The other day I came across an old interview in which top flat racing jockey, Frankie Dettori and 13 times champion jump jockey, Tony McCoy, discuss the relative merits of the two horse racing platforms. For me, it’s always been the Flat that’s been the draw. I’ll never forget the days spent on the Heath at Ascot watching a tight pack of horses thunder by with speed and control the only factors determining the outcome - in the same sort of way that they do in Formula 1 racing. The odd occasions I went to a National Hunt meet, half the time my selection fell at an early fence without having the chance to demonstrate its worth.

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This is the big one this Sunday. The final race of the Formula One season and the deciding race on who will lift the coveted Drivers Championship Title. Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton have only 7pts keeping them apart and if Hamilton were to finish the race in any of the top 5 positions then the Championship is his. Seems straight forward … Stay out of trouble, drive a nice clean race, heck you don’t even need to challenge for the top positions, fifth will be fine, and Hamilton will take the silverware. Except, Formula One betting fans are aware that Massa wants that title, Brazil want that title for Massa, Ferrari will do anything to stop Mclaren taking the title and Hamilton, himself, has a habit of schoolboy errors that lead to him blowing important races.

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As the concentration span of modern-day humans diminishes, so we should not be surprised at the arrival of One Day Cricket and then Twenty20. After all, these variations are exciting for cricket betting enthusiasts and why not have events which are purely fun to contrast with the seriousness of County and Test cricket? Then along came the Indian Premier League with big money offers to players who suddenly find themselves drawn to large paydays and then suffer the consequent conflict with their County and long term Test Match responsibilities.

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This Sunday sees The Group A meeting between England and Australia in the Rugby League World Cup. It is very likely just a dress rehearsal for the final unless something drastic was to happen to either of the two competing countries. No doubt both will be battered and bruised from their encounters with New Zealand and Papa New Guinea along the way, but should ease through the group qualifying none-the-less.

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I say right from the outset that I’ll do my best not to fall into the cynic trap in writing this piece so I’ll do it from the point of view of a hard-nosed campaign manager whose only thoughts are victory. The ‘Barack and his grandmother’ factor cannot be ignored. First thoughts might have been that he was risking everything by going off to visit a sick relative at a critical time in his campaign for the presidency. Initial campaign analysis signalled it as a big risk. Dropping out of election addresses in Wisconsin and Iowa, both states crucial to his success, was not a good plan. His absence from the nightly TV news would be a disaster. Then thoughts of the sympathy factor crept in – poor Barack with his ill granny. That will probably balance things out.

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The first time I wandered into a bookies, back in 1968, was with a betting friend, a horse racing fanatic, and I was curious to see what it was all about. Passing through a dangling plastic curtain, nobody looked up when we entered this austere, smoke filled-room. Eyes were too busy scrutinising the pinned up back pages from the Daily Mirror and Sporting Life to worry about us. A scratchy, emotionless commentary crackled from a single speaker on the wall as we crunched failed betting slips underfoot.

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The 2nd biggest payout of any sporting event in the World is about to take place in the next couple of days. The 2008 Breeders’ Cup World Championship comes to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California this Friday the 24th October and Saturday the 25th October. A staggering $25.5 million, will be awarded as prize money over the 2 day horse racing betting event. When your talking that kind of money it is no wonder that it draws in only the best thoroughbred horses worldwide.

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Listening to Gordon Strachan’s analysis of Celtic’s 3-0 mauling at the hands of a rampant Manchester United last night, I was reminded of an old Monty Python sketch when Strachan, reminded that the first two goals were offside, refused to diminish the performance of Man U. It was a skit on the Krays where the interviewer was asking a victim if it was true that one of the twins had nailed his head to the floor. ‘Oh yeah, he did that – but we deserved it!’ he insisted.

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Why can’t football fans and alcohol mix well? For over 2 generations we have witnessed images beamed from all over Europe as supporters of various football clubs and countries clash in City squares. Lives have been lost! And as always the diagnosis is too much alcohol consumed by fans. Recently, Motherwell chairman, John Boyle, has rallied for the alcohol ban at football matches, in Scotland, to be lifted calling it ‘Absurd!’

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A few weeks back we spoke of the early signs of a crisis at Tottenham Hotspur since then I’ve read a dozen articles about Tottenham over the last couple of days. Eight games in and only two points on the board and you’re going to get a lot of people commenting and offering solutions and advice. None were very revealing with most churning out the same old clichés about everyone at the club being responsible, lots of hard work needed, only a matter of time before things get sorted etc etc. Premiership betting fans have heard it all before and want to know more than this.

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