Monday, March 4, 2013
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| Irish Saint Stakes his Triumph Hurdle Claim Posted: 04 Mar 2013 02:03 AM PST The Paul Nicholls-trained Irish Saint did his JCB Triumph Hurdle claims no harm at all with a brave success at Kempton in the Grade 2 Adonis Juvenile Hurdle, battling on bravely to just get the better of the useful Vasco du Ronceray by half-a-length, writes Elliot Slater. Generally a 33/1 shot in the Cheltenham Ante post betting for the juvenile hurdling crown at the Festival on March 15 prior to his Kempton success, Ruby Walsh's mount was slashed to a top price of 16/1 after getting the better of a tough battle with the Nicky Henderson-trained runner-up, having been giving a waiting ride, looking as though he had plenty to do as they turned for home. To his credit the gelded son of Saint Des Saint really dug deep to outrun Vasco Du Ronceray who remains a 25/1 shot for the Triumph Hurdle. Particularly pleasing for connections will have been the fact that the winner demonstrated he is capable of showing his form on a decent surface and isn't just a mudlark, having won two of this three previous career starts on a deep surface. The winner of a listed hurdle at Auteuil on his debut in September, Irish Saint made a winning start for the Nicholls team at Kempton in December when slamming McVicar by 18 lengths, before running well in defeat when second to the classy Henderson-trained Rolling Star at Cheltenham at the end of January, the winner currently being one of three 5/1 co-favourites for the Triumph Hurdle and paid a big compliment by the Adonis Hurdle success of the runner-up. Surely worth taking his chance now at Cheltenham in the feature contest, Irish Saint seems versatile as regards ground and tactics, and has the right attitude having knuckled down well on all starts when coming under pressure. He looks a very interesting Triumph Hurdle contender. Race fans have an exciting few months coming up with Cheltenham and the big race at Aintree. Check out the Grand National 2013 betting for the latest from the feature contest. |
| Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:48 AM PST Arsenal's defence was breached for the 28th time in 37 games this season against Blackburn on Saturday, as the Gunners back four was again torn apart from a simple counter attack. It was another utterly frustrating performance, where the Emirates played host to a siege on the opposition box that we simply could not penetrate. At the other end, all Blackburn needed was one chance and our formless defence certainly helped their cause. As usual one stinging ball cut the defence open and Blackburn's Colin Kazin-Richards had so much time and space to tap into an empty net he even tried to miss the chance with a lucky spooned effort. The holes at the back are a real concern for fans of online football betting; Arsene Wenger must sort out his defensive pairing over next summer. Laurent Koscielny just does not have the single-minded drive and concentration needed for the Premier League while Per Mertesacker switches off at vital moments. We fans have been calling for an experienced voice at the back, and maybe there is one about to come on the market. For Kolo Toure revealed he will leave Manchester City in the summer, but wants to stay in England. Now, we all know Kolo is past his best – we could see that during his final season in 2009 – but the defender does have the brain capacity to shore up a defence against lower opposition. If Wenger continues to select inexperienced youngsters for cup games like these, he must have someone on the park orchestrating the whole thing, providing a bit of structure in a chaos of nervous excitement. Although Kolo is not the answer to our league problems, Betfair football pundits have suggested that he could do a solid job as an instructor during domestic cup games. Arsenal have fallen all too often over the years due to lapses in concentration, and, with Kolo on a free transfer, he could be just what Wenger needs to eradicate embarrassing results like Saturday's. |
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