Ebor Day

There is plenty of exciting action to look forward to this afternoon with six meetings taking place.  Five of those are on the level and the feature race of the day is the Ebor at York - this is always a fiercely competitive staying handicap and this year's renewal appears to be no exception.  The other meetings taking place are at Goodwood, Newmarket, Redcar and Windsor, while Cartmel hosts a National Hunt card.  There is certainly plenty of choice, just as you would expect on a Bank Holiday weekend and I bet there are plenty of flat jockeys who will be riding at two meetings with York/Redcar and Goodwood/Windsor looking the likeliest combinations.

Talking of the Ebor, I see that Tony Martin sends over his Cheltenham Festival (County Hurdle) winner Ted Veale for the big race.  His six year old has won his last two starts on the level and he has bought Fran Berry over to ride.  You always have to take notice of his runners in England - his is a big gambling yard and it will be interesting to see if there is any money around for the Irish raider.  With over £155,000 on offer to the winner, it is no surprise that it has attracted a high quality field of twenty-two runners.

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I see that Real Madrid have already started selling Gareth Bale merchandise, including shirts with his number on.  The deal was always going to happen, especially when you consider how much money Spurs have spent in the transfer market - they need Bale money to balance the books!

It is a shame that Crystal Palace boss Ian Holloway is going to curb his tongue.  I think his interviews are absolutely fantastic - at least you know you are going to hear what is truthfully on his mind and he says what most people think.  He has been charged with bringing the game into disrepute after blasting officials following his side's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur...keep tallking Ian!

My little football treble for the weekend - Stoke at 17/20, Spurs 13/20 and Southampton at 3/4...good luck!