Scotland 85 Spain 3
KENNY LOGAN believes he is playing the best rugby of his career and after stacking up more than 150 points for Wasps this season he shredded the Spanish defence with five tries in Scotland’s overwhelming victory on Saturday.
One more try for Logan would have broken two Scottish records. John Murtagh and Frankie Dettori filled the last two places in the competition between 13 riders.n Lord Huntingdon, who is to retire from training at the end of the year, scored with his final overseas runner when Tiger Shark won the Criterium du Languedoc at Toulouse.n Racing at Fakenham today hinges on a 7.30am inspection because of frost and snow.. He won’t run for at least a week but he could be out again at Christmas.”n Olivier Peslier yesterday became the first European to win the World Super Jockeys Series, in Japan. He also cut his lip when he overjumped at a fence and we hope that the blood from his nose is related to that, rather than his lungs.”It was disappointing but at least we know that that he is better than that. Andy Turnell, Gatflax’s new trainer, initially blamed a broken blood vessel for the six-year-old’s dismal showing on Saturday in a novice chase at Wetherby But the trainer said yesterday: “He seems fine today.
He wasn’t distressed last night and he ate up.
“He bled from both nostrils after the race but we will canter him and scope him and see if it his lungs. The gelding is the most expensive jumper sold at public auction in Britain. GATFLAX, WHO finished a tailed-off last of nine finishers on Saturday on his first run since his record-breaking purchase for 2000,000 guineas, faces a series of tests to pinpoint the cause of his failure. Pipe has already won the race five times, although it is five years since Riverside Boy provided him with his most recent success.”I was very pleased with the way he ran yesterday and the plan is to run in the Welsh National as that looks the right sort of race for him,” Pipe said yesterday, which explains why Coral will offer you just 5-1 against him this morning.GOLD CUP BETTINGC H L TFlorida Pearl 4-1 4-1 7-2 9-2See More Business 8-1 7-1 8-1 7-1Cyfor Malta 10-1 10-1 7-1 11-1Dorans Pride 12-1 12-1 12-1 14-1Suny Bay 12-1 12-1 10-1 14-1Teeton Mill 14-1 14-1 14-1 16-1Imperial Call 12-1 14-1 12-1 20-1Unsinkable Boxer 20-1 14-1 14-1 14-1Escartefigue 14-1 14-1 25-1 14-1Cheltenham, 18 March 1999Each-way, a quarter the odds, places 1, 2, 3C Coral, H William Hill, L Ladbrokes, T ToteRICHARD EDMONDSONNap: Opera Buff(Lingfield 2.10)NB: Course Doctor(Ayr 3.00). If it is good to firm he might not even go to Kempton.” Not surprisingly, the Ericsson Chase would be the obvious alternative.Dom Samourai, meanwhile, will return to Chepstow on 28 December and attempt to improve Martin Pipe’s already outstanding record in the Welsh National. Florida Pearl, who will not see a racecourse until the Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown in three weeks’ time, is Ladbrokes’ 7-2 favourite (from 4-1) for the Gold Cup.The Ericsson Chase is also a possible target for Imperial Call, but Kempton’s Boxing Day meeting is the first choice for Raymond Hurley, who took charge of his preparation when Fergie Sutherland, his former trainer, retired.”The King George would be my preference,” he said, “although we won’t be making plans until we see how quickly he recovers in the next few days.” Sarah Lane, speaking on behalf of Imperial Call’s owners, confirmed that “if he’s in good form and there’s a cut in the ground, we would be very tempted.”Last year’s King George winner, See More Business, is also on course for Kempton after his defeat of Dom Samourai in the Rehearsal Chase at Chepstow on Saturday, although he too would benefit from easy ground.”He’s the sort of horse who improves for a run or two and he is bound to improve from yesterday,” Paul Nicholls, his trainer, said yesterday “But it all depends on the ground on the day.
Jumping out of that ground doesn’t help my horse.”The Irish, of course, still believe that they have something even better at home. “I didn’t want to make too much use of him in holding ground but I’m very happy with the way he did it.”The only question in anyone’s mind afterwards was whether Bob Treacy, a 25-1 outsider, might have beaten them both but for a bad mistake at the final fence, and his unexpected presence at the finish certainly seems to have coloured the Tote’s judgement of the form.The Gold Cup’s sponsors will still lay 20-1 about Imperial Call winning the race again next year, which is almost twice the price of Dorans Pride, who is generally a 12-1 chance.Richard Dunwoody, Dorans Pride’s jockey, yesterday, reported that “he made a mistake at the last fence first time round and it took him an awful long time to get going again. While the former champion’s fencing was fast and accurate, Dorans Pride made a series of mistakes, and he only closed on Imperial Call when Paul Carberry, the winner’s jockey, was confident that victory was already his.”I was happy to let him bowl along at a sensible pace and he was getting lengths at his fences,” Carberry said. The King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day is expected to be his next assignment, and he is now as short as 12-1 to become the first horse in National Hunt history to regain the Gold Cup.
