As the title suggests, what 3 things would you wish for at this week's Cheltenham festival? Here's mine: (1) Decent ground - I'm sick of seeing tired animals treading water up the last furlong. I want fast, slick jumping and thrilling finishes. (2) A winner for Gary Moore - the yard have had awful luck recently and it would be nice to see them grab a winner. (3) All participants (both equine and human) come back safe and sound.
1. As your (3) Oddy 2. I could be tempted to back an accumulator and it wins me a fortune 3. Annie wins
1. Same as Rons 2. I win **** loads of money 3. Would love to see Sprinter Sacre in the winners enclosure
1. All horses and jockeys come back safe and sound 2. The winners actually get the credit they deserve and we don't get endless moaning from those beaten. 3. Would really love Mullins to win the Gold Cup, exactly 30 years after his father's Dawn Run won it.
I fully agree with your number 2 pal hope it happens but given past experiences on here I won't get my hopes up!
1) Barney to finally stop humping the leg of Nicky 'The Needle' after the old boy retires having won the Supreme with Altior and scoring a Champion Hurdle 1-2 with Hargam and MTOY. 2) Tizzard to have it right off with Thistlecrack and Cue Card (thinking about it, wonder what price he is for top trainer? Native River, Theatre Guide and Golden Chieftain are not without a chance.) 3) To echo Smokey, let's keep the b***ocks/muck raking/gloating to a minimum eh lads?! Think it goes without saying that above all else, I hope all men and beasts come back safe and sound. Good luck all and let battle commence!!
I hope that I don't get sucked in by all the Irish I meet tipping up a Mullins bumper winner, only for dickie to win it for Micky fits and also all the cab drivers trying to mug me off like I'm a tourist.
A few winners wouldn't go a miss... A few upsets and nailed on classy winners to come in. We all like good headlines like the fans fav to win, the trainer who hasn't had the best of luck in recent times etc, it gives us talking points. It's what the sport is about, opinions... And lastly that all of the runners return home after their race has been run...
Oddy, (3) should have been your (1). It must be a consensus under all codes of horseracing, reducing the ‘wish’ options to two. The weather forecast is set fair all week, which does present the possibility of tacky ground and resultant upsets. Not sure if ground drying from ‘Soft’ constitutes “good ground” for you... (2) From a purely sentimental point of view, I would like to see Sprinter Sacre win. (3) Naturally, since it is the only tip that I have, I want Altior to win the opener!
1. Stay sober all week. 2. FC Bayern victory on Wednesday evening. 3. No outsiders spoiling my 1,2,3, returns in Cheltenham Gold Cup.
As I have stopped going to the festival and have just returned from a two week 'bender' in Munich sobriety this week will be a cakewalk! Very hopeful of victory after giving up a 2-0 lead in Turin! Scattergun suggests returns should be 'safe'. Ho-hum.
I echo the sentiments about all horses and riders returning safe and also about competitive racing. As this is my "first", given my 606 jumps novice status, then I suppose my wishes are quite straightforward. 1 - I know more at the end of the festival than I do now, and I collect some dosh to go forward to my favourite day out in May 2 - Everyone on here has a great festival and wins a lorry full of dosh 3 - I spot a good one, tip it on here and it wins; just the one will do I've enjoyed my first look at a jumps season and I think I've done quite well so far, so thanks to all of you for your patience, understanding and insight. Looking forward to this weeks Board Banter. Best of luck to everyone, may you all get what you want.
1. Enjoy this great Festival of horseracing, and don't blame the jockey when you lose. 2. Enjoy this great Festival of horseracing, and don't pump steam up the ass of any one particular trainer. 3. Enjoy this great Festival of horseracing.
1) A little less emphasis on the GB v Ireland nonsense. Celebrate the horses and humans for what they do and not where they are from 2) The odd unsung hero landing a big one or two. 3) Don Poli to win the GC. I hope oddy's point 3 is taken as read.
Well said, Dan, but on (3) I must stick with me old CC. It's a right tough one for him, but he'll give it all he's got, for sure. (Well done Watford btw, great stuff! Leicester, Bournemouth, and Watford, are really putting the big shots to the sword. This can only be good for the Premier League IMHO. Look at the Scottish top division, the Bundesliga (to name but two), prime examples of total boredom I reckon).
I agree that this year's EPL has been a revelation however one problem could arise from varying teams qualifying for the Champion's League. This, along with the general lack of interest/emphasis given by EPL teams to the Europa League could (?) result in England's coefficient dropping to fourth in the table thus reducing their quota in the CL to three teams. This is unlikely while there is a general weakness in Italian teams however two/three good years for Italy in parallel with two/three fairly weak years for EPL teams could easily result in this position. Just a friendly warning!
