Grandouet can stake his claim for Champion Hurdle glory December 13, 2012 IT took a while for the Nicky Henderson bandwagon to start rolling this jumps season, but it has gone into overdrive in the past two weeks thanks to huge wins for Bobs Worth in the Hennessy and Sprinter Sacre in the Tingle Creek. The highlight of this weekend is tomorrow’s Stan James International Hurdle (3.05pm) [...]
Arabella the Boy to be with in Cheltenham’s Cross Country Chase December 13, 2012 THERE is a decent card at Cheltenham this afternoon and the bet of the day looks to be ARABELLA BOY in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase at 2.30pm. Enda Bolger is the master of these races, winning five of the eight runnings, including the last three with the wonderful Garde Champetre. He has booked [...]
Usmanov bids to bring Henry back to Arsenal in director roles December 13, 2012 BILLIONAIRE Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has reignited the battle for the club with under-fire owner Stan Kroenke by lining up Gunners hero Thierry Henry for a return in a key boardroom role. Usmanov wants record goalscorer Henry to return to Emirates Stadium and take up an off-field role similar to that of former team-mate Patrick [...]
Blues must be more ruthless, insists Benitez December 13, 2012 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez has warned his squad they must improve their mentality and take their chances or risk losing the Club World Cup final against Corinthians of Brazil on Sunday. The jet-lagged Blues defeated Mexican side Monterrey 3-1 yesterday thanks to a smart Juan Mata finish, a deflected Fernando Torres effort and Darvin Chavez’s [...]
Pietersen tips England seamers to help score historic series win December 13, 2012 BATSMAN Kevin Pietersen believes England’s seam bowlers hold the key to securing their first Test series win in India since 1985. Spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar had hogged the limelight to help England recover from defeat in the first Test to take a 2-1 overall lead going into the final match in Nagpur. But [...]
No claws out for Tom as Tiger gives full support to US skipper December 13, 2012 FORMER world No1 golfer Tiger Woods has thrown his weight behind the appointment of Tom Watson as America’s Ryder Cup captain for 2014 and played down talk of tension between the pair. Watson openly criticised Woods two years ago for his behaviour on and off the course. But, following yesterday’s announcement that the 63-year-old will [...]
City set to bounce back from derby disaster against shaky Magpies December 13, 2012 NEWCASTLE MANCHESTER CITY Tomorrow 12.45pm IT WAS always going to be difficult for Manchester United fans to wipe the smile off their local rivals’ faces following the dramatic finale to last season. However, they did a pretty good job of it at the Etihad last Sunday with Robin van Persie’s injury-time winner inflicting Manchester City’s [...]
Rio slams Uefa over £65k race fine for Serbia December 13, 2012 MANCHESTER United star Rio Ferdinand led a scathing attack on European football chiefs last night after they fined Serbia just £65,000 for racism – less than Denmark’s Nicklas Bendtner was charged for wearing inappropriate underwear. Governing body Uefa imposed the fine as part of a range of punishments relating to October’s stormy Under-21 clash between [...]
Has Wenger lost his golden touch in transfer market? December 13, 2012 THE DECAYING of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal from a team capable of going a whole league season unbeaten to one with just 24 points from 16 games and slain by League Two Bradford in the Capital One Cup has spawned countless theories as to where it has all gone wrong. Among those voiced by fans and [...]
Wiggo warns of yellow aim December 13, 2012 REIGNING Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins insists he will try to defend his title despite Team Sky’s initial plans to have Chris Froome spearhead their 2013 challenge. Wiggins became Britain’s first ever winner of the Tour in July but the 2013 route favours team mate Froome’s climbing abilities. “I’m probably going to try and [...]