There were just one and a half lengths between Imperial Call and Dorans Pride at the line yesterday, but taking the race as a whole, the difference between them was rather more apparent. While Imperial Call struggled to overcome injuries and a loss of form, the next generation of chasers developed and flourished, and Ireland found new idols like Dorans Pride and Florida Pearl to carry its hopes at the Festival in March. But no-one told the horse that he was last year’s model, and yesterday he jumped and galloped like the champion he once was to beat Dorans Pride in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase.
WHEN IMPERIAL Call won the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in 1996, his colours were mounted in the track’s Hall of Fame, and that, it seemed for a long time, was as close as they would ever get to glory at Prestbury Park again. In Group A, Porto, already eliminated, may go down to their visitors Ajax, who could qualify if they win, while in Group B, Athletic Bilbao (also out) may lose to Galatasaray, another club in with a chance of qualifyingIn Group C, the moderate Sturm Graz (out) are unlikely to put up much of a battle against the fighting-for-survival Internazionale, while in Group E, Panathinaikos, despite losing 4-2 to Olympiakos on Saturday, could make short work of Arsenal (also eliminated) who will be without Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira, Nigel Winterburn, and Emmanuel Petit (all injured) and Dennis Bergkamp, who wisely eschews the big metal bird.C H L S TLiverpool 11-10 evens 11-10 evens 11-10draw 9-4 12-5 11-5 12-5 9-4Celta Vigo 15-8 2-1 2-1 2-1 15-8Man Utd evens 4-5 4-5 8-11 10-11draw 15-8 11-5 11-5 11-5 2-1Bayern Munich 13-5 3-1 3-1 10-3 11-4Porto 9-4 9-4 11-5 7-4 9-4draw 12-5 11-5 5-2 9-4 12-5Ajax 10-11 evens 10-11 6-5 10-11Athletic Bilbao 15-8 6-4 7-4 11-8 15-8draw 9-4 5-2 5-2 5-2 13-5Galatasaray 11-10 5-4 11-10 11-8 evensSturm Graz 9-2 7-2 4-1 4-1 9-2draw 15-8 5-2 9-4 5-2 15-8Internazionale 4-6 8-13 8-13 4-7 4-6Panathinaikos 1-2 8-15 4-9 4-7 4-9draw 12-5 5-2 3-1 5-2 3-1Arsenal 5-1 9-2 9-2 4-1 9-2C Coral, H William Hill, L Ladbrokes, S Stanley, T Tote. And, despite Bayern’s 2-2 draw at VfL Bochum on Friday night, United cannot bank on finding the Munich defence in such generous mood again.And for Peter Schmeichel, the United goalkeeper, it might be a case of “able was I ere I saw Elber.” For Giovanni, Bayern’s outstanding Brazilian striker of that name, the leading goal scorer in the Bundesliga with nine goals, could easily run amok amid United’s fragile defence.With the Champions’ League entering its final round of matches, there are some good bets to be had. For a side which has conceded just 13 goals in 15 games in the Bundesliga this season, Bayern conceded two unbelievably soft goals in their 2-2 draw with United in Munich. But that easy first leg win means Celta Vigo can afford to lose by a goal tomorrow and, although they would much prefer the comfort of an easy draw, the visitors are bound to defend deep all night and, if they go a goal down, are unlikely to make much of an effort to do anything about it.
Manchester United may be held to a draw by Bayern Munich in their Group D match in the Champions’ League at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The Spanish club, third in La Liga following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Salamanca, ruthlessly exploited Liverpool’s legion defensive frailties with a 3-1 victory in the first leg and are odds-on to go through to the quarter finals. DESPITE SATURDAY’S 2-1 defeat at Tottenham, Liverpool look a fair bet to beat Celta Vigo in the second leg of their third round Uefa Cup tie at Anfield tomorrow night.
English clubs should now be more likely to compete in Europe, though they will still suffer from lack of finance and quality players.FIBA’s decision will, in theory, permit 10 Americans per team, although they will still allow national federations to set their own limits.Smith said: “Back in 1996, after the Bosman ruling, we always believed it would prove legally unsustainable for FIBA to restrict the number of nationalities on a club but I would not expect our owners to be in favour of allowing up to 10 foreigners per team.”With some exceptions the overall standard of Americans has dropped, as the salary cap has restricted the clubs’ ability to attract higher quality players and the best English talent plays on the Continent.Smith insisted: “The cap is fundamental to the growth of the league,” although critics feel the competition has only become more competitive by lowering playing standards.FIBA will decide in May when the new regulations will come into force.. The League, for so long languishing in the backwaters of international club basketball, has been cast in a revolutionary light by FIBA’s move to allow total freedom of movement by players, including Americans, between its clubs.
The League has allowed five foreigners per team, almost exclusively Americans, against an allowance of two for the rest of the world. Substitutes used: Connolly, D Monaghan, Dowling, White.Referee: S Williams (Leeds).. THE INTERNATIONAL Federation’s decision to scrap all restrictions on the numbers of foreigners playing for clubs in European competitions, will not lead the Budweiser League to increase its own limit above five per team, according to its chief executive, Mike Smith.
