Have BBC OverSepped the mark? England's bid for 2018

The winning host will be announced to the world on the 2nd of December. Just when the FA needed everybody to play ball, BBC Panorama will air another potential sting on the corruption of FIFA. The Sunday Times has led the way with their earlier sting which has resulted in the sacking of two officials but some FIFA delegates such as Asia’s Mohamed Bin Hammam have openly criticized their tactics" How dare they catch us out on our brown envelope expenses" he may have said

On top of this we have seen Lord Triseman land out on his backside for claiming the Spanish and Russians were in cahoots, we have seen Russia claim England is full of drunk knife yielding yobs(hello kettle), Spain/Portugal apparently were cozying up to Qatar for favours and its suddenly these guys make you wonder are we too harsh on the Irish Government.

The only bid not tarnished is Belgium/Holland but their odds are 50/1. The problem here is that they don’t have government backing or enough big stadia..

England is now 13/8. The positives being its ready made. They could host the thing tomorrow without any need to improve stadia or infrastructure. After the World Cups of South Africa and Brazil (how bad could that turn out?) it would be wise for FIFA to go for the safe option, have a giant well run World Cup comparable to Germany 2006.

One of the main drawbacks for England is in truth down to 2006. They went for that World Cup after stabbing Germany in the back reneging on a Gentleman’s agreement that Germany would support England for Euro 1996 in return for support in 2006. England ended up unsuccessful and short of allies after that one. Silly English, there's a reason you haven't hosted the World Cup since 1966. Ireland likes you though, please give us €7 billion.

Where will the votes come from? 22 votes decide and at present 7 seem destined for Spain/Portugal, the 3 African votes look to be going east to Russia and Sepp supporters will likely vote Russia.

This is how vote could breakdown after round one with Holland/Belgium eliminated if Engalnd win all those members they need to win. Of course the vote is secret and I am merely offering an opinion but at best I can see Spain/Portugal with 8, England with 8 and Russia with 6. This would mean Russia (the Even money favourite) would be eliminated in round 2. The problem I see is England are unlikely to win all 8 and even if they did, natural anti English bias after the scandals would push the members left to vote for whoever was left. I simply cannot see England winning the bid.

Name Nationality President Joseph S. Blatter Switzerland (Russia)

Senior Vice-President Julio Grondona Argentina (Spain/Portugal)

Vice-Presidents

Issa Hayatou Cameroon (Russia)

Chung Mong Joon South Korea(England)

Jack Warner Trinidad and Tobago (England)

Ángel María Villar Spain (Spain?portugal)

Michel Platini France (Spain/Portugal)

Geoff Thompson England(England)

Members Michel D'Hooghe Belgium (England)

Ricardo Terra Teixeira Brazil (Spain)

Mohammed Bin Hammam Qatar (Spain)

Senes Erzik Turkey (Russia)

Chuck Blazer United States of America(England)

Nicolas Leoz Paraguay (Spain)

Worawi Makudi Thailand(England)

Junji Ogura Japan(England)

Marios Lefkaritis Cyprus(England)

Jacques Anouma Ivory Coast (Russia)

Franz Beckenbauer Germany (Spain)

Rafael Salguero Guatemala (Spain)

Hany Abo Rida Egypt (Russia)

Vitaly Mutko Russia((Russia)

So who will win between Russia and Spain/Portugal?

Russia is just another Sepp Blatter dream. Spread the football to the new market to maximize revenue. The problem is 13 out 16 Stadiums would need to be built or massively refurbished. It would be the largest land mass ever for a World Cup and even with high speed rail(that only links 6 cities) air travel would be necessary between stadiums. They have talked about pockets for certain groups and the funding appears to be there. But what is also there is Racism. Russia football would make English football from the 80’s wince. Banana chants and boos of Black players is widespread and while Russia would promise to sort it out before the World Cup starts that coupled along with the public spats with England and vastness of the country may make it a gamble not worth taking.

Spain/Portugal also has the Stadiums like England. It has the transport and it has the climate and right TV zone. It has everything England boasts except they haven’t made any enemies. Spain last hosted the World Cup in 1982 and Portugal recently hosted Euro 2004 but they are the right bid and only co hosting is the big drawback along with perhaps Ireland causing their economies to collapse and bringing down the whole of the EU. They were 7/1 a few weeks ago and are now 3/1. Follow the money as they are no way the outsiders of 3. 7 votes look in the bag out of 22 look on the cards and once it becomes a choice between them and either |Russia or England, expect the neutral to favour the Iberians

Betting

Russia EVS

England 13/8

Spain/Portugal 3/1

Holland/Belgium 50/1

Tote Ten To Follow Guide

Entering through John Mulhollan's is a must for the Tote ten To Follow as it gets you entry into the official competition as well as the John Mulholland side pool so two sets of prizes for the same price.

