Shergar Cup Day

Today there are six flat cards at Ascot, Haydock, Newmarket, Redcar, Ayr and Lingfield.  The big meeting of the day takes place at Ascot as they hold their annual Shergar Cup match between the lady jockeys, Europe, Great Britain & Ireland and the rest of the World.  You will probably disagree with me, but it really doesn't get me that excited - I am more interested in horse racing than some of these fancy gimmicks.  One of the real problems with the event is how similar the colours are as well - while it is a team event, it is very difficult to distinguish between individual horses for betting purposes.  Surely it would have been better for the horses to run in their owners' colours and wear a distinguishing sash or cap for each team (you would only need four different colours)...hardly rocket science in my opinion!

I see that it is Billy Ellison's 70th birthday today.  Billy was the lad who used to look after Aintree legend Red Rum.  I remember him once bringing Rummy to Pontins in Southport - I am not sure that Ginger McCain knew about that guest appearance!  Billy is a real character and ended up in America where David met him.

*****

Our head lad Oliver Defew was really excited to have managed to get tickets to the Ashes Test Match between England and Australia at Trent Bridge.  The only trouble is, his tickets are for the third day!  With Australia still trailing England's first innings total with only three wickets left, I hope he gets there early otherwise he isn't going to be seeing very much!  It is a long way to go for a few overs - it will take him longer to get there than the match is going to last!  Still, you can't really call Oliver a sports fan as he is a Norwich City supporter - I rest my case!

Talking of the Ashes, the Aussies have deservedly been getting some stick back home.  I have seen some of the newspaper headlines and I wouldn't be in any hurry to rush home - I think I would go back on a boat like their great grandparents would have done in the early days!

*****

It is the start of the football league this weekend and I cannot wait!  Manchester United versus Spurs looks like the big game of the day and it kicks off at 12.45pm.  If United are going to challenge for the Premiership then they are going to need to beat sides like Spurs at home.  I will be having a cheeky little acca on Arsenal at 3/10, Chelsea at 2/5, Everton at 3/4 and Bournemouth at 21/20.  I will also be having a wager on Watford (4/5) and Norwich (5/4) sorry Oliver!) to go down...mind you, I will have to wait a while before I can collect on the latter.

I still cannot for the life of me understand why Manchester United haven't sold goalkeeper David de Gea to Real Madrid.  Of course, they are going to struggle without him but he doesn't play today and in the end he is bound to end up in Madrid...what are they holding out for?  More money?

*****

Did you know that the average bank teller loses about £250 every year?  They are obviously not following my tips!  Have a nice weekend...

Tweet