In the weekend just past, it was a case of ‘close but no cigar’. Bolton nearly hung on for the draw against Manchester United, while Hull, for a short while looked as they might upset the Gunners. Munster, thankfully completed an impressive victory in the Heineken Cup, while Cloudy Lane ran out the winner of the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock.

And as for Master Minded – by God he’s a class horse. The Champion Chase, for which he is 1/3, looks like a formality at this stage. Big Zeb is next in the betting at 12/1.

What’s far from certain is the Thystes Chase at Gowran Park. It’s a race that has produced some decent winners in the past, namely Aintree National winner Hedgehunter. This year’s renewal has another Aintree contender Snowy Morning at the head of the weights. Operation Houdini, who is nicely treated with regard to his burden, is my fancy at 7/1.

The upcoming weekend will see more Cheltenham Festival clues come to light with the Trials Day at Prestbury Park and the Irish Champion Hurdle and Irish Arkle at Leopardstown. More about those anon, but with Denman co-owner stating that the reigning Gold Cup hero is better than ever after his heart problems Festival fever is already starting to grip.

The FA Cup reaches its fourth round stage with a plethora of matches on the box. Manchester United v Tottenham & Liverpool v Everton the standout ties. Sir Alex’s men have become the master of the 1-0 of late and 6/1 is generous odds for them to maintain the sequence against Harry’s outfit. What is surprising to most is that Spurs have not climbed further up the Premier League since Harry’s arrival. They will hope that their £14 million arrivals can produce the required bounce, but I still think they need a solid goalkeeper to replace Gomes. 

At this stage of the season, United can sense a clean sweep of all the domestic trophies and can lay down a marker by sending Tottenham home with their tail firmly between their legs.

The best word I can use to describe Everton FC at the moment is ‘industrious’. They have had many injuries to deal with this season, and funds are not exactly flush around the corridors of Goodison Park. Nevertheless, they deserved their point against Liverpool earlier in the week and will feel that they are well capable of at least taking their neighbours back to their own patch for a replay.

A 0-0 draw is 8/1 and with Torres & Keane not in sync; Stevie Gerrard’s day in court possibly on his mind – the blue half of Merseyside would appear to have some positives going for them. As for Liverpool, two points out of six in the League since Rafa’s rant is a poor return. Rafa’s thinking was no doubt aimed at taking the attention of his squad of players and absorbing it himself. The tactic simply hasn’t worked.

In the other Cup ties, I go for Swansea to upset Portsmouth, Wolves to dispose of sorry Middlesborough and Cardiff to hold Arsenal scoreless up to half-time.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Irish Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.