There that's my attempt at marketing, now onto how to win the bloody thing.

Many syndicates will invest larges sums of money but don't let that detract from the single entrant. Last season Johnny Leonard won the John Mulholland version with a single entry and collected a cool €3,ooo for his selections. I spoke to him about how he sets about winning it and we agreed on a few things and argued on a few others. First things first. The Bonus races


Winning the big bonus races will propel you out above pack. Johnny had Big Zeb, Big Bucks and Binocular last season and went up the leaderboard with Usain Bolt type speed. He looks most carefully at the Paddy Power, King George, the Irish champion hurdle and 6 Cheltenham races as the rest are too hard to guage this far out.

Paddy Power Gold Cup	(Cheltenham 13 November)
Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup	(Newbury 27 November)
William Hill King George VI Chase	(Kempton Park 26 December)
Irish Champion Hurdle	(Leopardstown 23 January)
Irish Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup	(Leopardstown 6 February)
Totesport Trophy	(Newbury 12 February)
Racing Post Chase	(Kempton Park 26 February)
Champion Hurdle	(Cheltenham 15 March)
Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy	(Cheltenham 15 March)
All Seasons Queen Mother Champion Chase	(Cheltenham 16 March)
Royal & SunAlliance Chase	(Cheltenham 16 March)
Ladbroke World Hurdle	(Cheltenham 17 March)
Ryanair Festival Trophy Chase	(Cheltenham 17 March)
Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup	(Cheltenham 18 March)
John Smith’s Grand National	(Aintree 9 April)

The winner of the big races is of course imperative and some horses will be on everybody's list but for good measure. There is no point ignoring all the big horses as you think others will have them. Look to have 5-6 big horses and your own selections, try to get the balance right. Leaving out Kauto Star over the years would have been folly as the King George was a bonus race and no point throwing away a minimum of 25 points. Whether you believe Kauto is now over the hill and worth leaving out is another matter.

My stone wall one this season has to be Imperial Commander, he will win the Betfair Chase and will finish in the first two in the Gold Cup injury permitting. I believe he can't be left out but it's a game of opinions. Johnny agrees and we both believe Binocluar and especially Big Bucks must also be on the list.

Binocular was in nearly everybody's list ad proved a serious disappointment until the champion hurdle. He will be better this season and can defend his title.


Big Bucks is another that just cannot be left out unless you know the rest of the racing world doesn't as he has the staying hurdles division to himself and nothing can get near him.

The 2 mile chase division is harder to guage but Big Zeb will win Irish prizes as well as going close again in the Champion Chase. Doubtful we'll see him in the Tingle Creek as he'll likely stay at left handed tracks. Master Minded would do well to come back and Sizing Europe doesn't have a Azertyuiop/Moscow Flyer profile. perhaps a French breed horse not even on the list will emerge this season.

The Paddy Power Gold Cup is the first bonus race and Long Run is a short price favourite. He will be in loads of people's lists and with good reason as this is his trip and although high in the weights, his Jockey(Sam Waley Chohen) will be able to claim and should make amends for a poor RSA. We both agreed he is worth sticking in

The Hennessy could have Denman and Kauto Star both in the race and heavens knows what the rest of the field will be receiving in weight. Denman was fantastic defying top weight twice in this race and it would be a monumental effort to do so for a 3rd time but a horse who could get into the race proper and cause him trouble is Burton Point and even if he doesn't win, he'll collect plenty of prize money through the season. He's my dark horse for the season.

Sanctuaire could be a top hurdler to follow and should win the Greatwood on the first Sunday of the season. Check out the Morigana hurdlers from Ireland, may may wish to include either Hurricane Fly or Solwhit as well. Johnny had Solwhit last season but is leaning towards Hurricane Fly this season. Its important to have an Irish hurdler to mop up prizes this side of the Irish Sea and of course the Irish Champion Stakes. Johnny doesn't rate Sanctuaire but I believe he could be the new Celestial Halo and wouldn't be surprised to see Nicholls take him over for the big race.

When selecting your 10( we add two bonus ones in late February for the Cheltenham festival) We must look to strike a balance between Chasers and Hurdlers. 5+5 or worse 4+6 either way. Johnny Leonard argued it should be closer to 7 chasers versus 3 hurdlers as the chasers have more prizes to win.

Here are my 10 for the season. Good Luck and enjoy the season ahead.


IMPERIAL COMMANDER- CHASER
BURTON POINT-CHASER
BINOCULAR-HURDLER
LONG RUN-CHASER
SANCTUAIRE-HURDLER
BIG BUCKS-HURLDER
JESSIES DREAM-CHASER
KHYBER KIM-HURDLER
BIG ZEB-CHASER
GREAT ENDEAVOR-CHASER

Breeders Cup 2010-Kentucky is back to the dirt

When most think of Kentucky, they see a Colonel and a secret spices chicken. They see Zinger burgers, Twisty wraps and family buckets. I'm hungry just thinking about it. KFC is one of those things that look better than they actually are. Once presented with it in bucketform, it never quite lives up to expectations. Will this week's Breeders Cup be likewise?

For the last two seasons, Europe has enjoyed more success than ever before off the turf on the artificial pro ride surface. Kentucky is back to the dirt and it seems Europe has resigned itself with mopping up the turf races. Many Americans will be happy, they are back to their traditional surface. Racing on pro ride would be akin to us running the Arc on Pro Ride but then again, it's a fair surface and I think it should be embraced world wide or at least tapeta shout

Enough chat, give me winners

Ok looking at the races, our two big winners would appear to be Workforce in the Turf & Goldikova in the Mile and I expect one of those at least to get beat from a bookies point of view and will be encouraging Mulholland's to go biggest on the double. Why? Workforce has complained about the trip over, well not the horse per se, more Michael Stoute and and more grips about the ground will have instilled market weakness. Stoute though is prone to putting punters away and even said Workforce was doubtful in the Arc. Winning the Derby, Arc and Breeders Cup Turf in one season would normally automatically confirm him a wonder horse but their seems to be huge apathy out there for Workforce after superstar Sea the Stars last season. No arc winner has ever won a breeders Cup event but the problem is who can beat him? Behkabad has shown his limitations beaten 4th in a messy Arc but I was seriously underwhelmed by his trial run as well. Dangerous Midge and Al Khali look nothing special while Debussy and Winchester could both prove the dangers. I'd expect Debussy to win as he clearly enjoys the other side of the Atlantic as he has shown winning the Arlington Million and has the right draw.


Goldikova has beaten all that has been put in front of her and really has nothing left to prove. She won by the minimum margin last season in this race but won nevertheless. Paco Boy won't Richard Hughes in the saddle but their is a home horse been completely overlooked this side of the pond. Sidney Candy, at 10/1 is an each way steal and judging by his running action and style, the draw can be overcome.




Of the other races, I can't see past Midday and make her the bet of the meeting in the 10:50 Friday( Filly & Mares Turf). She has been exceptional this season and while some may say she's had an easy few races with Sariska parking her bum in the stalls, she is a previous winner and it's her ideal trip and ground should be no problem.

A few foreign raiders will look to capture the Juvenile Fillies Turf race(8:50 Friday) but nothing jumps off the page. Together has had plenty of runs already and her second to White Moonstone would read best but the ground is a big worry. I'd give it a miss altogether.

I'm shocked the Europeans have not targeted the Breeders Cup Sprint Turf and perhaps am surprised further that California Flag is such a big price. He was sent off favourite earlier in the year in Meydan coming 3rd but has shown flashes of super stardom and worth a nibble at a big price.

Precision Break if it handles the dirt would have a smashing chance in the Marathon and again worth a go at the minimum bet.

In the big race, I cannot get away from Zenyatta. She was awesome last season and yes I know she's all about Californian pro ride type surfaces but this is a poor renewal with only one superstar present at over 9/4. Don't think, just back and back early as the price will tumble. 19 out of 19 wins makes her an all time great and those who doubt her ability to win on the dirt should note that her widest margin wins have been on this surface. Last season her last to first was epic but she'll need to race handier than that on this surface but what can beat her?


Zenyatta on Dirt


Zenyatta last seasons epic win- Arguably one of the greatest performance ever



Bets for Breeders Cup:
5pts: Midday 10:50 Friday Filly & Mares Turf
3Pts; Zenyatta 10:45 Saturday Classic
2pts; Sidney s Candy 8:40 Saturday Mile
1pt: Debussy 10:00 SaturdayTurf
1 pt: California Flag 7:15 Saturday Turf Sprint


Not only do we have Zenyatta, Midday and Workforce to whet our appetite, we have the jockey battle between Paul Hanagan and Richard Hughes and the seasonal bow of Kauto Star. Check out Mulholland's crazy Kauto Star cashback offer: