Fitzdares Times | issue 2

R E Q U I R E D R E A D I N G F O R T H E D I S C E R N I N G G A M B L E R • F I T Z D A R E S. C O M • S E C O N D E D I T I O N, S U M M E R 2 0 1 5

The changing face of cricket training

HIGH LIFE Landing a gamble in the Oaks

Blueprint: How can Wenger beat Mourinho?

TEN Screen gems: top gambling films

BY SHANE WARNE & DEREK UNDERWOOD

BY COLIN MILES

BY THE FITZDARES FOOTBALL BRAINS

BY MARK KERMODE

Does rugby need a change?

by James Simpson-Daniel

COLLISION COURSE L aid out on a stretcher under the stars at Kingsholm, I was totally unaware that it would be the last time I’d play in front of the Gloucester faithful. What I do know is that it was my second game of rugby in five days. Injuries happen, and I’m not saying mine was because it was my second match in quick succession… but had I have been prevented from playing twice in less than a week, the likelihood is that I’d still be running around on a rugby pitch.

Recovering from a game of rugby is one of the biggest challenges for clubs’ strength

and conditioning and medical departments.

If a player has had a match on a Saturday, he usually feels worse on Monday than he did on Sunday. If you are then expected to do your hardest training on Tuesday – which can include conditioning, weights and an intense double rugby session – it’s a big ask for the body, which will undoubtedly take some form of a niggle into the next game. Inevitably, this leads to an increased chance of a follow-up injury.

One of the top physiotherapists told me he’s not convinced we are seeing more oneoff, horrific injuries but pointed out that the

size of the modern player means it’s taking them longer to recover.

The game moved in a different direction after Jonah Lomu burst on the scene for the All Blacks at the 1995 World Cup. Traditionally, forwards were big and slow, backs were small and fast. Jonah was big and fast but he was a back – and the game changed.

Players understandably wanted to bulk up and the gym became more of a tool than before. Years ago, a 90kg back would have been seen as pretty big, now 90kg is nothing and many are 100kg-plus.

Schoolboy players are doing three gym

sessions a week, getting bigger and stronger and undoubtedly putting huge pressure on their muscles and joints, which their young bodies can’t handle. Natural rugby movement skills are being neglected, players are going in to contact in an upright position and trying to bash their way through the opposition instead of looking for space to run into.

It is essential that players’ bodies are in a more contact-ready position, so that when the collision does come, they are in a more manoeuvrable position to take the hit.

The bottom line is very simple: rugby →

02 England lock Courtney Lawes lands a massive hit on France’s Jules Plisson

→ players are getting bigger, which means that the collisions are getting bigger, hence the increased recovery time. We are flesh and bone and the body can take only so much. As the physio mentioned, if an 80kg and a 110kg athlete are trying to recover from knee injuries, the chances are that the 80kg athlete recovers sooner.

M

anaging players is vital. New Zealand wanted to get the most out of Richie McCaw, so he went on sabbatical in order to help his body reach the 2015 World Cup in as good a condition as possible. Richie said that while not having the weekly “car crash” was nice, if anything his body had become so battle-hardened that it took him a long time to recondition it.

I respect New Zealand for having the confidence and patience to do that for Richie. I was fortunate enough to have a day’s racing with him at Cheltenham and he admitted he feared he could have burned out had something not changed.

London Wasps were pioneers when it came to managing the physical load on their older players. Phil Vickery swears that they managed him so well that they got another couple of seasons out of him simply by removing him from certain training sessions during the week and saving him for the important matches.

Richard Wigglesworth is adamant that he has managed to play in most of the Saracens games with minimal injuries because he and Neil De Kock would only play 50 minutes per game. One week Wiggy would start and come off for De Kock after 50, the next week the roles would be reversed. Initially, he didn’t like it because he wanted to play the whole game but he

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soon realised that he was benefiting as his body didn’t require so much recovery time.

Thicker or stronger protective equipment is not the answer. If anything, the equipment masks the mind. If a player feels added confidence from 1cm of foam padding on his shoulder, he is likely to go into contact even harder! If you make the pads any bigger and thicker, you run the risk of becoming like the NFL, which would be a step too far, though there might be lessons to be learnt from American football.

The Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coach taught his players to tackle in the same way rugby players do. Not only did their defence improve dramatically but they suffered fewer concussions, as players were no longer tackling with their heads. Improved technique is always preferable to having 15 “robots” on the field.

Concussion is the biggest issue in the game at the moment and the one that concerns medical departments the most.

Over the years, we have treated concussion very casually. My first was very early in my career, when I got a brief knockout on the pitch. I don’t remember anything about the game; all I do remember is sitting on the bench during the second half and a few of the Gloucester lads laughing at me because I was so confused about how I got there. I think that just shows how chilled out we all were about it. That attitude stuck until recent years when we began to see some early signs that players were suffering as a result of the impacts that they were taking.

One particularly worrying case is Shontayne Hape, the Bath and England centre who, after several head injuries, was getting headaches throughout the day, would forget where he’d put his keys and, most alarmingly, was finding himself getting unnecessarily agitated with his children due to a lack of patience.

Concussion was changing him as a person.

What is so alarming is that we are seeing these side effects at relatively young ages.

What will they be like in 30 years’ time?

One person suggested to me that an obvious way to reduce neck injuries to front-row players is to get rid of scrums

completely. In which case, we might as well be saying “hello rugby league”.

We can’t remove scrums, play in helmets, stop using the gym or restrict players to 10 games a year, but we should help minimise the risk of injury. I would suggest only allowing them to play one game per week. And I don’t just mean the EPS (Elite Player Squad); why would you look after an EPS player’s health more than a Premiership player’s? Surely the health of all players should be of equal concern.

I would hammer players to improve their technique, so they know how to handle themselves when faced with live contact.

That can start at a young age and continue

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until retirement. I would also sacrifice one of the four weights sessions that some clubs have their academy kids doing every week.

The reason I say “no” to wholesale changes is that rugby is a contact sport.

There is a risk attached whenever a rugby player steps onto the turf. Being prepared to break bones, if necessary, is what the sport is all about. We know the risks that come with it but the love of the game is what drives us on – without any consideration of the consequences. That is what makes rugby the special sport it is. n James Simpson-Daniel played 276 times

for Gloucester and won 10 England caps.

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04 SPEAKER’S CORNER Ed Gorman

VROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT I

t is advisable to look both ways before tinkering with Formula One. I know from experience that serious petrolheads treat their sport more like a religion than a gas-guzzling and noisy (well it used to be) spectacle. But that’s fair enough. Formula One has a long and fascinating history, with heroes, great settings and triumphs and tragedies to beat almost any other sport. In the old days it used to be extremely dangerous. Thankfully that is no longer the case (I would argue that National Hunt jockeys need to be braver than F1 drivers these days). Under the guidance of its extraordinary, octogenarian ringmaster, Bernie Ecclestone, it has been transformed from a chaotic mish-mash of disconnected events into a tightly controlled, lucrative television spectacular.

But there is a problem. Audiences are falling. New contracts with pay-perview channels cloud an already complex picture but the sport is haemorrhaging viewers, with estimates suggesting the global audience has fallen from 600 million to 425 million. At the same time, teams are struggling to find the millions in commercial sponsorship they need to develop competitive cars. It is long past the time for Formula One to change its offer – and quite dramatically. There is always the dream of putting all the drivers into the same machinery and seeing who really is quickest, but that’s never going to happen, sadly. So how about something more achievable? How about moving away from the time-honoured pattern of qualifying on a Saturday and one, long Grand Prix on a Sunday?

Viewing habits have changed and I know I am not alone in finding it hard to stay awake during an entire 70-lap race. There is evidence too that Formula One now appeals more to an older generation. It’s often dad – and sometimes mum – at home watching it on a Sunday afternoon while the kids are out doing something a bit more interesting. There have been some classic, action-packed races in recent seasons but all too often there is a burst of activity at the start before it settles down and the cars go round and round, punctuated by the occasional overtake or pit-stop. Those in the know love this bit. There is the game of strategy playing itself out, the speculation about tyre wear and the commentators finding things to say about paddock stuff (driver-related gossip, recollections of former races, media tittle-tattle) because – honestly – there isn’t too much going on.

My solution would be to recognise that by far the most interesting part of a race is the start. So why not do it twice per weekend? The answer would be to have a slightly shorter Grand Prix, preceded by a compact version – for example a 10-lap sprint. This would put drivers right on their mettle and would demand a completely different, max-out approach. There would be no pit-stops and errors would be difficult to recover from. The appeal of a weekend would be enhanced – doubled in fact – and I, for one, would be sitting up and watching.

Then there is the conundrum of “Quali” as they call it in the paddock. The estimable Martin Brundle reckons the current format is the best yet and he has driven in a few versions. Alas, for me, it is a real switch-off. Boring. The first session is 18 minutes long and is there to sort out the slowest six – or four, or five – drivers depending on how many teams have run out of money. There is no pressure on the top guys at all. Then we have another interminable 15 minutes to get rid of the next tranche. The only exciting part is the last two minutes of the top10 shootout when it’s pedal-to-the-metal time and pole position is up for grabs.

I am not sure what the solution to Qualifying is, but there has to be a shorter, more exciting way of ranking some of the world’s fastest men. My suspicion is that cutting it down to its essentials is the route to go. Shorter, more intense, more risk. When there was heavy rain on the track in Malaysia, the second session was reduced to just one lap. Now that was exciting. The drivers knew the downpour was coming and they had to hit it there and then. It was pressure to perform and mistakes were punished – there was no second chance.

O The most interesting part of a race is the start. So why not do it twice? This would put drivers right on their mettle

ver the years Bernie has tried a few alterations. He proposed once that there should be the facility to deliberately engineer wet races with a trackside sprinkler system. Not a bad idea, but it never happened. Then, last season, he came up with the bizarre concept of double points for the last race – not really a winner – and it was promptly dropped. There has been talk about reversing the top-10 places on the grid. I guess the question is whether Bernie is the man to oversee radical change? Does he get it when it comes to understanding the viewing habits and priorities of new generations of internet-savvy, social media-friendly fans? Other sports have managed to innovate while protecting their core values and traditions – one-day and Twenty20 cricket, for instance. But you need a bold vision to sell new formats.

For my money, Bernie is an undervalued genius. A brilliant deal-maker, he’s also extremely funny, mischievous and loyal. Although he loves throwing a cat among the pigeons, I am not sure he has it in him to do something radical even though, in his mid-80s, he has proved to be one of the great survivors.

When he does go – which will probably be in a box – his era of benign dictatorship that has been so effective for 40 years will come to an end. In his place there is likely to be some form of management by committee – something Bernie himself is not keen on. At best we can hope for a strong central figure reporting back to a board – much as Bernie does now to CVC Capital Partners, the main owner of Formula One. The challenge facing the new regime will be innovation. Will they have the nerve to do what Bernie has failed to? n

Ed Gorman is a freelance journalist and was F1

Correspondent for The Times from 2007 to 2010.

Handcrafted By

06 When Colin Miles got the inside track on the ’68 Oaks he examined his wallet – and his conscience

I am a baby boomer and I was destined to become a bookmaker. Born in November 1945, two months after the end of the Second World War, for the first six years of my life my parents and I lived with my grandparents and those early years shaped the path that I would follow.

My grandfather was a fanatical fan of horse racing and the Arsenal. I still have the Arsenal vs Liverpool 1950 FA Cup programme and have fond memories of reliving with him the two Reggie Lewis goals that won them that memorable final.

By the age of six my party piece at the birthdays of my numerous cousins and friends would be to name every Arsenal player from that final and I needed no urging to repeat his favourite racing saying: “My grandad says Gordon Richards couldn't ride his way out of a paper bag.” The soon-to-beknighted Richards had ridden 4,000 winners but my grandfa-

ther never forgave him for being beaten on a 1/33 chance in a three-runner race at Epsom. Edgar Britt and Scobie Breasley were his heroes as he believed the top Australian jockeys always had an edge over the locals. Needless to say, I always took the same view until, on a certain Friday in June 1957, I watched a 21-year-old Lester Piggott steer the Queen's second string, Carrozza, to victory in the Oaks. I was convinced I had discovered a new superstar. Surely Lester and Scobie have never had any equals riding around Epsom, the most challenging racecourse in the world.

While other children were reading comic books, I was studying the weekly edition of Racing and Football Outlook and Saturday’s Sporting Life. Other than my birthday and Christmas Day, the highlight

07 of my year was the arrival through the post of that special little red book, Cope’s Racegoer’s Encyclopedia. Until my teens I never missed an Epsom Spring meeting or Oaks day. My teachers knew I would be absent without leave and always accepted my mother's sick notes with good grace.

By the time I was in my teens I was making a book on the Grand National and Derby, handing out my prices to my school-mates, friends and family and getting my comeuppance when the grey Nicholas Silver won the 1961 National. My lop-sided book resulted in very heavy losses but luckily a very old friend came to my aid to cover them.

From that day on, whenever I was making a book I was always aware that anything might happen and, when it did, bookmakers had no free passes. We will never forget Dettori Day in September 1996 when Frankie rode seven consecutive winners at Ascot. A very conservative estimate was an industry loss of £30million and Ladbrokes, being the biggest, suffered the most. I still wake up at night hoping that Pat Eddery, riding Better Offer, will get up on the line to beat Fujiyama Crest in that fateful last race of the day but he never does.

It was in June 1962 that my father pointed out an advertisement in the Evening Standard saying ‘Earn £1000 A Year At 21 With Ladbrokes’. I was later told by my boss, Gerald Green, that the only reason he chose me for that first training course was his desire to put together a formidable football team to beat the likes of William Hill, Coral and Mecca and I just happened to be the first centre-half to apply.

I never looked back. By 1964 I was working on the rails as a clerk for Dickie Gaskell and I was privileged to see Arkle win three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups and Sea Bird win the 1965 Derby with a burst of speed that has surely never been repeated in a one-and-a-half mile race. Dickie was the most important influence on my career, the most charismatic gentleman I ever met. His customer portfolio included landed gentry, owners, trainers, Hollywood stars and millionaires and he knew the value of every one of them to the business.

On my return to head office, I was based in the telephone centre as a racing room supervisor and field book clerk, sitting alongside the Racing Manager and, occasionally, legendary Ladbrokes boss Cyril Stein. One spring morning I was summoned to Cyril's office. There were only two possible reasons to be there – to receive a verbal warning for a misdemeanour or be dismissed. Filled with trepidation, I was ushered into his office but was greeted by a boss full of smiles. On the desk was a map of London covered with stickers. My task was to visit all the betting shops marked by yellow stickers and ask for £10 each way on La Lagune, at 33/1, for the Oaks and return the betting slips to his secretary, Mrs Saunders, but to make sure I avoided Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral shops.

Armed with £500 in cash and with his final words (“Don't speak to anyone and do not have a bet yourself”) ringing in my ears, I went straight to the local cafe to gather my thoughts. From my years working on the racecourse I learnt to carry cash with me, just in case, but nothing like this had ever happened to me. I had enough money to invest £10 each way and then noticed that the Burns and Downes betting shop in Berwick Street was not on the list. Owned by Sam Burns, a future chairman of William Hill, in conjunction with Terry Downes, the former British middleweight boxing champion, their shop was the perfect outlet for me. All the major bookmakers were listing prices on the Derby and the Oaks and La Lagune was not quoted, but underneath the prices for both races was the strapline, “33/1 upwards others”.

During the next couple of hours I successfully invested £250 each way on La Lagune at 33/1 for the Oaks and returned the betting slips, safely concealed in an envelope, to Mrs Saunders for the attention of Mr C Stein, with the Burns and Downes betting slip of 10 pounds each way at 33/1 burning a hole in my pocket. At the telephone centre I discreetly sifted through all of the ante-post slips for the Classics but no bets had been struck on La Lagune for the Oaks – my mission was

The Queen walks the course at Epsom in 1968 before The Oaks, which was won by La Lagune (opposite)

still top secret. The following morning, I checked the bookmakers’ advertisements and there was La Lagune at the head of the market, at 5/2, with Ladbrokes. Reading the articles in the newspapers only strengthened my confidence that this little-known French starlet was a probable runner for the race.

One of the perks of my job was to make a book in the grandstand and I would be there at Epsom to cheer her on to victory. La Lagune went to post the 8/11 favourite and was ridden by an unknown French jockey called Gerard Thiboeuf.

Press speculation was more about his ability to steer the filly around Tattenham Corner than the outstanding qualities of the horse. There was no need to worry. In a small field, Gerard brought her wide into the straight, she tracked her way to the centre of the course and never saw another horse in the race, winning comfortably without being asked a serious question.

I do not believe Gerard Thiboeuf ever rode another winner in England, but for first-time Classic-winning trainer Francois Boutin it was the beginning of an illustrious career. My profit on the race was £412 10s – almost six months’ salary – and I was able to buy my first car, a handsome second hand MG Magnette saloon with leather seats. I would never have to meet my girlfriend at the bus stop or the dance hall again.

By the mid-1980’s, as Director of Trading, I would have reg-

ular policy meetings with Cyril Stein and, over coffee after one of them, I asked him if he remembered La Lagune. I still regarded him as a god, but he was a man with a great sense of humour so I did not think I was chancing my arm too much. With a twinkle in his eye, he relayed the story to me. A prominent bloodstock agent had put a call into him asking for a price for La Lagune to win the Oaks and, after agreeing one, it emerged that she had just been booked to travel over to Epsom. She had to be clear favourite for the race if she did run. Knowing Cyril I am sure that after I, and maybe others, had handed in their envelopes of betting slips, he would have accommodated all the other major bookmakers at doubledigit prices as there was no way that he would shorten up a horse from 33/1 to 5/2 without doing so. But that question I was not going to ask.

There may be many people over the years that have backed Classic winners at 33/1 or more and had the privilege of watching them win at odds-on, but there is one thing I do know – none of them ever had as much fun as I did. n Colin Miles joined Ladbrokes in 1962. He was Director of

Trading from 1984-2004 before joining the Hong Kong Jockey Club where he served as Director of Trading until 2010.

LONG SHOTS A HAT-TRICK OF BETS THAT PAID OFF 100/1 In 1991, Paul Simmons and John Carter were able to get odds of up to 100/1 for holes-in-one being scored at five tournaments, including the Open and US Open. Some shops even accepted doubles, trebles and accumulators. When Miguel Angel Jimenez sank the last, at the European Open at Walton Heath, the Essex boys claim to have won more than £300,000.

500/1 When England followed on against Australia at Headingley in 1981, Rodney Marsh and Dennis Lillee couldn’t resist the 500-1 odds offered on a home victory and placed a modest wager. Ian Botham and Bob Willis duly turned the game on its head, England won but Marsh and Lillee – two of the sport's fiercest competitors – had the consolation of winning £7,500 apiece.

1,666,666/1 Bayern Munich beat Valencia 5-4 on penalties to win the 2001 Champions League final, yielding a massive pay-off for one enterprising – and patient – punter. The Manchester United fan had staked 30p on a 15-event accumulator nine months earlier. When the final penalty was saved, he scooped £500,00o – and set a world record for an accumulator in the process.

08

On Election morning, even the distinctly blue sky was a whiter shade of pale and, under it, Chelsea gents looked confident going to work, but they knew they were in peril, especially over a mansion tax and the disappearance of the hereditary non-dom status, not to mention the possibility of five years of wealth deconstruction. Red Ed was lurking round the corner and, even more unpalatable, a very fishy double course of Sturgeon and Salmond was threatening to be served at the traditional Friday lunch the following day.

I thought my election lunch should include at least two cerebral people to talk, so I got hold of Vivien Duffield and Willie Shawcross. Then it occurred to me that there should always be a ludicrous voice of irrationality, so I recruited Ceawlin Thynn and his delectable and considerably more rational wife, the Countess of Weymouth. We huddled round a table at the new Ivy on the King’s Road – not that we struggled to hear each other as Lord Weymouth, the Dame and I were unconsciously loud against the noisy and echoing background of the vast restaurant, where receptionists are trained to laugh even louder if you try to book a table within the next two months.

We all seemed rather depressed with the prospect, at best, of only a minority win for the Conservatives. Then Thynn barked out loud and boasted that he had backed the Tories to win a majority of one to six seats. We all cracked up at his bravado and said he might as well have waved goodbye to his stake there and then. No way, he protested, and challenged us to give him odds. I told him I didn’t want to take advantage of his manifest stupidity.

After my thunderous guests had left, I had a cup of coffee and a cigar in the restaurant garden with the former president and prime minister of Mongolia. As he had ‘won’ a few elections of his own, I asked him what he thought of this one. It then dawned on me that the political landscape of our election was not easily comprehensible to an outsider, so I wasn’t surprised when he merely reacted with a smile. I promptly changed the subject to yaks and yurts.

That evening, most of the blue brigade in London piled into Scott’s, for Michael Spencer’s usual election dinner. Dominic Lawson and the Lords, Bell and Ashcroft, among others, spoke and everyone was probably best described as “cautiously optimistic” because, even within this enclave of die-hard

DIARY Sir David Tang

A very fishy double course of Sturgeon and Salmond was threatening to be served at the traditional Friday lunch

Cardinals of Conservatism, nobody believed Cameron would deliver a majority. Yet when the exit polls appeared at 10pm, there was a surge of jubilation merely on the prediction that the Conservatives were in line to win 316 seats, although 326 were required to be decisive. Nonetheless, this positive indicator was cause for optimism and the assembled diners boisterously downed another barrel of claret.

On my crutches from a recent hip replacement, I left inebriated Mayfair and hobbled over to Jemima Goldsmith’s party at her studio home to see what the Chipping Norton urbanites and other London trendies were up to. All of them were in jeans – corpulent Jeremy Clarkson, delicious Rachel Johnson, Adrian Gill, The Blonde, Andre Balazs etc – all with glasses in hand and chatting over some background music without paying much attention to the giant screens blinking silently in every corner. Jemima introduced me to Monica Lewinsky. I reminded her that the two of us had tea once at the Bel Air garden in LA. But she didn’t remember. So “rots of ross of face” for the Chinaman!

At midnight, I left to collect my wife from the home of Anya Hindmarch, who lives next door to us and was hosting her own election dinner under a giant painting of Churchill. Anya, a core political enthusiast, was in a very good mood and I am certain she will be made a peeress before long. She’ll then be a real bag at Westminster. Maybe she could be commissioned to redesign the dispatch boxes.

At 1am, I dragged my bride home. I felt as if I had just wandered around for the whole day but had done nothing. I was getting tired of the drip, drip of results and jumped into bed, although I left the TV running. I woke up intermittently to see on the flickering box the gradual collapse of the Lib Dems and Labour. Yawning, I saw Farage being defeated and the pathetic Paddy Ashdown trying to wriggle his way out of eating his hat after losing his wager on the exit polls. Then I squinted at the Camerons, looking very satisfied on returning, truly returning, to Downing Street.

The barking mad Earl of Weymouth was right after all, contrary to all the scientific polls, professional predictions and talk of an adamantine ocean of a Labour storm, which actually ended up drowning itself. n

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10

Bebeto scores for 10-man Brazil against World Cup hosts USA in 1994

Four of Fitzdares’ finest recall the painful times when they came closest to netting a fortune ARROWS THROUGH THE HEART Steve Back odds compiler

The 1997 Hungarian GP sticks in my mind. The Hungaroring was a tight track, Monaco without the barriers. Damon Hill was driving for Arrows, a car which certainly wasn’t pulling up trees. However, it was the only one using Bridgestone tyres. It was clear from practice that these tyres were a massive advantage.

Damon qualified third, not because his car was quick but because his rivals’ tyres were wearing out. It was obvious to me that it was going to be a massive advantage. In those days most bookmakers didn’t have Formula One specialists and they were offering 33/1. I told everyone in the office to get on, telling them I made him 4/1 (although I thought he should have been even shorter). A colleague thought it best to pool our money, ring up a firm and ask for a proper bet – £2,000 each way. In those days the big firms weren’t so risk averse.

I remember every second of that race. Damon overtook Michael Schumacher on lap 11 and built up a 35-second lead. With such a potential pay-out, and with the danger of an engine blow (quite common in those days, especially with Arrows), we started selling him on the spreads in running. With three laps left, the hydraulic pump failed, caused

by the failure of a washer valued at a massive 50p. Stuck in third gear, Damon managed to hold on for second place. This meant only a very small profit on the spreads and the each-way money. Like all optimistic punters, I was left thinking that on another day…

YEARNING FOR THE YANKEE DOLLAR Liam Wells broker

On 15 April I hit the Beverley crossbar so hard it is still shaking.

When you have four selections it is almost rude to not have the yankee. The first leg was in the second race at Newmarket. Gifted Master, trained by Hugo Palmer, absolutely dotted up at 4/1. It is only natural to get a tad excited when the first horse goes in. The next three selections were all at Beverley. Montefalcon in the 3.40 was given a peach of a ride by Tony Hamilton. I had taken 5/1 in the morning and the gelding returned a 3/1 winner. Two from two, could this be the day?

Leg three was what made the bet. The selection was Soul Searcher. The horse lost a leg in the market and the starting price was 12/1. When the market speaks so negatively you do question your thinking. However, Danny Tudhope had a wonderful position throughout and Soul Searcher quickened clear to win by a length. I let out a loud, obscure

noise accompanied by a fist pump.

Blimey I was nervous. Getting the calculator out and doing the sums made it worse. A £5 yankee meant I had Aabir in the next to win me over £11k. The Marco Botti-trained colt was my main fancy as well.

Watching at home I tried to act calm but not for long. I let out a huge cry of “come on Luke Morris”, still with a mile to go!

Unfortunately Beverley did not suit the horse and Aabir was a fast finishing second. Bloody second.

THE X FACTOR FUNKS YOU UP Harry Streatfeild head of spread betting

I feel no shame in admitting that I love the The X Factor and, like most things in life, it is even better when you have bet on it. The 2014 series saw the return of Cheryl Cole but it was Fleur East who stole the show for me. I was convinced I had seen the next great thing in UK pop. It stirred similar emotions in me to Matt Cardle’s 2010 performance of The First Time, so with confidence in my pedigree for spotting the winner, I steamed in.

As autumn turned to winter I got weekly reminders of how good I was at talent spotting and how bad everyone else was. I celebrated her performance each week by placing more money on her to win. I could not believe there were idiots out there who

thought she was a 16/1 shot! I was convinced, after her quite brilliant semi-final performance of the then unheard of Uptown Funk, that she was to be crowned winner and, finally, so did everyone else as she was trading at 1/3.

I was counting my money and, with Christmas just around the corner, Fleur was the perfect present. That was as good as it got though, as she drifted throughout the final week. The national grannies had come out in force for their favourite, that outstanding artist Ben Haenow, who was duly crowned champion.

Fortunately Uptown Funk is hardly on the radio these days (!) otherwise each and every play would be a painful reminder of how close I came to winning a small fortune.

A WIN, BUT AT WHAT COST? Denis Mann account manager

In 1994, I struck the biggest bet of my life. I didn’t really see it as a bet, more like finding money in the street. Brazil were playing the USA in the last 16 of the World Cup in Los Angeles and 1/5 was freely available. Freely indeed.

What a gift! I had 10 grand and change in my bank account. But never mind that. What we had here was a first class business opportunity to turn that sum into… 12 grand and change. How could one possibly refuse such a

benevolent offer? Two grand…for watching other people work for 90 minutes. Now that’s what I call entertainment!

In the 44th minute, and with the score 0–0, Leonardo, Brazil’s ‘talisman’, was sent off. Ever heard that old Eagles’ song, ‘I gotta peaceful, easy feelin’? Well I had something of a feeling myself at that moment – the exact opposite of California’s finest. I placed the bucket next to my chair, lest any spill on the carpet.

After 70 minutes, and with 10 Brazilians on the field, I had abandoned all hope. My future flashed before me. ‘Big Issue, sir?

Big issue?’ In the 73rd minute, my new lifelong friend and benefactor Bebeto rifled in the finest goal ever seen from the corner of the six-yard box. Salvation! To hell with the Eagles. David Soul is your man. ‘Don’t give up on us baby. We can still pull through!’

Final score: 1–0 to Brazil.

A hard luck story? Well, a win is not always the straightforward source of joy it should be. It occasionally arrives in tandem with other, less pleasurable aspects, like a near bloody coronary and a headful of grey hair – Grecian 2000 is not cheap.

I’m sure the experience of that particular game must have cost me at least two grand since.

In fact, I’d lay an easy 1/5 on it.

Any takers? n

H

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Q: WHAT DO ARSENAL HAVE TO DO TO WIN THE LEAGUE? A Our football brains, Adam Cheng, George Elek and Gordon Parker, dissect Wenger’s mission

s chelsea celebrated winning the Premier League with something to spare, Arsene Wenger confidently predicted that Arsenal were ready to challenge them next season.

After 11 years without a title win, what has changed? The recent acquisitions of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez raised expectations among Arsenal supporters and senior management. A top four finish and Champions League qualification has been viewed as a success in the past but now is the time for Wenger to turn Arsenal into title winners.

After two years of steady progress and signs of a gifted squad getting themselves into contention, have the shortcomings of the last decade finally been overcome?

Problem positions for Wenger have been the goalkeeper, finding a midfield general to finally step into Patrick Vieira’s shoes, and identifying a genuine No 9 who can ruthlessly finish off all Arsenal’s excellent approach play. Criticism has also been aimed at the manager himself, while the board have also felt the wrath of Gunners’ fans for keeping the purse-strings tied.

Problem positions: Goalkeeper Filling the No 1 shirt has been a headache since Jens Lehmann’s departure in 2008.

Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski and

Wojciech Szczesny have all tried and fallen a fair way short of giving the commanding performances required of a title-winning keeper. Colombian David Ospina may just be the answer. He conceded a mere 9 goals in his first 15 Premier League appearances, at a rate of 0.6 per game – far better than Szczesny’s rate of 1.24 per game in 17 games.

Ospina has also claimed an impressive seven clean sheets and makes 3.22 saves per goal, compared with his Polish rival’s 1.4.

There seems little doubt that Wenger has found a keeper who is an improvement after years of mediocrity between the sticks and Ospina’s form will be key to any title bid next season.

Defensive Midfield: Whilst club captain Mikel Arteta is good on the ball it is debatable whether he was ever really the midfield general Arsenal needed. These days he is frankly far too slow and cannot be seen as a realistic starter if Arsenal are to have genuine title aspirations. Many Arsenal fans are desperate for the return of the perennially injured but undoubtedly talented Abou Diaby, yet it is unrealistic to expect him to scale former heights, and even though he plays deep in the midfield his style of play is not particularly defensive. Neither should be considered by

Wenger to play at the base of the midfield if Arsenal have serious aspirations of knocking Chelsea off the top.

The unheralded Francis Coquelin has done well in the second half of the season.

We can see (below) that Arsenal have fared better with him in the team than without: P16 W13 D1 L2 F34 A11 – with P18 W8 D6 L4 F32 A22 – without Has Wenger found his man or, as many would argue, is Coquelin the type of midfielder Arsenal need whilst not being the finished article himself? An underwhelming loan spell at Charlton did not suggest a top quality ball-winner in the making and one has to ask why it has taken Wenger so long to display faith in the 23-year-old Frenchman.

Statistically, however, Coquelin fares well. His passing accuracy is 85% and, surprisingly, he boasts a better record at breaking down play than both Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic and Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets, winning 57% of his duels. His lack of creativity is no problem for a team whose technical finesse is envied by most clubs in Europe. Next season will be a big test but, despite his modest reputation prior to 2015, it seems Coquelin could be a late bloomer.

Will he become the midfield mainstay that Arsenal so desperately need?

Striker: Historically, teams who have won the Premier League have had a player who has scored 20-plus goals. In the past five seasons this has always been the case and the last team not to have a 20-goal forward was Manchester United in 2008-09, when the goals were shared more evenly among Dimitar Berbatov, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

While Arsenal have some strong attacking talent, the stats show they are going to need a 20-goal striker and doubts persist about whether that man will be Olivier Giroud or Danny Welbeck. Despite encouraging performances for England, Welbeck has yet to register 10 goals in a Premier League season and lacks the composure to lead the front line for a title-winning side.

Giroud has shown steady improvement since arriving at Arsenal in 2012, progressing from a goal in every 3.1 games to a goal in every 1.7 games this season, but he has yet to hit the magical 20.

Interestingly, Giroud (one goal every 118.5 minutes) has a better goal/minute ratio than Harry Kane (one every 120.4 minutes) this season but still lags behind the league’s two world-class strikers: Sergio Aguero (one every 94.1 minutes) and Diego Costa (one every 102.3 minutes). If he stays fit, Giroud is capable of scoring the goals to take Arsenal

13

to the title, but if a world-class striker becomes available, Wenger should have no hesitation in bringing him to the Emirates.

Manager: Arsene Wenger has consistently produced teams that play entertaining football in his 19 years at Arsenal but has long been criticised for his inability to change this style to produce effective results against the bigger teams, especially away from home. Last season Arsenal conceded 17 goals in their three away games against other members of the top four, losing all of them. This year results have improved and, even though a gung-ho finish at home to Monaco ultimately caused their exit from the Champions League, they have shown a resilience and tactical ability to alter their

play in certain matches. The 2-0 win at Manchester City could be seen as the turning point. Wenger will need to ensure that the mentality of defensive responsibility remains a high priority for attacking players such as Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla and make tough selection decisions, as he did that day when he sacrificed Ozil’s grace for Alex OxladeChamberlain’s extra energy.

Wenger has also been too slow to add players to his squad when glaring faults have been evident. This was the case earlier this season in defensive positions, where Calum Chambers at full-back and Nacho Monreal at centre-half were completely out of their depth in games such as the defeat at Swansea. The acquisition of Gabriel, who Wenger believes will be “a great central

defender”, should avoid such problems next season, but his ability to react in the transfer market to the changing circumstances of his squad could be the difference between Arsenal winning their first title in 12 years or having to settle for another top-four finish.

Financial Muscle

Conclusion Whilst never really challenging in recent years, Arsenal have never been out of the top four. Surely Wenger now has all the tools in his armoury to mount a serious title bid. Well worth a bet at the 5/1 on offer. n

PLAYER GOALS How many goals will Memphis Depay score for Manchester United? Will Sergio Aguero win the Golden Boot again? Will Harry Kane repeat or better his amazing tally next year?

Arsenal announced pre-tax profits in 2015 of £11.1 million, despite a record transfer spend of over £100 million since the start of 2014.

As Arsenal have been able to pay off the debt they built up after their move to the Emirates Stadium, Wenger now has cash reserves totalling £138.8 million to invest in world-class players who become available in the next few seasons.

Player Goals is our unique spreadbetting market: we will quote on any Premier League player’s goals in the 2015-2016 season. Early-bird prices:

Injuries

Alexis Sanchez ARS . . . . . . . . 14.5 –15

Since 2002 Arsenal have been plagued with injuries, as shown here: Arsenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891 Manchester United . . . . . . . . . . . 794 Tottenham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788 Newcastle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777 Everton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666 Chelsea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622 Manchester City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596 Aston Villa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578 Liverpool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553 If their medical staff are as professional as it appears, this reflects a prolonged period of bad luck. If these statistics do improve next season and the squad avoids injuries to key players in defensive positions, where their cover is less strong, Arsenal are very likely to compete higher up the table.

Christian Benteke AV . . . . . . . 13 –13.5 Eden Hazard CHE . . . . . . . . . 14 –14.5 Yannick Bolasie CRY . . . . . . . . . 3.5 –4 Leighton Baines EVE . . . . . . . . 3.5 –4 Jordan Henderson LIV . . . . . . . . 6 –6.5 Sergio Aguero MC . . . . . . . . . 18 –18.5 Memphis Depay MU . . . . . . . . . 6 –6.5 Graziano Pelle SOU . . . . . . . . 11.5 –12 Ryan Shawcross STO . . . . . . . . . 1.5 –2 Gylfi Sigurdsson SWA . . . . . . . . 6 – 6.5 Harry Kane TOT . . . . . . . . . . 13.5 –14 Troy Deeney WAT . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 –7 Chris Brunt WBA . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – 2.5 Stewart Downing WH . . . . . . . . 4.5 – 5 Sports spread betting involves a high level of risk. Remember to bet responsibly.

