Irish Champions Day

There are six meetings taking place this afternoon with five of those taking place on the level at Haydock, Ascot, Kempton, Thirsk and Wolverhampton while there is a jumps card from Stratford.  There are no runners from Pond House this afternoon although Tom Scudamore has picked up an outside ride at Stratford.  I don't think I will be testing the 'one ride theory' today as his mount has something of a patchy profile.

It may sound obvious, but if you are thinking of having a wager at Haydock today, make sure that your selection is going to appreciate a bit of cut in the ground.  There was 12mm of rain overnight so conditions will be testing - you would be amazed how many people overlook this key factor when they are placing their bets.

The big race of the day is the Irish Champion Stakes at 6.45pm.  Churchill is the short-priced favourite but is yet to win over the 1m2f trip, although in fairness I don't think he was beaten for stamina in the Juddmonte International behind Ulysses at York a fortnight ago.  Even so, he is short enough in the betting and I wouldn't be surprised if it were closer than the market suggests.  Big race jockey Ryan Moore was in good form yesterday with a treble at Ascot which brought up his seasonal century.

*****

The big match of the day is Manchester City versus Liverpool.  The kick-off is at 12.30pm and you can back City at 10/11 - it should be an entertaining match with plenty of goals as both sides are good going forward, although they have somewhat dodgy defenses.  I will be playing up a little of my winnings from the Derby game yesterday...I hope a few of you followed me by backing them at evens.  There weren't too many anxious moments with Derby beating visitors Hull 5-0!  Meanwhile, I wonder if Arsene Wenger is looking forward to his home match against Bournemouth?  I hate to think what the crowd will get up to if Arsenal manage to get beaten.

My mate Gary has tickets for the fourth or fifth day of the England versus West Indies test match but I don't fancy his chances of seeing much action.  It could be over by today with the bowlers clearly on top.  The West Indies are only 22 runs ahead and have already lost three wickets.  The pitch is a belter for bowlers and England paceman Jimmy Anderson joined an exclusive club as only the sixth bowler ever to claim 500 test wickets.  I bet he would love to bowl on more pitches like this one.

*****

What do Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun and Krusty the clown all have in common?  They all share the same middle name!  Have a nice weekend...

Tweet