Olympic moment

Maybe the greatest spectacle on earth, the Summer Olympics get underway in London. To me, only the World Cup of football garners better prestige and attention. As all Olympics, there will be drama, great stories that will unfold, unsung heroes will come to the fore, and inevitably drug-related scandals will surface. In the end, many moments will be there to be remembered for a lifetime.

The Olympics is not the forte of this blog, but there are some screaming certainties over the week-end that cannot be missed. In tennis, the quadruple of Ferrer/Federer/Djokovic/Del Potro should be winning their first matches and will do a good accumulator. In swimming, Lochte and Phelps should do a 1-2, in any order, in the 400m medley. In basketball, the US men's and women's team should make it a double against France and Croatia. In fact, US should go all the way to gold in both events.

The biggest value lay so far is the GB team in soccer. I don't see them winning gold. In fact, they'll be lucky to win a medal. If I am to border on the sarcastic, the only 3 good things in this team is Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs and Ryan Giggs. Okay, I'm sounding overly negative, but with Stuart Pearce at the helm and the horrible show they've portrayed in the last few games, including a drab 1-1 draw against Senegal, how can one not be despondent on their chances? This is not an event where Brits should have their spirits high on.

Besides the Olympics, it's racing in the US that takes the eye on Sunday with the running of the Haskell. It's gathered a small field of 6, but with 3 main pretenders in Paynter, Gemologist and Dullahan. I favour the first 2 here. Although Dullahan was a fast-finishing third in the Kentucky Derby, he is winless on the dirt and it looks that he looks better on synthetics. Gemologist hasn't been seen since his flop in the Derby but connections sound confident that he is back to form. Whenever Todd Pletcher gives an air of confidence, it's generally a positive thing regarding the expectations on the horse. Paynter looks a really good colt from the Baffert stable. He was just touched off by Union Rags in the Belmont Classic and he is the deserving favourite of the race. I see Gemologist and Paynter in the first 2 in any order, so an exacta is my confident punt here.

Exacta: Paynter-Gemologist.

Lay: GB soccer team to win gold

Good appointment

Solid week-end with Real Madrid and Wigan winning and Swansea and West Brom drawing their matches. Man City took a massive step towards the title by edging the Manchester Derby but the title is by no means over. I think both clubs will still lose points in their remaining games and it will come down to who loses the least points. The Citizens visit to Newcastle will play a huge part in the final verdict.

Today's main news is the appointment of Roy Hodgson at the helm of England. That might not have been the most populist vote, but it is a great appointment nonetheless. What he's achieved with the Swiss, Inter, and Fulham are testament of a very good manager with international experience. Obviously, the loser in all this is Harry Redknapp who would have been an equally good appointment in my opinion. Certainly public fervour was strongly and mostly in favour of the Tottenham manager, while the FA people definitely were not as warming to him. Has he missed his chance? Time will tell as much depend on how Hodgson tenure goes. Should he have any regrets over the whole appointment? It all depends, as the public never knows what really takes place in the background, with the approaches, negotiations etc. But the one thing that is for sure is that if Redknapp certainly hasn't given out the signals that a prospective employer would want in a willing candidate. 'I never think of England' isn't the sort of come-and-get-me plea. If his rather hard stance on the job prospect has been a negotiating smoke-screen, then it must be said that it has back-fired spectacularly and he will live to regret it. But on the other hand, who knows? maybe he was never in contention in the FA's eyes, and whatever he said wouldn't have budged the selecting committee.

Finally, the England national team has a proper manager to go to the Euros. Good thing it wasn't with caretaker manager Stuart Pearce. No grudges against Psycho, but he has proved nothing in management yet. Whether with fan backing or not, short preparation time or not, Hodgson has to show that England can compete again with the best in Ukraine. There needs to be renewed hope and the rest will follow.

Restricted Choice

Pardon, am still in celebratory mood after this fantastic Meydan Thursday meeting. Besides the disappointment of Bold Silvano, every selection was bang on. The calls on Mendip, Spring of Fame (both available at double figures), Kinglet, Mutahadee were as good as expected, while Dubai Prince, Mr Brock and Dark Matter proved rewarding lays as well. The analysis of Meydan form is working wonders since the start of the Carnival and may it continue!

It's also been an eventful last couple of days in football where Capello resigned as England manager at the same time that Harry Redknapp was found non-guilty of his tax evasion charges. Talk about timing. No doubt that Redknapp is the best man for the job. If not him, give it to Martin O'Neill. I would take either one of them. O'Neill is not English, so what? If tomorrow Mourinho expressed interest in the job, all those voicing on the rooftops that "the manager has to be English", would welcome the Portuguese in a flash. Would they rather have Stuart Pearce who's accomplished nothing but who's English? Come on, the manager has to be "preferably" English, but if not, as long as he's been part of English football and understands the players he's working with and he speaks English well (no loss in translation), he should be considered. Stuart Pearce at 6/1 to become England permanent manager, makes me laugh. Well, what has he accomplished? If Mc Laren was a total disaster, then the FA can ponder what kind of failure appointing Pearce would be.

Ok, here's my selections for this week-end's football; Man Utd take on Liverpool, a rivalry which has somewhat lost its lustre for the past years because of the diverging fortunes of both teams. Man Utd have been tops for the past decades, Liverpool have been perennial disappointments year after year. The Red Devils are again gunning for the title, Liverpool are fighting for a 4th place finish. Rooney and Chicharito look to be back in form and I see Man Utd either winning or drawing this. A draw-no-bet on them looks safe, even if Johnny Evans looks set to start.

Newcastle have been admirable this year but they are in for a tough match at Tottenham. Having Harry Redknapp back (at least for the moment until he signs for England), and more importantly worry-free of off-field problems, should boost the players. It's essentially a must-win for them if they are to keep pace with the Manchester teams at the top. I recommend Tottenham as a draw-no-bet as well.

In Spain, Barcelona travel to Osasuna and must go get the 3 points there to realistically have any chance to retain the title this year. I don't think it's a certain deal they will win, but I cannot see them losing either, so I  go draw-no-bet on the Blaugrana. Real Madrid play Levante at the Bernabeu and they should get maximum points from this game. They are a Win.

I also see a Win for Bayern against Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga.

My value punt of the week-end is in racing Stateside where the Group 1 Donn Handicap will be run at Gulfstream Park. The main pretenders are last year's Preakness winner Shackleford and Belmont's winner Ruler on Ice. Word from Shackleford's camp is that the colt is in great form, and definitely the distance will suit. I cannot see him out of the first 3 in this race, so Shackleford looks a safe Place bet.


Win: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich

Draw-no-bet: Man Utd, Tottenham, Barcelona

Place: Shackleford