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16 Stand by for a feast of rugby as 20 teams battle it out to reach the World Cup final at Twickenham on 31 October.

SEAN FITZPATRICK NZL 92 CAPS, 1986-1997

WILL GREENWOOD ENG 55 CAPS, 1997-2004 How will your side do?

England to make the final, I’m convinced of it. Home stadium, crowd going wild and they have beaten everyone but South Africa there in the last three years. They are a young, tough team, getting better by the day and with a sense of duty, post-Olympics, not to fail. On the negative side, they haven't beaten big teams week in, week out and they always seem to have a bad game in them every fifth match or so.

Young player to watch Bath’s Anthony Watson, a brilliant attacking player with incredible speed and agility.

Getting tougher with every training session.

Most pivotal player in the team George Ford, the organiser, the on-field leader; he has the ability to thread the eye of a needle with his passing or kicking out of hand.

Who will win?

New Zealand, but I hope Ireland.

TIP

Acculmulator on New Zealand, South Africa, England and Ireland to be the four semi-finalists.

How will your side do?

They are currently ranked No 1 in the world which will fill them with confidence. They have player depth, which is something they have built on from 2011. And they have a number of senior leaders, which is vital in World Cups. Injuries are always a concern and being the defending champions is an added weight, but the All Blacks usually thrive on those sorts of challenges.

Young player to watch Most successful World Cup teams have had a good No 10. If England do win the World Cup, they’ll need George Ford to star.

Most pivotal player in the team The captain is vital. All successful World Cup-winning teams have had an outstanding leader on the pitch.

Who will win?

I pick New Zealand to win, providing we win our pool. We would then have three incredibly hard knockout games: France or Ireland in the quarter-finals, then potentially South Africa in the semis. If we survive that, we will play Wales, Australia or England in the final.

A tough road to achieve the ultimate goal but if anyone is going to do it, the All Blacks will.

TIP

I would never bet on New Zealand.

I’ve asked my good friend, who happens to be French, and he has picked France. It helps that they are 20/1. My chosen charity is the Laureus Sports for Good Foundation.

MATT GITEAU AUS 92 CAPS, 2002-2011 How will your side do?

With our open style game, slick passing, and strong ball carries, we have the ability to attack from anywhere on the pitch which makes us a constant threat. Added to this we have some serious game breakers, that when cut loose can cause any team some serious trouble. Our set piece has improved immensely over the past year but our main weakness has to be our accent!

Young player to watch Centre Tevita Kuridrani, before his injury was a man in real form. He gives us pace and power in a pivotal and very important position.

Most pivotal player in the team Izzy Folau has made the number 15 jersey his own. The more he is involved the more dangerous we are!

Who will win?

New Zealand are the form team since the last World Cup!

THINUS DELPORT RSA 18 CAPS, 2000-2003 How will your side do?

I’m very optimistic that we will win our third World Cup. The Springboks’ game suits knockout rugby and they have a strong reliance on physicality, set pieces and kicking.

They can struggle against a high intensity, ball-in-hand approach though, especially against New Zealand.

Young player to watch Fly-half Handre Pollard is only 21 but he is a precocious talent and scored two tries against the All Blacks in September.

Most pivotal player in the team Duane Vermeulen, a big, ball-carrying loose forward.

Who will win?

It really is going to be South Africa!

TIP

TIP

Australia to win pool A @ 15/8

TIP Fizdares has given each of our experts a £100 free bet with all their winnings going to a charity of their choice

Ireland to reach the final, providing they win their group.

17 Here, eight legends of the game give us the lowdown on their country’s chances and make their predictions…

RORY LAWSON SCT 31 CAPS, 2006-2010

TOM SHANKLIN WAL 70 CAPS, 2001-2011

DIMITRI YACHVILI FRA 60 CAPS, 2002-2012 How will your side do?

French flair will get the team a long way (as long as it has not been lost along the way...).

What worries me is that there’s not a lot of experience among the players and results have been poor for the past four years.

Young player to watch Full-back Brice Dulin, from Racing Metro, could make a big impact.

How will your side do?

Wales should have the quality for the quarterfinals but I’m not sure they will top their pool.

If they do, they could reach the final. If not, they'll have to beat South Africa and New Zealand to reach the final, which is tough. We have an experienced team, who know each other's games and understand how Warren Gatland wants to play. The big ball-carriers in the backs are very difficult to stop, the defence is strong and they play simple, uncomplicated rugby. I worry about the predictability of Wales’ play and their reliance on the set piece, though. If the scrum and lineout don't function, Wales struggle. The team is not creative enough at present.

Young player to watch Ospreys scrum-half Rhys Webb or Liam Williams on the wing.

Most pivotal player in the team Thierry Dusautoir is a strong ball carrier and fast with it. As captain and one of the flankers, his performances will be vital.

Most pivotal player in the team Prop Samson Lee is key at scrum time and they need him to be fit.

Who will win?

All Blacks.

Who will win?

All Blacks to win if Wales don't.

TIP

It has to be New Zealand to win the World Cup again.

TIP

New Zealand to win, outside bets Wales and Ireland.

RONAN O’GARA IRE 128 CAPS, 2000-2013 How will your side do?

There is massive excitement, even expectancy, that Ireland will reach the semi-final at least. The group stages determine that if Ireland beat France, they will play Argentina in the quarter-finals.

Anything beyond that will be a bonus for us. A confident Ireland is a dangerous Ireland.

Young player to watch Robbie Henshaw is only 21 but he could become a world star if the current trajectory of his graph continues. He has a great attitude and is skiful, strong and quick.

Most pivotal player in the team Paul O’Connell. We are 50 per cent less effective if he suffers an injury. He’s the boss and our talisman.

Who will win?

It’s the most open World Cup ever and impossible to predict. If not Ireland, then New Zealand.

TIP

Ireland to beat France in the pool stages… lump on!

How will your side do?

Hmmm, almost impossible to call. The form of Glasgow and Edinburgh domestically would suggest that we have the players to compete, and snippets of the Six Nations campaign highlighted this. However, there were far too many unforced errors and mistakes, both with and without the ball, to win Test matches. I believe we've got a great group of young players in need of a few more leaders to take the squad forward. Having said that, I'd be disappointed if we didn't get out of the group…

Young player to watch Finn Russell – a young fly-half with all the skills. Must learn fast but he has a great temperament for the top level.

Most pivotal player in the team Richie Gray: behemoth, world-class athlete and clever footballer. I want to see him develop a harder edge and he has to grow into a leader.

Who will win All Blacks.

TIP

New Zealand to win the World Cup for the third time.

18

TRAINING IN THE

By Shane Warne Australia 1992-2007

By Derek Underwood, MBE England 1966-82

the whole structure of cricket has changed completely from when I played.

We would report to our counties in March, and would come back fit enough to pass the pre-season fitness tests. We would have general fitness training in the morning at Kent University and more specific net training in the afternoons, Monday to Friday. Then we would play a few pre-season practice matches before starting the county games at the beginning of April.

The schedule was very hectic: we played every day except Sunday and that’s how we kept fit. We lived by the old adage that if you bowled a lot, you would be fit to bowl.

The accent was very much on playing all the time rather than just mundane fitness sessions. I always say that bowling is a low mentality profession – plug away, line and length, until there’s a mistake. Sooner or later every batsman makes a mistake.

After six weeks of mostly fitness work, we were all craving actual match practice, and bad weather was a pain. Even in April there could be snow on the ground, which meant being confined to the cricket school.

I was selected to play for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in Australia in 1979, which gave me an opportunity to train and play with the world’s best cricketers, although it wasn’t all hard work. By that stage, players had developed their own routines. Some would even stop after 20 minutes if they thought they were in good nick! My routine was to bowl five or six overs every day of my career to someone in the nets. It was all about getting a rhythm, then I’d do a bit of running if I felt I needed to work off some stiffness. And then it was into the dressing room for a cup of tea.

When we went on tour, we had a physio, an assistant manager and a manager. And that was about it. No dietician – we had our own diets, our own methods. As for the level of analysis today – poring over stats and digital film may well have helped me but would it have made a dramatic difference to my career? I doubt it. I know whether I’ve bowled well or not so I might punch someone on the nose who suddenly told me how to do it!

Derek Underwood raises money for the Primary Club, a charity that provides sports and recreational facilities for the visually impaired. Visit: www.primaryclub.org

in the days before the first Test of a series we would focus on the admin: checking into the hotel, getting our gear ready, sponsorship signings etc. Then we moved on to the physical side, where I mostly concentrated on getting a rhythm to my bowling. This takes as long as it needs – anything from 30 minutes to five hours. I also worked on my batting and catching and then there was usually some physio on my dodgy shoulder.

Then there’s also the mental side. I’ve always felt there were three things you need to feel before a Test match: happy, fresh and prepared. You need to find time to be relaxed, crossing out any distractions, like family, friends and business. Your body needs to feel fresh and ready to go.

We spent a lot of time in the nets but the hardest thing was trying to simulate a match atmosphere. The guys who took the training seriously were the most competitive ones. Allan Border was really good: he batted in the nets the exact way he played the game. Ricky Ponting too. For me it was all about intensity so I’d try and bowl to lots of different players in the nets.

Training in general changed a lot during my career. At the beginning, it was generally just two hours in the nets – we would simply go at it hammer and tongs.

Then there was a lot of catching practice – slip catching, fast catching, high ball catching etc. In my latter years I suppose my training was hampered and I couldn’t bowl as much as I would have liked because of my injuries. But towards the end of my career the training became more specific and we did a lot more individual work; batsmen would practise with ball machines, bowlers would go and bowl by themselves in the net. This was a sign of the times and also the general development of the team.

Individuals knew exactly what they needed.

The young pups in the team were managed slightly differently, however.

I’m probably fitter now than at some times during my career. There were three or four years where I was way too heavy, around 1998-2001. This was principally caused by my shoulder, knee and finger operations. I couldn’t really do the physical stuff that I wanted to do. Apart from that, I was reasonably good.

Sports scientists and dieticians have moved in and taken over the training process and I think we need to be wary.

They all have a role to play within sport, but

I don’t think they should be our first port of call. We’re relying too much on sports science and it’s not right. I think we should trust our brains and bodies first – what we see with our own eyes – and then we can use computers and science for confirmation. I never really used dieticians or shrinks. It wasn’t for me. I didn’t really believe in it.

I wouldn’t say batting was of secondary importance for me. I batted No 8 throughout my career, so I was in a pretty important position and I was lucky enough to score more than 3,000 Test runs. Without sounding too big-headed, if my bowling hadn’t been so successful I probably would have tried harder with my batting. I would never usually have a net against the bowlers, instead I would simply spend 20-30 minutes practicing specific shots.

Long-haul flights were always pretty legendary. David Boon drank 56 tinnies on the flight from Sydney to London for the 1989 Ashes. What people didn’t realise is he had six cans in the bar before he hopped on the plane. I couldn’t see that sort of thing happening today. n The Shane Warne Foundation raises money for seriously ill and underprivileged teenagers in Australia. Visit: www.tswf.com.au

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COME ON MY SON Max Muinos tells Ian Carnaby how buying To-Agori-Mou led to a sensational summer’s racing and a bitter rivalry

W

hen max muinos talks, the memories pour forth like old treasures suddenly released from a chest in the attic. Sometimes his adored wife Andry will correct him, not because of a factual error – his mind is as sharp as a tack – but because she remembers the sequence of events slightly differently. An eminently sensible man, Max knows when to debate the point and when to wander off and make a cup of tea. After half a century together, theirs remains a heart-warming relationship.

This is a story about the best horse they owned, To-Agori-Mou, and the sometimes bitter rivalry with Robert Sangster and the great Vincent O’Brien, owner and trainer of fellow Irish 2,000 Guineas contender Kings Lake. The two colts met on four occasions in 1981 with honours even in the end, though not before press, public and even the late Julian Wilson on BBC television had expressed strong views on certain controversial issues. More of that anon.

One could just as easily have written about Max and Andry’s extraordinary story: how the Spaniard from La Coruña in Galicia, having attended catering college in Switzerland, arrived in London and met the Greek Cypriot girl from Kato Zodia and went from waiting on tables to managing and owning clubs and restaurants. At one point they had four establishments on the go at the same time and their sheer hard graft eventually made owning racehorses possible.

London is key to the story. Max was always going to make his mark there and Andry was determined to follow the path taken by her father, a tailor, and sister. She seems to have been in love with the aura and vitality of the city before she had even seen it, going against her mother’s wishes and giving up a job in the treasury to follow her instincts in the 1960s.

Whether the ‘aura and vitality’ extended to Harringey greyhound stadium is debatable, but the family lived close by and when she met Max, who lived with them before the marriage, a night at the dogs became a fairly regular treat.

Max’s first job was as a waiter at the Howard Hotel, near Temple underground station, on £7 6s a week. He stayed for three years, then had a spell at the Olympic casino in Bayswater, owned by Harry Demetriou, who had horses with Capt H Ryan Price. But the breakthrough, unlikely as it may seem, came when he and Andry saw an advertisement in the London Evening Standard for a couple to run a coffee shop in Harlesden. The deal included the profit from one of the fruit machines on the premises – a small but significant upturn in their fortunes. There followed a spell as catering manager at a swish golf and country club in Surrey, the money was good and they saved hard. Becoming a restaurateur was now rather more than a dream and it finally became reality when they bought the Taurus on Chiswick High Road, remaining there for several years. The comedian Tommy Cooper was a regular.

It still took a long time for racehorse ownership to become viable but Max and Andry were now in a position to buy more outlets. There was a steak house in Feltham and a very smart private members’ luncheon venue, the Punch Club in Eastcheap. However, the most important was Le Carrosse, a French restaurant in Chelsea where there was plenty of racing talk. A few years went by before a friend agreed to write to Guy Harwood on Max’s behalf. The trainer, sensing a significant opportunity, turned up at the restaurant and invited them down to Pulborough.

“There was a bit of a false start because the first horse we had was pretty hopeless and came

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fifth in a seller!” laughed Max. “But Guy apologised for that and bought three more and I went to see them. Andry was too tired to go but I had strict instructions to report back on the colour because she only liked bays, not chestnuts. Anyway, I took all three! Ela-Mana-Mou was the cheapest of them at 6,000 guineas.”

For a virtual newcomer to racing, this turned out to be an astonishing purchase. Ela-Mana-Mou, named by Andry and Greek for ‘Come On My Darling’, not only beat Troy in the Royal Lodge Stakes as a two-year-old but actually started favourite to repeat the dose the following year in the Epsom Derby. He finished fourth behind his old rival but won the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot and was sold to Simon Weinstock at the end of the campaign for 500,000 guineas, moving from Harwood to Dick Hern, for whom he won the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. If Max regretted the sale, he never said so. Indeed, throughout his career he remained calm and courteous, a true gentleman. (And, lest we forget, it looked a very shrewd deal at the time, netting a huge profit for someone so new to the game.)

All seemed to be going extremely well but appearances can be deceptive. Andry had suffered the desperate sadness of losing two babies and had more or less given up on producing an offspring. But then, while Ela-Mana-Mou was still racing, she conceived again. “I was so nervous I didn’t even go to the doctor’s for three months”, she said. “I just prayed that everything would be all right”. To their great joy, she produced their son Antonio.

And so to To-Agori-Mou, loosely translated as ‘Come On My Son’, who was bought for 20,000 guineas a couple of months before Ela-Mana-Mou was sold, in December 1979. By top-class sprinter Tudor Music out of a winning hurdler called Sarah Van Fleet, To-Agori-Mou won three times as a youngster before finding the Ballydoyle colt Storm Bird half a length too good in the Dewhurst at Newmarket. His path to the 2,000 Guineas became easier when injury ruled Storm Bird out for the whole of the following season. To-Agori-Mou was pipped in the Craven Stakes by Kind Of Hush but returned to Newmarket as 5/2 favourite for the Guineas and duly won under regular jockey Greville Starkey, though by only a hard-fought neck from outsider Mattaboy. Max and Andry had a Classic winner on their hands, only a couple of years after dipping a toe in racing’s very expensive waters. The logical target was the Irish 2,000 Guineas and To-Agori-Mou started 9/10 favourite. However, he was opposed by another Ballydoyle colt in Kings Lake, who made much of the running for Pat Eddery until Starkey came with his challenge inside the two-furlong pole. Kings Lake then edged left and bumped the favourite at least two or three times, as the head-on camera shows clearly enough, before holding on by a neck.

When examining what happened next (and indeed over the following weeks), the Curragh stewards clearly felt To-Agori-Mou had been inconvenienced, to say the least, and soon reversed the placings. There was no argument at the time and the whole affair might soon have been forgotten. But Robert Sangster – arguably the most powerful owner in European racing until the Maktoums hit their stride – was not about to give in easily. Whether the private and retiring Vincent O’Brien willingly went along with it is hard to say but an appeal was lodged with the stewards of the Turf Club, the regulatory body in Ireland and, after a sixhour hearing, Kings Lake was reinstated. The decision was roundly criticised in the British and Irish press. The ‘six-hour’ aspect is irrelevant. This was a highly sensitive matter, with everyone in racing awaiting the outcome. The Turf Club officials were hardly likely to go in and come out with a glib statement in half an hour. They had to appear dignified and thorough, but feelings were running even higher than they supposed. Major Victor McCalmont, officiating at the Curragh, promptly resigned as an Irish Turf Club steward when Kings Lake was reinstated.

“Our disqualification of Kings Lake had been an important although unpleasant decision to make”, he said. “It had also been one of the easiest during my 15 years as a steward. When my authority is undermined there is no point in making myself available ever again to act as a steward at an Irish meeting”. The consensus was that the Turf Club had bowed to ‘important’ connections. Sangster, certainly a very important figure in the racing and breeding industries in Ireland, remained amiable enough with the British press, many of whom had accepted his champagne in the past. Sangster was always a very good host. But when he went on television at Ascot he encountered presenter Julian Wilson in the kind of steely mood few had witnessed before.

After Sangster had offered some flimsy reason for the appeal, Wilson looked at him and said: “Oh, come off it, Robert,” as if the whole affair was much more about making Kings Lake an established Classic winner. Sangster remained genial but Wilson’s evident disgust hit home. It is hard to imagine any of today’s broadcasters nailing so important a figure quite so effectively. Wilson was appalled, as were many others.

Not quite the final act, though arguably the most dramatic, came in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, where Starkey rode To-Agori-Mou more positively and held Kings Lake by a neck. As Starkey turned in the saddle just after the line he appeared to give Eddery a ‘V’ sign – and this in front of royalty. Starkey’s Christian name just happens to have a ‘v’ in it, a point not lost on The Sun, which managed to incorporate two fingers in its headline the following day. “I had no hard feelings about it all,” Max recalls. “I don’t think Vincent did either, and I shook hands with him at Ascot, but Guy Harwood didn’t.”

There was precious little between the two colts, of course. Kings Lake just had the better of things when they were first and second in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood but To-Agori-Mou made it 2-2 (by a nose) when both were beaten by Northjet in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville. To-Agori-Mou raced more often than many top-class horses would today and held his form extremely well, winning the Waterford Crystal Mile at Goodwood, with Lester Piggott deputising for Starkey, who was suspended. He attempted 10 furlongs in the Champion Stakes but could manage only fifth, no disgrace after a long, hard season with many close finishes. A subsequent stint in America, where he was trained by John W Russell, was unsuccessful. “I have little time for regret because what’s past is past but I think that was possibly a mistake because the trainer didn’t know how to train him,” said Max. He and Andry have had horses with other trainers, including Ron Boss, but it would be nigh-on impossible to replicate their earlier success.

They went with Guy Harwood at exactly the right time and it was good news for all concerned.

Retired now and living in Marbella, Max and Andry Muinos are all things to all people – a lovely couple with a fund of stories, some amazingly successful days and the occasional setback, like the restaurant just along the coast they bought at the wrong time. Max ponders that decision but recovers quickly, telling racing stories, mixing in the odd Lester Piggott impression (“You should let me ride that horse, y’know”) and making sure the maitre d’ and the waiters where we dine are happy. They are. His restless energy when he was setting everything up must have been something to behold. It’s still pretty impressive now. n Ian Carnaby is a sports writer, broadcaster and columnist for the Racing Post and Irish Field.

UNDERDOGS SURPRISE WINS SPORTINGTHREE UNDERDOGS KEITH DELLER VS ERIC BRISTOW BDO WORLD DARTS FINAL 1983 Odds: 100/1 at the start of the tournament “He's not just an underdog, he's the underpuppy,” said the late Sid Waddell of 23-year-old Keith Deller's chances of beating Eric Bristow. With the match poised at five sets all, Bristow passed up the chance to go for bullseye and take the leg, believing his younger opponent would never check out 138. Deller then nailed treble 20, treble 18, double 12 and become the first qualifier to be crowned World Champion.

NORTON’S COIN CHELTENHAM TRIUMPH GOLD CUP 1990 Odds: 100/1

JAMES DOUGLAS VS MIKE TYSON WORLD TITLE FIGHT TOKYO 1990 Odds: 40/1

Norton’s Coin won a valuable race at Cheltenham in 1989 but ran very poorly at Kempton and Ascot. “He was more a candidate for last than first,” said Sirrel Griffths, a Welsh cattle farmer with just three horses in training and who only entered Norton’s Coin in the Gold Cup having missed the deadline for a preferred Festival handicap.

Despite hitting the third fence hard, Norton’s Coin pinged the last and ran on to defeat 10/11 favourite Desert Orchid.

Tyson had a record of 37 wins from 37 fights, 33 by way of a knockout. Douglas was talented and brought an emotional edge to the fight, having promised his dying mother he would bring the world title back to Ohio.

Rocked by a lethal Tyson uppercut in the eighth, Douglas just survived thanks to a long count. Two rounds later he put Tyson on the deck with a huge combination. Certainly the biggest shock of 20th century boxing.

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TWITTER WARS Fitzdares’ resident blogger Joe Hodgson on how an open medium can cause big problems for our sports heroes

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witter is here to stay.

In an insidious, Sepp Blatter-esque manner, Twitter has managed to entrench itself deeply into our modern world. And whether you like it or not – are immersed in it or not – its prominence and influence on our daily doings is only going to increase.

The appeal is obvious: in theory, we’re hearing directly from our heroes. Why, they could be sitting on the sofa right next to us! We’re getting their news, their lives, their thoughts – immediate, unfiltered, and directly from the horse’s mouth. The trouble is, and particularly true of the sporting world, some horses are better communicators than others.

The knowledge that sporting celebrities have such a platform from which to promulgate to their thousands, even millions, of followers must turn PR managers into veritable Nigel Pearsons – frothing, bug-eyed, ranting balls of unhinged confusion and incomprehension. How else would one come to terms with the fact that Liverpool’s Italian striker Mario Balotelli (3.57 million) has the same number of followers – and potential readers – as, say, The Guardian (also 3.57 million)?

It could be argued that a tweet’s 140-character limit doesn’t offer much of a platform for profundity and insight. But then, sadly, there is often very little profundity and insight on offer from our sporting elite. In fact, for many, 140 characters is far, far too many…

the barbs flying from another, less likely sporting discipline that the impact is greater.

Earlier this year we were granted an intriguing insight into the competitive world of longdistance running after Mo Farah and Andy Vernon revealed their previously unpublished thoughts on each other during an appropriately lengthy Twitter tussle. What began with Vernon questioning the quality of the field for Farah’s upcoming race quickly escalated into a bitter squabble, with Farah ultimately labelling Vernon “an embarrassment” to the sport, one whom Taylor Swift could probably outrun. Ouch! Both sides have publicly apologised for their actions but the mask of the softly spoken Farah had briefly slipped, revealing a glimpse of the ruthless Olympic competitor.

This is what a lot of Twitter users and followers secretly hope for. They want to be in the changing room, listening to the endless back-chat and the bickering. Nobody expects poetry, or even desires it: everyone just wants honesty. They want to see their heroes display the same

The aforementioned social media scion Balotelli recently urged Old Trafford to “stand up and shut up” after City, his former club, took an early lead in the Manchester derby (they promptly lost). Greek athlete Paraskevi Papachristou managed to tweet herself out of the 2012 Olympics after posting an offensive remark just days before the competition. And Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver Stevie Johnson went one better by potentially tweeting himself out of eternal salvation after famously blaming God when he bungled a pivotal catch in 2010.

And it isn’t just individuals.

Whoever runs Manchester City’s Twitter account thought it would be a good idea to mention Francesco Totti’s lack of goals on

English soil ahead of their Champions League clash with Roma. When Totti inevitably scored, he thanked the tweet for bringing him luck. West Brom helped to re-ignite the career of Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini after making light of his imminent arrival onto the pitch last year. Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, had to apologise to Liverpool after a mocking tweet was sent, leading to the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse of the Twitter-age: “We’re sorry, our account must have been hacked”.

Perhaps it’s not too surprising that football-pitch ‘banter’ occasionally seeps onto Twitter.

After all, such provocation is a mainstay of the terraces and the post-match pubs. It’s when we see

passion they do, flaws and all.

If Twitter is indeed here to stay, we might as well enjoy it as best we can. Even if not strictly ‘honest’, it is at least amusing.

I leave you with a choice extract from the protracted Twitter ‘feud’ between Gary Lineker and Piers Morgan. n

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After a lifetime at Goodwood Balthazar Fabricius shares his approach to a day’s racing on the Downs

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is grace the 10th duke of Richmond gave my father the job of running his beloved racecourse, Goodwood, when I was four. Memories of my childhood are framed by the sweep of Goodwood estate. I may have learned to walk on Trundle Hill. I certainly learned to drive on the legendary motor-racing circuit – which may explain the points on my licence.

Goodwood Racecourse dates from 1802 when the third Duke – grandson of Charles II – crafted a track in the unorthodox setting of the South Downs. Its location gives us one of the world’s most stunning sporting spectacles: Glorious Goodwood, the meeting run at the West Sussex course over five days at the end of July.

Guests of the Richmond family historically came to Goodwood for their summer holidays, a tradition that continues today. Racegoers stay locally with friends and family – racing one day, a trip to the seaside the next, and dining in the excellent local pubs (the Richmond Arms is a must).

A sartorial emphasis on panamas – rather than morning dress – adds to the relaxed elegance. Cool is as cool does, and cool has always done Goodwood.

No better can this be observed than at the Secret Garden. Tucked away behind the Charlton Hunt Stand, it is something completely original and well worth trying.

The Double Trigger Club is a similarly excellent spot to base oneself for the day, with easy access to all parts of the course.

It was at Goodwood that the DNA of racing was changed forever. Following the

1974 Sussex Stakes – in which the Americanbred Ace of Aces destroyed the best milers in Europe – the great Irish breeder John Magnier, over a drink with the late Robert Sangster, solved the challenge of getting his hands on the best stallions. The key, Magnier told Sangster, was to raid the American sales for yearlings. In his own words, the latter promptly inhaled a glass of Roederer Cristal “like it was draft lager”.

With Magnier gutting the catalogues and Sangster’s financial firepower in the sales rings, the pair went on to own most of the best horseflesh seen since.

The Sussex Stakes has been a true theatre of greatness in recent years. In 2011, Frankel took on the previous winner, Canford Cliffs, in a hotly-anticipated ‘Duel of the Downs’. He won by five lengths, and again by six lengths the following year. The odds of 1/20 tell you everything about this historic horse. The eagerness of his trainer, the late Sir Henry Cecil, to incorporate the Sussex Stakes into Frankel’s career twice – the only such race – underlines Goodwood’s special place in racing. This year, the Sussex Stakes’ prize fund is £1 million, thanks to a cash injection by new festival sponsors Qatar. Prize money for the week totals a glorious £4.5 million.

So where best to watch this wonderful fare? Box Five of the March Grandstand is probably the most sought-after invitation of the week; the private domain of one of Goodwood’s most loyal patrons, it is a discreet oasis of generous refreshment, wonderful company and healthy adrenaline, overlooking the finishing line.

If you are footloose in the Richmond Enclosure, my favourite perch is at the top of the steps that lead up to The Duke’s box on the March Stand. Whisper it quietly but it is the perfect vantage point: you have a clear view, at a tantalising angle, of the horses thundering down the straight towards the winning post; the big screen is right in front of you so you can see the final betting shows and the early stages of the race, which would otherwise require binoculars; and as the horses cross the line, you can turn and nip down the back of the Grandstand and make a beeline for the

Winners’ Enclosure. Best of all, however, on a clear day you have the South Downs laid out before you, and if you turn 180 degrees, you can see the Isle of Wight. It is a remarkable position, and one which lends perspective and peace amid the hustle and bustle of a busy day at the races.

G

etting to the racecourse early is something of a family tradition, one I fully intend to pass down to my children. Rarely am I happier than when, armed with my Fitzdares racecard holder, I walk into the bottom of the March Grandstand for my morning coffee and station myself facing the brilliant newspaper tipping blackboard. Race by race, one can see very clearly what each tipster has selected – I enjoy looking for those who go against the grain. Invariably it is a wily coyote like Rob Wright, in The Times. As bookmakers, we live or die by our opinions and I am in awe of those tipsters who stand the test of time. Some can’t hack it. Some keep producing the goods. Tom Segal is one of the best; a master of his trade.

Which is my favourite Goodwood win over the years? I have misty-eyed memories of Ouija Board, Double Trigger and Illustrious Blue, but first prize goes to a lesser-known animal called Phantom Wind.

Prince Khalid Abdullah’s filly won the 2004 Oak Tree Stakes at 16/1, with the Fabricius shirt firmly on the line. Better still, I had tipped it to legendary Ivy, Wolseley and Scott’s doorman Sean McDermott, who has rescued more than one Valentine dinner since! n

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FITZDARES OBJET D’ART The psychological overtones and mathematical complexities of Cribbage provide an excitement that rivals anything offered by its more affluent sisters, Poker and Bridge riginating 500 years ago, Cribbage has certainly survived the test of time. It is the most English game in the world – a rigmarole of arcane scoring and insider language, and the only card game you can legally play in the pub for unlimited stakes. We believe it to be a brilliant game and so commissioned our own hand-crafted boards.

O

HOW TO PLAY Cribbage is played with 52 cards, no jokers. Kings rank high, aces low.

Players cut to deal, then take turns.

Players start with six cards and discard two face down into ‘the Crib’ or ‘the

Box’. This is effectively an extra hand scored for the dealer. The dealer aims to discard cards that will give a good chance of a high-scoring hand whereas the opponent aims to confound this objective. Most of the game’s skill is down to the choice of cards at this point.

Points are scored for various card combinations, either in hand or during play. Each player's score is registered by a peg moving along a track of holes on a board. The first to score 121 points wins. The opponent begins The Play by laying one of his four cards face up while clearly stating its numerical value. The dealer then

lays a card and announces the total of both cards. Play continues until neither player can continue without taking the total above 31.

For The Show, each player adds the score of their cards. The nondealer shows first; this is important

because it can often make the difference between winning and losing. Finally, the dealer counts the score of the cards in The Crib and adds these points to his total. After the dealer has scored his crib, all cards are collected and the deal passes to the player on his left. n

ONE FOR HIS NOBS, TWO FOR HIS HEELS CRIBBAGE CRIBBAGESPEAK SPEAK Hauling lumber – Usually refers to intentional Over-Pegging, which is one form of cheating.

His heels – When a jack is turned up in the cut, the dealer scores ‘two for his heels’.

His nobs – When a player has a jack in his hand that is the same suit as the cut, the award is one point.

Muggins – Aggressive play for points that your opponent did not see or count.

Pegging out – To score 121 points or more and win the game.

Skunked – When the loser scores 90 points or fewer.

Twenty-Nine – The best possible cribbage hand: four 5s and the Jack of nobs.

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Mark Kermode’s top gambling films 1. The Sting 1973 Director: George Roy Hill

The film that beat The Exorcist to the Best Picture Oscar in 1974, George Roy Hill’s gem reunited Butch and Sundance (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) as Depression-era hustlers attempting to take down Robert Shaw’s pokerplaying racketeer. Taking its thematic inspiration from David W. Maurer’s book The Big Con and its visual cues from the magazine Saturday Evening Post, this proved a winner with audiences and critics alike, buoyed up by an infectious Scott Joplin ragtime soundtrack.

2. Casablanca 1942 Director: Michael Curtiz

“I’m shocked – shocked – to find that gambling is going on in here!” So says Claude Rains, as Captain Renault, in Michael Curtiz’s wartime classic, immediately before the Croupier hands him “your winnings, sir” (“Oh, thank you very much…”) A reluctant hero, Bogart’s Rick ran arguably the most famous gambling and drinking establishment in all the towns in all the world – certainly in all of cinema!

3. Eight Men Out 1988 Director: John Sayles

John Sayles’ brilliant account of baseball’s so-called ‘Black Sox Scandal’ (documented in Eliot Asinof ’s 1963 book), during which players infamously conspired with gamblers to fix the 1919 World Series, is one of the director’s finest works. An extraordinary ensemble cast includes John Cusack, Michael Rooker, Charlie Sheen, David Strathairn and Christopher Lloyd.

4. Hard Eight 1996 Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson’s first feature stars Philip Baker Hall as a lifelong gambler who takes John C Reilly’s broken man under his wing and drives him to Vegas to learn the tricks of the trade. “Writer-director Anderson has us so hooked that we’re watching for the sheer pleasure of the acting and the dialogue,” wrote Roger Ebert, spying a master craftsman in the making. Anderson would go on to make such classics as Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood.

5. Bob le Flambeur 1956 Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

Jean-Pierre Melville’s noirish cult classic about an ageing former high roller was a stylistic forerunner of the French New Wave, and clearly served as an inspiration for Anderson’s Hard Eight. Godard hailed it as Melville’s finest film, with Quentin Tarantino similarly (and inevitably) singing its praises.

6. Guys and Dolls 1955 Director: Joseph L Mankiewicz

“Luck Be a Lady Tonight” sang Marlon ‘Mumbles’ Brando in Joseph L Mankiewicz’s screen-musical hit, to the chagrin of

co-star Frank Sinatra who wanted the role of Sky Masterson for himself. Instead, Sinatra wound up playing Nathan Detroit, the convener of an illegal crap game who bets Masterson $1,000 he can’t take ‘Save a Soul’ missionary Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons) to dinner in Havana.

7. The Gambler 1974 Director: Karel Reisz

No, not the insipid Marky Mark remake but the 1974 James Caan original, directed by Karel Reisz from James Toback’s semi-autobiographical script. Caan is Axel Freed, a university professor who inspires his students with talk of Dostoevsky but finds himself unable to quit while ahead when gambling. The role earned Caan a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination.

8. Smart Money 1931 Director: Alfred E Green

Edward G Robinson and Jimmy Cagney teamed up for the first and only time in this tale of a small-town barber who heads to the big city in search of a high-stakes poker game and gets more than he bargained for. Nominated for ‘Best Story’ at the 4th Academy Awards.

9. The Cincinnati Kid 1965 Director: Norman Jewison

Steve McQueen is Eric ‘The Kid’ Stoner, an upcoming poker player facing Edward G Robinson’s Lancey ‘The Man’ Howard in Norman Jewison’s enduring classic. Sam Peckinpah was originally slated to direct but was fired for allegedly “vulgarising the picture”. Ha! The film’s final hand has passed into cinematic folklore.

10. The Lady Gambles 1949 Director: Michael Gordon

“What was the truth about Joan Boothe?” Barbara Stanwyck is dynamite in Michael Gordon’s melodrama about a woman who accompanies her husband to Vegas – a town of “quick marriages, quick divorces, and quick money won and lost” – and promptly develops a dangerous taste for the tables. “Once she was someone’s wife,” screamed the tagline.

“Now, she’s just someone’s luck!” n Mark Kermode is chief film critic for The Observer and presents Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review on Radio 5 Live. Do you agree? Tweet @fitzdares or contact

us on Facebook if you think we have overlooked any gems.

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