Sports

Friday musing – Jose Mourinho, Louis Van Gaal, A League, West Indies….

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Chris Barwin HillsWell the Chelsea manager’s job continues to be a poisoned chalice with Jose Mourinho being moved on by the same Club for a second josetime the year after he took the title. It is pretty clear his team is not playing for him and being on the brink of the relegation zone, it did look to be inevitable and a case of when, not if.

Sticking with the EPL, Louis Van Gaal has also come in for some stick louisas well. While Manchester United have not been winning, they certainly haven’t been conceding many goals with the least “goals against” in the League so I don’t think it is all doom and gloom or as bad as the situation at Chelsea.

On the local scene we have the big local A League derby this weekend with Melbourne City coming off three very impressive wins as Unknown-4opposed to Melbourne Victory coming off three disappointing losses. The form guide couldn’t be more opposite. Personally I would like to see City continue their winning ways as they have been quite entertaining slotting the goals away at a consistent rate.

The Hobart test match finished, as predicted by most of the pundits, smithwith an easy victory to the Australians. I think it is time the ICC stepped into the West Indies situation to provide more finance and support. Cricket needs a strong West Indian team as they are the only test playing “nation” in that part of the world and like the AFL commission fostering football in the northern states, the ICC have the same responsibility to world cricket.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Gelding’s red hotties for today’s Flemington race meeting

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MarkThe Gelding’s attention returns to Flemington today and after having a few weeks on the punt he would rather forget, he is looking to bring some early Christmas cheer to the ladies at the Tennis club.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Flemington

Race 4 Horse 4 – Gracious Prospect
Race 5 Horse 1 – Our Voodoo Prince
Race 7 Horse 1 – Tasbeeh (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 8 Horse 7 – Churchill Dancer (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 9 Horse 10 – Yellen

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Sports

Weekend musing – Soccer, Leicester City, Arsenal……

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Chris Barwin HillsThe English Premier League ladder has an unfamiliar name on the top at the moment in Leicester City. They have obviously surprised everyone and are this year’s Southampton and the next month may indicate if they drop out of the top four as Southampton eventually did last year. Their next four games are Chelsea (h), Everton (a), Liverpool (a) & Manchester City (h). If they can split the points in those fixtures they may hang onto their spot in the top four, but as Southampton found out last year it is hard to maintain that consistency over the course of the season.

Staying with that theme it was great to see Arsenal again move alexis-sanchez-arsenal-burnley_3223813through the group stage of the Champions League after an extremely shaky start to the campaign. The home win against Bayern Munich was obviously the key with the return wins against Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb sealing the continuation of their run which I think is 15-16 times in a row they have progressed past the group stage.

There was also some good news for the Australian fans of the Gunners with the team coming to Australia in 2017. The bad news for Victorian supporters is that the two games they are scheduled to play will be in Sydney.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Weekend musing – Golf, Cricket, Soccer……..

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Chris Barwin HillsWell not only is Jordan Spieth the number one golfer in the world, he is also the number one tipster in the world having tipped Matt Jones to win the Australian Open title last weekend. Knowing that Jones is a jonesfriend of his and that he had tipped him to win, it got me thinking if Spieth had allowed Jones to win, not necessarily consciously, but maybe unconsciously. Watching the final hole with an eagle chance to put him into a play off, Spieth’s putt looked a little unconvincing. Putting aside my conspiracy theory, a great effort by Jones holding off the world number 1 in Spieth and a former world number 1 in Adam Scott.

The final test against the Kiwi’s in Adelaide last weekend nevillbreathed some life into the cricket despite it only going for three days. Finally the ball carried sway with the top score of only 66 being made by Peter Nevill the Australian keeper. The day/night concept was an undoubted success, but common sense should dictate that not every Test should be played in that format.

The Kiwi’s continued to fair badly with the DRS with Nathan Lyon getting a reprieve. The ICC has since come out and advised that the decision was wrong, however, the third umpire has to be absolutely sure if he is going to overturn the officiating umpires decision and 1440188864611there was certainly some doubt in my mind. The other decision which I think requires some review was the decision to send Mitchell Starc out to bat in the dying stages of the game. I had no problem with Starc going out there and trying to belt a few boundaries, but why not send him in before Peter Siddle and not when there was one ball to go in the over. Fortunately it didn’t matter and Australia got home.

Melbourne City have strung together two 5-1 results in a row in the mooyA-League and they should make hay before the January transfer window, because if Aaron Mooy is not picked up by a European side I would be very surprised. He appears to be a class above his opponents and deserves a chance for higher honours.

Have a great weekend!

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Gelding’s red hot tips for Sandown on 5 December 2015

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42After having a weekend he’d rather forget, the Gelding’s attention is on today’s Sandown meeting. To quote the Gelding….it’s a tough meeting!

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Sandown

Race 2 horse 1 – Jacquinot Bay
Race 3 horse 4 – Tarangower
Race 4 horse 1 – She’s Clean
Race 6 horse 7 – Heatherly (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 7 horse 6 – Java (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Sports

Tuesday musing – golf, Peter Senior, Matt Jones, AFL,Wylie Buzza

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Chris Barwin HillsThe performance of Peter Senior at the recent Masters should not pass without a mention. It is a credit to him that he has now won the three most prestigious Australian tournaments after he turned fiftysenior years of age. He has always been a good golfer, but never Australia’s best golfer, but he keeps winning. It may have been a reflection of the standard of the field, but he still won. It was also interesting to see that despite the win, he didn’t feature in the favourites for the Australian Open. I bet if Adam Scott had won I am sure he would have started favourite for the Open.

While on golf, what a great finish to the Australian Open on the weekend. The future of Australian golf looks good with Matt Jones jonesand Jason Day both emerging this year. Jones consolidated himself on the US circuit and won the Australian Open on the weekend. Day broke through for his first major win in the US PGA championship. Adam Scott after a couple of bad days came home like a train on the last day and was probably unlucky not to force a tie after 72 holes. Good to see World number one, Jordan Spieth make the trip to Australia to play in one of our feature events.

Well another AFL Draft has come and gone and every club seems to be happy with their selections. Wylie Buzza, who was taken by Geelong with pick 69 has drawn some media attention because of his name and hair style, but he grabbed my attention for a completely different reason. Here we have a home grown product of Queenslandbuzza and yet neither of the Queensland clubs picked him up. Surely with the “go home factor” and trying to grow the game in Queensland there is an imperative for those clubs to select Queensland draftees. Brisbane Lions could be forgiven as they picked up two Academy players, but the Gold Coast did not select any local player. I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them, like the Sydney Swans not picking John Longmire and Wayne Carey and more recently passing on Mark McVey and Lenny Hayes.

Have a great week!

Sports

Gelding’s red hotties for Moonee Valley on 28 November 2015

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gelding2The Gelding’s attention is at Moonee Valley today and he is very happy that a metropolitan race meeting returns to Melbourne today.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Moonee Valley

Race 2 Horse 4 – Faatinah
Race 6 Horse 11 – Club Star (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 7 Horse 1 – Churchill Dancer (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 8 Horse 7 – Sea Spray
Race 9 Horse 2 – Nicoscene

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

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Gelding’s red hot tips for Ascot and Ballarat on 21 November 2015

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Mar 13 2011 021The Gelding’s attention is divided today between two Group One races at Ascot in Western Australia and the provincial meeting at Ballarat.

After a poor start and excellent finish to last week’s tipping, the Gelding is looking to more consistent today.

As always the best are on an each way and all up basis.

Ascot

Race 7 Horse 1 – Buffering (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 8 Horse 3 – Delicacy (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Ballarat

Race 1 Horse 2 – Judges (a tip for the lawyers)
Race 2 Horse 9 – Estaminet
Race 7 Horse 11 – Wild Rain

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Sports

Friday musing – Second Test, Socceroos & Aussie Masters

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Chris Barwin HillsWell the 2nd Test in Perth petered out to a draw with some monumental batting displays from both teams. Steve Smith was criticized for the timing of his declaration not dangling enough of a smithcarrot for the Kiwi’s to chase. I thought the timing of the declaration was based on the fact that his bowlers had toiled in the stifling heat for two days and could not be expected to front up again “full of beans” unless they got a decent break. In the end, the Australians held the whip hand and I would be more critical of the defensive fields set by Brendan McCallum instead of Steve Smith’s declaration. In his defence, it also should be remembered that Steve Smith has declared in each of Australia’s innings so far this series.

The second Test also saw the last match for Mitchell Johnson and while he has been a great servant for Australia I don’t think we ever Unknownsaw the best of him for long enough. A lethal unplayable bowler one series and cannon fodder the next. I am a fan, but not with blind faith and I think he chose the right time to go. James Pattinson has been chosen to replace him and I am a fan of his, but I do feel a bit sorry for Peter Siddle. Siddle was Australia’s best bowler in the last Test in England and has not bowled badly in the Sheffield Shield so far this season and can count himself as unlucky. I can’t wait to see Mitchell Starc, Patrick Cummins and James Pattinson in full flight bowling for Australia.

Good to see the Socceroos go to the top of their group in the World Cup qualifier during the week. Tim Cahill was on fire with a hat trick cahillbefore half time. With Jordan losing and Australia still with two games at home, the Aussies should finish on top of this group and progress to the next stage quite comfortably.

Finally, good to see Adam Scott away to a good start at the AustralianMasters. He has had a poor year to date by his standards and needs a scottwin to build his confidence going into 2016. Given the field, it would be a big disappointment if he couldn’t end up leading at the end of day four.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Gelding’s red hotties for Sandown on 14 November 2015

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gelding teeThe Gelding’s attention is at Sandown today and after a less than auspicious outing last week with a number of near misses, he is looking to bounce back hard.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Sandown

Race 3 Horse 4 – Under the Louvre (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 4 Horse 8 – Good Project (late scratching)
Race 5 Horse 4 – Tall Ship (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 7 Horse 2 – Mahuta
Race 8 Horse 2 – Almoonqith

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding