 Cheltenham Festival Day 3 – Thursday March 17, 2021 Day 3 of the Festival sees the stayers in action with Paisley Park looking to regain his crown from 2019 for trainer Emma Lavelle. There is also the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase and a couple of very tasty handicaps to look forward to. Our guests today include top trainers Fergal O’Brien, Harry Whittington and David [...]