Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Sports World |
- Racing At York – John Smith's Meeting
- Masters form guide - Jim Furyk
- Newcastle starting to look just a little nervous
| Racing At York – John Smith's Meeting Posted: 23 Mar 2011 08:51 AM PDT After the Ebor and Dante Meetings the two day John Smith's card is one of the most important in York's season. This year the meeting will be held on Friday July 8th and Saturday July 9th – the first day of the meeting offers a great start to the weekend and the highlight of the day is the Group 3 Summer Stakes for fillies and mares over the straight six furlongs. Last season the race was won in good style by Rose Blossom who was confirming her liking for the course with her second victory there in 2010. Smartly away as usual she made all in very game fashion to reward punters with an 8/1 success, incidentally the same price as she was when she won at the Dante Meeting over the shorter 5F trip. Unfortunately she couldn't emulate those efforts in better company later in the year finishing a respectable fifth in the Group 1 Nunthorpe at the Ebor Meeting. If she stays in training this year she will be a filly to watch in the lesser Group races on the Knavesmire and those looking at the York races betting should remember this. The Saturday of the John Smith's meeting is highlighted by the handicap of that name – first run in 1960; this year will see the 52nd running of the race. Over the years the race has produced plenty of decent horses and given rise to those which have gone on to graduate to better company in Group races. Last year's winner Wigmore Hall is no exception, striking a blow for the three-year-old generation which were very successful in the race around the Millenium. Since then they have made little impact although they can hardly say that they have been well represented with just five runners in the last six years. Wigmore Hall put that right though, he dominated the betting with the year older Imposing, if the latter was slightly stronger in the betting it was Wigmore Hall who was stronger in the race holding off twice his age Kings Gambit by a short-head. Like many winners of this race Wigmore Hall is now plying his trade in Group Company and currently has engagements in Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore this year. The John Smith's Meeting is a mid-Summer highlight at York with two days of top-class racing to enjoy. The support of the Tadcaster brewer makes this the longest running sponsorship on the flat anywhere in the world and the event is one of Yorkshire's finest race days in July.  |
| Masters form guide - Jim Furyk Posted: 23 Mar 2011 06:51 AM PDT There are few more distinctive players than Jim Furyk. His looping, chopping swing makes him instantly recognisable to all golf fans and a popular man to follow. Watching a player with a strange action prosper in such a technical sport as golf is fascinating and it facilitates the debate of whether Furyk succeeds because of his swing or in spite of it. It is hard to suggest that Furyk could have done much better with a textbook swing. Over the past decade he has ranked in the top 10 for more than 350 weeks and has claimed nine top-five finishes in majors to go with his triumph in the 2003 US Open. Last year Furyk did not claim a top-10 finish in a major for the first time since 2005, but 2010 was still a golden year. He won three tournaments, including the Tour Championship that sealed FedEx Cup glory and was named Tour player of the year. 2011 has been more of a struggle. He has claimed just one top-10 finish in six stroke play events and lost in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Furyk has slipped to number 12 in the rankings and will be the first to admit that he is something of an outsider for Augusta and the US Masters odds reflect this. However, the 40-year-old Pennsylvanian knows his way around Augusta as well as anyone. 14 appearances have brought four top-10 finishes, seven in the top 30 and a joint 33rd. He has missed just two cuts. It will be a shock if Furyk suddenly discovers the form of last year to claim the green jacket, but it would be more of a shock if he was not there or thereabouts in the final round shake-up.  |
| Newcastle starting to look just a little nervous Posted: 23 Mar 2011 05:00 AM PDT Following their game against Stoke on Saturday – an encounter which saw the Potters romp home 4-0 winners – Newcastle manager Alan Pardew did his best to put on a brave face. He spoke of not being overly concerned, and stated that it would be the next three games against Wolves, Villa and Blackpool as being the games which will make or break his season – but one couldn't help getting the impression that he was perhaps sheltering his players from the truth. The old adage goes that the league table never lies, and if that is indeed the case then someone had better tell Pardew, because his side have taken just eight points from their last nine Premier League outings – and that's relegation form and anyone betting football money should remember this. The news that both Leon Best and Steven Ireland were also out on the town the night prior to the game will have shocked many – although they shouldn't panic because the two have denied enjoying any of that delicious alcohol that footballers like so much. Following the calm that was instilled at the club under Chris Hughton's regime, a few tell-tale signs are creeping in that perhaps Newcastle are back up to their old tricks, and anyone who follows the football news will know where that ended last time. The truth is that Newcastle – despite their plaudits in the first half of the season are not out of the woods yet, and until they get over the magical forty-point mark, they will need to be scrapping and battling just like the sides around them. Two years ago they proved that they weren't too good to go down, and were then arguably equipped with better individual players. Take for instance Sol Campbell's horribly un-athletic display at centre-half, Newcastle effectively started the game with ten men such was his inability to compete for the ball in the air, and against Stoke you will get beaten unless you match them in this area. Couple a leaky defence with a weakened strike force following Andy Carroll's departure, there is a long way to go yet – but should they still be on 36 points after the Blackpool game, then it's all but guaranteed that they won't still be in mid-table.  |
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