We have the ACC Champion Hurdle today at Punchestown at (4.20) and another competitive heat looks to be on the cards.
The early week betting has seen Champion Hurdle flop Sizing Europe put in as the the 7/4 jolly.
He was travelling sweetly turning for home at Cheltenham, but something went wrong with the horse and he was all but pulled up, but we expect him to bounce back on Friday.
They Bet: Sizing Europe 7/4, Sublimity 3/1, Harchibald 6/1, Punjabi 6/1, De Valera 10/1, Straw Bear 10/1 and 14/1 bar.
Big race on Saturday is the Whitbread Gold Cup and we like the look of the veteran Monkerhostin who looks a solid each-way choice at 25/1 in this end-of-season marathon. Iris De Balme hacked up in the Scottish National last week and is hoping to emulate Hot Weld last year by winning both races and is currently quoted at 9/1.
They Bet: Royal County Star 6/1, Ungaro 15/2, Iris De Balme 9/1, Bewleys Berry 12/1, Hoo La Baloo 12/1, Lothian Falcon 12/1, Caribou 14/1, Patsy Hall 14/1, Racing Demon 14/1, Newbay Prop 16/1.
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10 comments:
go on the chelsea----its squeaky bum time now!!!!!!!
great picking PG 25/1 winner had a fiver on it on the nose
In the money
well done on the 25/1 winner.
p.s.went into bookies in west belfast on sat to put 500 on glenavon and they would not take it?whats the crack there?
raffo
match fixing in irish league football again....some things never change
THE rest of us had aged about 10 years. Alex Ferguson had shed a decade or two.
Sixty six going on 45. At this rate, he will see us all out.
The sheer, unbridled joy on his face lit up Old Trafford last night as the Reds finally made it to Red Square.
The United manager threw himself into Carlos Queiroz’s arms at the final whistle while on the pitch a huge, human mountain was growing by the second as more United players launched themselves onto it.
No, it was hardly a vintage display but Ferguson had every reason to cherish the sweet taste of victory after having the cup dashed from his lips so many times.
He had been in the semi-final four times before and got through only once.
On other dramatic nights, he had seen Real Madrid, Monaco, Bayern Munich, Porto and AC Milan ends his hopes even earlier in the competition.
United coped without Rooney
He knew United had underperformed in Europe’s premier club competition. He knew it was the one serious blot on his copybook.
He also knew United would never have a better chance of reaching only their third European Cup final in 40 years in a season when the big guns — especially the Italians — were shooting blanks.
And he also knew he had a few questions to answer himself. The build-up to United’s most important game of the season could not have been worse.
Dropped points in the title race coupled with doubts raised about tactics and team selection had all come to a head in a defeat at Chelsea on Saturday marked by indiscipline both on and off the field.
Then came the news Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic would miss last night’s game.
Yet Ferguson never wavered in his belief in his squad, trumpeting both their spirit and ability on the eve of battle when he said: “We have the players to win it, big-game players who can decide matches.
“I trust these players, character-wise they are fantastic.”
At the centre of it all was the massive figure of Rio Ferdinand.
Harangued all round for his reaction during and after the 2-1 setback at Chelsea, he knew he had to respond with the sort of performance that has made this season his best and most consistent at United.
And he did precisely that. At the same time, he could not have received greater support from Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves and Patrice Evra.
Without two huge personalities like Rooney and Vidic, we wondered whether United had the men for the big occasion.
Strangely, most of United’s best European performances had come on foreign soil. Well, they will remember this one for many years. Not for any particular style or panache. Most of that, as at the Nou Camp, came from Barcelona.
Instead, they will remember the guts and huge determination of the entire side, with no outfield player contributing more than Carlos Tevez, as he ran himself into the ground in the final 20 minutes.
All round, it had proved a night for nerves of steel, strong men and even stronger drink.
A night when Barcelona dominated the first half and yet went in trailing to Paul Scholes’ first goal since August.
A night when United came out rejuvenated after the break — just as they had at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
A night when no one in the 75,000 crowd could have wagered a euro on the outcome. Yes another one of those awful, brilliant, terrible, magnificent Old Trafford nail-biters.
Yet had Barcelona had a striker capable of finishing off their approach work, the Catalans would have been in Moscow on May 21.
Crazy, really. They have Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Bojan.
Yet all season they have struggled to put the ball in the net.
Ferguson, aware of United’s historic failure at this stage of the tournament and Barcelona’s ability to play like a nightmare one day and a dream the next, had urged the fans: “Show your colours, wave your scarves and make your presence felt.”
And they did just that, the prawn sandwiches left at home as Old Trafford reverberated to a sound that could have raised the dead.
How United needed them in a first half that, but for a 10-minute spell after Scholes’ goal, was dominated by the visitors.
The breakthrough came after 14 minutes via a dreadful blunder by Gianluca Zambrotta.
Not even looking up, he played a short ball out of defence straight to Scholes, who hammered it straight back past Victor Valdes from 25 yards.
The goal should have been just the shot in the arm United needed.
Yes, there was a brief period when confidence surged through Ferguson’s side but, you couldn’t get away from the fact Barcelona still needed only an away goal.
Now it was nervy United again — and would remain so until the final whistle.
Incredibly, though, United probably had the better chances, Nani glancing Park Ji Sung’s cross narrowly past the far post just before the break and Valdes saving well from Tevez in the 57th minute.
So it was in a state of mounting anxiety that United fans awaited the final whistle of a European match that was traumatic even by Old Trafford standards.
But they got there to provide a fitting finale to a season that marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash.
At the same time, their victory last night put United back on the road towards what should now prove to be the 10th Premier League title of Ferguson’s extraordinary career.
Get a life mate!
CM
CM....IN THE WORDS OF THE LATE AND GREAT BILL SHANKLEY"FOOTBALL IS NOT A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH,ITS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT"
shankley was a great....fergie is a red nosed whiskey swagging x rangers has been
old rudolf is still the most successful british manager of all time no matter the colour of his hooter.
go on the chelsea head hunters....
the national front lives on!
chelsea for the league and champions league
graham le saux
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