Silviniaco Conti can silence doubters and win Gold Cup March 12, 2015 BILL ESDAILE PREVIEWS THE FINAL DAY OF THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL ONLY once before in the last 10 years has a bigger field gone to post for the Cheltenham Gold Cup (3.20pm), the feature event of festival week. Bobs Worth (2013) and Lord Windermere (2014), the last two winners of the 3m2f½ Grade One prize, both [...]
Martello can Tower over his rivals in the Albert Bartlett March 12, 2015 THE bookies absolutely cleaned up on this day 12 months ago, but there are plenty of well-backed favourites that could leave the layers feeling blue as they wave goodbye to Prestbury Park. Peace And Co is Betway’s 5/2 favourite for the Triumph Hurdle (1.30pm), but hopefully a number of you took the advice to back [...]
Racing FX March 12, 2015 I have five rides on Gold Cup day and things get underway with the Triumph (1.30) where I’m on PETITE PARISIENNE for Willie [Mullins]. She was impressive the last day, but I’m not sure the Irish juveniles are quite as good as the English. THE GAME CHANGER has been working well and he goes for [...]
Euro falls closer to parity with dollar March 11, 2015 The euro extended its seemingly unstoppable decline yesterday, with City analysts predicting that the currency will soon be on a par with the US dollar. A drop of more than one per cent pushed the euro to below $1.06 for the first time since 2003. The pound climbed to be worth over €1.42 in mid-day [...]
Tory chair Grant Shapps hints at Budget cut in alcohol duty March 11, 2015 Tory party chairman Grant Shapps has given a strong indication that there will be an alcohol duty cut on spirits in next week’s crucial pre-election Budget. Shapps, who also has some ministerial responsibility for trade, commented yesterday on the prospect of an alcohol rates cut: “You always have hope when there’s a Budget.Wait and see.” A [...]
Self-employment is not bad, says Bank of England March 11, 2015 Self-employment has boomed in recent years because of changes in technology making it easier for people to set up on their own, a Bank of England analysis showed today. Its report came as the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said GDP growth is growing at a strong and steady pace. Self-employment accounts for [...]
Red Nose Day 2015: Canary Wharf gets in the Comic Relief spirit March 11, 2015 Canary Wharf got into the spirit of Red Nose Day yesterday, with the eponymous noses appearing on statues around the financial district. Red Nose Day, which falls tomorrow, 13 March, is the flagship event for British charity Comic Relief. Giles Penny – Two Men on Bench Lynn Chadwick – Couple on Seat Igor [...]
Santander and Deutsche fail US Fed stress tests March 11, 2015 TWO EUROPEAN banks have failed the Federal Reserve’s stress tests. The US central bank objected to the capital plans of the US operations of both Deutsche Bank and Santander. The Fed said its objections were made “on qualitative concerns” rather than quantitative. All the large US banks passed the tests, which were introduced in 2009. [...]
Greek-German relations hit by Second World War reparation demands March 11, 2015 Greece’s relationship with Germany soured dramatically yesterday as the country’s justice minister raised the prospect of seizing German assets as reparations for the damage done by the Nazis in the Second World War. The two countries are at loggerheads over the renegotiation of Greece’s international bailout, and the chances of a successful resolution of the [...]
Cigarette plain packaging could leave UK government with £11bn legal bill March 11, 2015 Tobacco giants last night warned that the government could be landed with a huge legal bill, after plain packaging for cigarettes came a step closer yesterday with a vote in parliament backing the move. British American Tobacco (BAT) confirmed that if the House of Lords gives its final approval to the proposals next week, it [...]
