One goal in a month or alternatively none in four games or one
Posted in General on 06. Aug, 2010
One goal in a month, or alternatively, none in four games, or one in 11 hours’ football, and you are deemed to be having a crisis. Even Glenn Hoddle, inadvertently, jumped on to the bandwagon at Bisham Abbey yesterday when he noted “Alan Shearer’s goal against Sweden set him on his goalscoring run, hopefully this match with Bulgaria will enable Michael Owen to do the same.”
Owen, as level-headed as ever, though perhaps a bit more tetchy than usual, is having none of it. Like Shearer in his dry spells, he pointed to performances rather than goals, insisted he was still confident, and denied there was a problem anyway.”I’ve scored five goals this season and not many players have scored more than that. He has now spoken to Andre Fabre and been told it is fine to accept another ride.” Peslier won the Prix Dollar on Insatiable at Longchamp last Saturday.n The Philip Mitchell-trained Running Stag faces five rivals, including old foes Skip Away and Gentlemen, in the Grade One Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park tomorrow. The British runner was beaten eight lengths into third behind Skip Away and Gentleman in the Grade One Woodward Stakes at the New York track last month. Rated a 48-1 shot that day, Running Stag has reportedly thrived since that race.n Gary Stevens has been approached to ride Henry Cecil’s Royal Anthem in the Canadian International at Woodbine on Sunday week..
Peslier, who won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the third successive year at Longchamp last Sunday on Sagamix, had been expected to ride last season’s champion two-year-old Xaar in the Group One contest.
Grant Pritchard-Gordon, racing manager for owner Khalid Abdullah, said last night: “A decision on whether Xaar runs has not been made.” But Peslier’s agent, Shippy Ellis, said: “Olivier was offered the mount on Insatiable on Wednesday, but has been waiting on his availability. OLIVIER PESLIER has been booked to ride Insatiable for Sir Michael Stoute in the pounds 400,000 Dubai Champion Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday week. Her all-woman crew joins a similar effort led by Jessie Cuthbert among the qualifiers.. Complexities and computers were thrown aside and a good, old-fashioned lucky dip draw settled the final 16 running order.Conditions are predicted to ease a little today, which will please the likes of Chris Law, who has honed his skills against the best in the world to put himself and his crew up to No 2 in the rankings.Equally thankful will be another Olympian, Shirley Robertson, who was one of those picking a number out of the hat and had suffered a double pre-start penalty.
Progress to today’s last 16 was as much a matter of hanging on as playing crafty moves, but all those who should have qualified did so. The only surprise was in Group C, where Andy Green beat Andy Beadsworth, the Olympic Soling representative and three-times national champion, into second in their group.
The only headache was having to sort out a three-way tie for second place in one of the four groups of eight. “Don [King] is quite happy to put the fight on, but obviously the financial terms have to be met.”
King is also poised to offer a deal whereby Maloney would handle the American promoter’s boxing interests in Britain. “Don does not see the deal being in conflict with my management of Lennox, or any of my fighters,” Maloney added.”He believes I’ve done a good job with Lewis. Maybe our relationship will bring a unification with Holyfield nearer.”King has offered Maloney a package, believed to be around pounds 250,000 a year, which he will discuss with his lawyers and Lewis. Maloney would have the brief of finding a new “superstar” in Britain, and the London manager pushed the claims of his European featherweight champion, Paul Ingle, during a recent meeting with King in Florida.Maloney continued: “The terms King offered me were very good and also very good for British boxing.