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| Promoter says Pacquiao-Mayweather likely off LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The promoter for boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao says a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. will not happen unless Mayweather's camp drops its insistence for Olympic-style blood testing.... hosted.ap.org |
Big Buck's lands the cash in Long Walk Today's best bets plus all the news from the action at Newbury and Leopardstown3.15pm Buck's lands the cash in Long WalkWill Hayler reports: It's a day where you can't afford to be afraid of getting dirty at Newbury, with persistent rain turning conditions into a quagmire. But Big Buck's (1-2) showed once again that he is not afraid of a fight when taking the Long Walk Hurdle under Ruby Walsh. He briefly touched 4-1 in Betfair's in-running betting on the home turn, when Ruby Walsh had to stoke him up in order to keep tabs with leader Fair Along, as well-backed second-favourite Diamond Harry was sent forwards to make his challenge, seemingly going much the better. But once finding his stride, Big Buck's pricked his ears and picked up the pace again, staying on down the straight in gruelling conditions to beat Karabak by three and a half lengths, the RSA Hurdle form seemingly being confirmed as Diamond Harry finished a respectable but ultimately one-paced third. The victory capped a good day's work for Paul Nicholls after his earlier win with What A Friend in the Lexus Chase. Walsh said: "He's a very, very good horse - he's a great stayer. He handles the ground, I wouldn't say he loved it but not too many horses do. He only does enough, but I guess that's what you want with three-mile hurdlers. Like a lot of the best staying hurdlers, you have to keep at him a bit."Diamond Harry's trainer Nick Williams had earlier taken the Challow Hurdle, the other Grade One action on the card, with Reve de Sivola, who came from an impossible-looking position to catch Restless Harry and final-flight leader Finian's Rainbow. Owner Paul Duffy said: "That was fantastic. We quietly fancied him but you never quite know what you are up against. He was bought as a chaser so all of this is a bonus."2.20pm Thomas hails Friend after Lexus successTony Paley reports: What A Friend won the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown, in the process paying a huge compliment to stable companion Denman who gave him 22lb and an easy beating in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury last month. Notre Pere and Joncol cut out most of the running, and the latter appeared the likeliest winner going into the last. But as Joncol's stamina gave out, What A Friend (11-2) took advantage and held off the late lunge of Money Trix by half a length. Winning rider Sam Thomas said: "He travels very well and jumps very well, which makes my life a lot easier. I was disappointed not to be riding the horse in the first place but I got the opportunity today. "I need to thank Tom George's owner Philip Nelson for letting me get off his horse to come over here. Barry Geraghty was due to ride him and has a lot of experience around here. Everything happens for a reason and the gods must have been looking down on me. Thank goodness for the fog! "He had to dig deep and it is a long run-in - it felt a long way home from the last. I was keen to keep a lead as long as possible and we had something to aim at coming to the last. If you take Denman out he would have been a good winner of the Hennessy and all credit to him for coming here three weeks after that run. "People thought he was ungenuine in the Hennessy when he wandered about going to the final fence but he was just trying so hard. Some great horses like Denman and Beef Or Salmon have won this race so hopefully our horse can go onto bigger and better things and I think he might come back here for the Irish Hennessy." 1.45pm Voler on course for Irish ChampionTony Paley reports: Voler La Vedette will head for the Irish Champion Hurdle on January 24 after her two-length victory in the ITBA Fillies Scheme EBF Mares Hurdle at Leopardstown today. Trainer Colm Murphy will use the Grade One test to determine her Cheltenham Festival target, with the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle and the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle her two options. Murphy said: "Paul [Townend] said she was doing too much, so dropping her back to two miles with a fast pace will suit her. We will throw her into the deep end now and give her an entry in the Irish Champion Hurdle next month. "That will tell us where to go afterwards. She will have an entry in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, but the mares' race is the obvious place to go." William Hill cut her into 7-2 for the Mares' Hurdle, while she remains unchanged at 20-1 with the same firm for the Champion Hurdle on March 16.Today's best bets and weather update, by Will HaylerNewbury's soggy-looking weather forecast shouldn't worry backers of Big Buck's (2.40) as he bids to continue his unbeaten run in the rescheduled Long Walk Hurdle at Newbury. He seemed to travel more smoothly than ever when winning on his reappearance and it's not inconceivable that he may have improved again this year, given that he is still only six.That said, the fact that he does find so much for pressure will no doubt mean that Ruby Walsh will be keen to avoid coming to the final fence cruising on the bridle alongside Diamond Harry, who is in all probability better than his run in the RSA Hurdle at last season's Cheltenham Festival and could yet challenge Big Buck's at the head of the staying hurdler ranks.The tactical aspect of today's race should be fascinating, with Diamond Harry's rider Timmy Murphy showing no signs of being able to deviate from what has become his characteristic modus operandi of sitting as quietly as possible in the early stages and trying to win without having to ask for maximum effort. Murphy is undoubtedly a fine jockey, but his slightly one-dimensional approach to race-riding makes it easier for his critics and I have to question whether the sort of waiting ride he keeps giving Diamond Harry is really showing the horse to best effect.Barry Geraghty returns from Ireland with a couple of likely-looking winners for Nicky Henderson, for whom his strike-rate this season is a truly astonishing 27 winners from 56 rides (48% and a substantial level-stakes profit). Dave's Dream (12.00) hasn't attracted the same level of attention as some of Henderson's other exciting novices, but time may yet show him to be as good as any. The stable's runners are going much better now than when he had to work hard to beat My Moment at Huntingdon, but that form has been franked since in any case.As a caveat, he may not want conditions to be bottomless and heavy rain is forecast for the course before the start of racing. Hopefully, the fact that he runs in the first race rather than later in the card will allow conditions to hold up sufficiently ... I don't think he's unmissable at 13-8, but I certainly fancy him.Finian's Rainbow (2.05) made a real impression when easily beating Sereth (himself a useful stayer on the Flat who had looked potentially smart when winning on his hurdles debut) at this track last month and could take a successful step into Grade One company by taking the Challow Hurdle. He showed signs of inexperience when having to be shaken up a couple of times before the race had really got serious, but powered away once hitting the front. This is a competitive affair and there are unknown quantities among his rivals, but the 2-1 available this morning doesn't look a bad price.Salvaged from yesterday's fog, the Lexus Chase (1.25) still remains a mouthwatering event at Leopardstown this afternoon even if the likes of Walsh and Geraghty have opted to get off their mounts in order to ride at Newbury.From a betting point of view, Sublimity (2.00) looks a fair play to take the December Festival Hurdle by confirming his recent Newcastle form with Solwhit. Sublimity beat Muirhead and others when winning this race last year on similar ground (important to his chances: significant rain would be a negative). Solwhit has still to totally convince me that he is a genuine Champion Hurdle contender. Punjabi may not have been at his best when going down to him by a short-head in testing ground last May and his victory over Muirhead and Hurricane Fly also looks suspect. He certainly doesn't have much in hand over an in-form Sublimity on that rival's favoured quicker surface and looks short at even-money compared to Sublimity's 4-1 quotes.A decision will be taken today as to whether Cheltenham deploy the track-wide frost blankets (recently arrived from sister track Kempton) ahead of their big meeting on Friday. The forecast for the course over the next 72 hours suggests that frost itself shouldn't be a problem, but there remains a possibility of snow showers later in the week.Frost blankets would provide important protection against a relatively small amount of snow, but heavier snowfall might make the covers impossible to remove, meaning that clerk of the course Simon Claisse has a calculated gamble to make.Haydock are to inspect at 3pm today ahead of their scheduled meeting for tomorrow while Musselburgh have called an inspection for 9am tomorrow in advance of their Friday card.Click here for all the day's racecards, form, stats and results.Click here for today's latest odds.And post your racing-related comments below.Horse racingHorse racing tipsWill HaylerTony Paleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Steve Davis and Phil Hughes leave Burnley Burnley's acting management team of Steve Davis and Phil Hughes have left the club. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Brian Laws: I can keep Burnley in top flight Brian Laws is confident that he can keep Burnley in the Premier League, having been confirmed as their new manager only a month after he was sacked by Sheffield Wednesday. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Narrowing The Field Ben Aitken, £16.99,High StakesIrish trainer Jim Bolger is not known for flights of fancy so when the man who nurtured Tony McCoy and Aidan O'Brien and bred top-class horses such as Derby winner New Approach in recent years said last week that "this could be the most significant development in the history of the thoroughbred" the racing world needs to sit up and take notice.Bolger was referring to the discovery by the Irish scientist Emmeline Hill of a gene that the pair claim can predict what distance a horse will be most effective over – in layman's terms whether the runner will be a sprinter, stayer or middle-distance campaigner.Previously, the only way of determining the optimum distance of a particular horse was either guesswork by reference to its parents or by an arcane numbers analysis known as "the dosage method". The latter has been an aid for punters rather than breeders.There are many ways to skin a cat and backers have used a myriad of methods over the years in order to find a winner. Punters, in recent times, have increasingly looked to ways other than traditional form study to give themselves an angle and in addition to using speed figures based on race times and racing trends analysis, the use of the dosage method has become more popular.Traditional breeding and pedigree analysis experts here were dismissive of the dosage method, adapted to the racing scene by the American scientist Steven Roman in the 1980s from work completed in the early 20th century by a French researcher. The method involves giving ratings to horses based on the probable speed and stamina capabilities of their sires.If Bolger's ideas were to work on a large scale the dosage method is unlikely to lose its popularity as it is much more specific and awards points to individual horses whereas the work by Hill is more general in predicting a horse's preference for a particular distance.Ben Aitken has written the first book aimed at helping punters use the dosage method in finding winners of jump races. The publication introduces punters to the basic theories of dosage but the bulk of the tome involves a race-by-race analysis of all the important National Hunt races in the calendar and the usefulness of dosage in finding the winners of those particular contests.There is plenty here of interest to dosage followers and while the traditionalists may scoff, if this book is of use in giving readers an edge in their battle to beat the bookmakers then it has certainly served its purpose.Horse racingTony Paleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |