24th June 2015
Hi ,
On Monday night I could not find anything to watch on the telly and after switching channels from one to another for ages I just happened to click on to the start of the Womens World Cup game Norway against England and I was so glad I did.
It was exciting, entertaining and both teams showed skill and great determination. England coming from behind to beat Norway 2-1. Our girls have now reached the last eight and I will certainly be watching more female football from now on.
Royal Ascot was superb in many ways but so far this week it's a bit like the dust cart after the Lord Mayors Show.
Mind you having said that today's card up at Carlisle is their most prestigious of the year featuring the historical Carlisle Bell which was first run in 1599.
The prize were two bells given to the winning owner and when you consider this was during the reign of Elizabeth 1st you can see the wonderful history that the sport of Kings and Queens has to offer.
Well for this weeks Howies Hottie I'm going with the Carlisle Bell which is a very competitive handicap just short of the mile. The selection is the mare Boonga Roogeta and sticking with today's theme of girl power she is to be ridden by her regular pilot Rosie Jessop.
Rosie who is attached to Sir Mark Prescotts yard won on her last time at Chelmsford and although this a totally different type of test the mare has won on turf and to me looks on a competitive rating.
EYE-CATCHERS
FLAT RACING
Sir Isaac Newton trainer A.O'Brien - He got no sort of run in the Jersey at Ascot and with daylight would have been another winner for Ryan Moore.
Bossy Guest trainer M.Channon - The colt finished 3rd ahead of the Obrien horse in the Jersey and was running on well at the finish meaning a step up to a mile could help.
Mustadeem trainer B.Meehan - The colt found the 10 furlongs a shade too far in my opinion at the big Ascot meeting and dropping back in trip looks the answer.
Sixth Sense trainer M.Johnston - Led the field in the Chesham only to be collared in the final furlong. A return to shorter could see him back in the winners circle.
Icy Blue trainer R.Whitaker - She ran well at Ripon afer meeting trouble in running.
Llewellyn trainer D.Carroll - The horse hates the polytrack and Wolverhampton surfaces so why they ran him there on Monday I dont know. When back on grass he can be followed.
Back next Wednesday have a good week and be lucky.
Howard Davis-Shaw.
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This Weeks Golf News - US Open Implications for Spieth and the Support Cast
The fall out from the US Open is that players in the mix should be opposed this week and we have a player that is halfway to achieving the impossible. Several contenders from the second major of the season are going to the well again while the golfing world is already wondering whether Jordan Spieth can keep his calendar year Grand Slam hopes alive by winning the Open Championship at St Andrews in four weeks.
No player in the modern history of the game has won the four majors in the same season. In 1953 Ben Hogan won the US Masters and US Open but due to problems with travelling could not play in the Open and PGA. He chose the former which he won and never played in another Open. In 2000 Tiger Woods won all but the US Masters but won that major at the start of the next season to thus hold all four at the same time.
Hogan and Woods are the only men to have won three majors in the same year. Jack Nicklaus won 18 major championships which is a record but he never won more than two in the same season. In recent years Rory McIlroy, Mark O’Meara, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo have won two of the four most prestigious prizes in the sport in the same calendar year. Only seven players have now won the first two majors of the year and only Hogan won the third.
At aged 21 Spieth is the youngest player to have won more than one major since 1923 and in the current era of the Grand Slam which involves the four majors open to professionals. He has rightly acknowledged that to win the Open at the Home of Golf is the ultimate for any professional. Nicklaus, Woods and Faldo all won Opens on the Old Course and Severiano Ballesteros had the best moment of a wonderful career on the 18th green in 1984 when he edged out Watson who had won the previous two Opens. St Andrews rarely produces an ordinary champion and it’s Open champions include some of the greats.
Spieth is now 33/1 to complete the Grand Slam in 2015 and second favourite behind McIlroy to win the Open. He is now a proven major champion on a British-style links. Chambers Bay had many features of the famous seaside courses in England and Scotland and the winner displayed a full array of shots to win by one stroke. Spieth has played in two Opens and finishing positions of 44th and 36th do not auger well for St Andrews but since those efforts he has taken his game to a new level. He has the brain and ability to adapt his game to links golf and the temperament to handle the unlucky breaks which are an intrinsic element of this form of the game.
Winning all four majors in the same year is the Holy Grail of the sport but Spieth has not ruled out what would arguably be the greatest sporting achievement ever. There is a similar concept in tennis but that sport for men and women is less competitive and there are far fewer variables and vagaries. Two players hit a ball across a net in a restricted area and that’s about it but there are so many more facets to golf. Spieth thinks he can do it and was quoted on the Sporting Life website as saying:
“I think it’s in the realms of possibility. This (Chambers Bay) was somewhat of a British-style course, so are the next two majors (St Andrews and Whistling Straits). I’ve proven to myself that I can win on a British-style golf course now. Now I take it to the truest British-style golf course of any in the world. And I’m just excited for the opportunity coming then, and I’m not going to think about what could possibly happen after.”
Spieth has played the Old Course in the past. He played a round in 2011 before representing the United States in the Walker Cup in 2011 at Royal Aberdeen. He describes the town as one of his favourite places in the world but bizarrely he may have to show ID to be served drink to comply with a ‘must look 21’ sale of alcohol policy. He could walk in to a bar with the Claret Jug and be refused service but maybe an exception would be made if he had just completed the third leg of the Grand Slam. I’m sure in that case any bar owner would be mad to upset a player on the cusp of being the greatest ever at the spiritual home of the sport.
So the two best players in the history of the game in Woods and Nicklaus won Opens at St Andrews and Faldo and Seve were not too shabby. However, John Daly and Louis Oosthuizen have won the Open there and though they are great players would never feature in anybody’s top ten of the best players. Extreme weather can produce a relatively freakish winner and Spieth is susceptible to a bad draw. However, all things being equal he is currently the best golfer in the world but a showdown with McIlroy down the stretch would confirm the pecking order.
The US PGA Tour moves to River Highlands in Connecticut for the Travelers Championship and a number of players in contention last week are playing. Branden Grace was right in the mix for the US Open before hitting out of bounds on the 17th last Sunday and posted a double bogey. He eventually finished two shots behind Spieth so one life changing poor swing has cost him a place in the record books. Mental letdown will be an issue this week so Grace must be opposed in 72 and 18 hole match betting.
Brandt Snedeker came off the pace in the final round so the situation for him was not so intense. Billy Horschel and Sergio Garcia were more on the periphery of proceedings. They still went through the stressful process of trying to win a major on a course that was mentally demanding in ways not usually associated with tournaments at this level. Shane Lowry is playing in the BMW International in Europe and has also had to deal with transatlantic travel after his US Open exertions.
Spieth’s activities this week are unknown but trying to win regular tournaments will not be high on his list of career objectives. His focus is now on winning majors and in particular the oldest and most prestigious on the most famous golf course in the world. Spieth can win the Open on the Old Course a St Andrews next month but can he win the US PGA Championship as well?
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