Sunday, January 6, 2008
After a month of fantasy ride in Germany the soccer epidemic now spreads off to the whole of Europe for a mega season of the UEFA Champions League. Well to speak of Germany , it was absolutely a fascinating display of football. The World Cup in Deutschland not only leaved up to its billing but also served as a fitting farewell to many stalwarts’ careers. Though the Zidane head-butt was the bombshell of the World Cup, the display by some of the less fancied players cannot be thrown in the backburner. If players of the caliber of Zidane (save the head-butt fiasco), Luis Figo, Fabio Cannavaro, etc. were at their best then youngsters’ like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lukas Podolski, Joe Cole certainly made best use of the opportunities. Apart from some dazzling performances some of the woeful show was reserved for big names including Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry. Then there were the less fancied guys like Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Stephen Appiah and Miguel who more often than not were the source of inspiration for their respective band of players. Those who have really caught the eye in Germany would be itching to get on the field leaving those who disappointed to set their mistakes right. The UEFA Champions League, though a club- level competition, is second only to the World Cup in status as also fan following. It is that sort of an honor each and every footballer on earth aspires of. Last season Ronaldinho powered Barcelona were red hot on the field but the pertinent question is whether the Catalan club has what it takes to defend their crown of being the best in Europe against the backdrop that most of its rivals and title contenders are far better fuelled and lubricated than ever before. Here is a look at what Football Club of Barcelona or Barcelona FC, as it is better known, would have to deal with come the UEFA Champions League 2006 :-
Chelsea: - Many a people would find it extremely difficult to refute the argument that truth hits you hard but nonetheless a truth is a truth. One can enjoy a momentary reprieve from reality but one can never escape reality even if he has the swiftest pair of legs in the world. It so happens that a club, suffering from considerable financial constraints and living on past glories, by windfall becomes a part of a savior’s estate and soon undergoes a sea change to become one of the leading clubs of the world. The club soon returns to the league of top notch clubs in England in the first year under the Russian billionaire’s regime. The oil major thinks that this effort is not quite the one he has vouched for. He first of all sacks the old guard and goes all the way to Portugal to catch hold of a guy who has never played professional soccer but is considered as one of the very best in the business as far as the word coaching goes. His first season is no less than epoch breaking as the beleaguered club wins its first Premiership title in 50 years and follows it up with another in the following season. The savior Russian here is Roman Abramhovic, the coach is Jose Mourinho and the club, as is obvious by now, is Chelsea . The last two seasons at Stamford Bridge have been full of celebrations and joyous processions. Now the reality that hits hard is that Mourinho in his last two seasons at Stamford Bridge has only completed a part of his assignment. Though winning the Premiership consecutively in two successive years is no less of an achievement but the Champions League glory have so far eluded Chelsea . Mourinho so far at Chelsea has not achieved what he did during his stint with FC Porto i.e. to win the UEFA Champions League. Abramhovic wanted Mourinho at Stamford Bridge for this very precise reason. This failure on the part of Chelsea to find a place for the Champions League in their trophy cabinet adds fuel to the question as to whether Chelsea is on its way towards becoming the Real Madrid of England. Not only the Champions league but the lackluster performance at the fag end of the last season would have been the cause of some sleepless nights for Jose Mourinho especially when they had one hand on the Premiership. They were simply too jittery and nervous, two things one never associates with all conquering giants. And then came a moment most Chelsea fans would love to forget when Steven Gerrard score a last gasp winner to sent Chelsea packing from the FA cup. Fear was on fore when Stamford Bridge was reduced to a potato field in the Champions League encounter with Barca. Barca won 2-1 and for the second season in a row Chelsea made a pitiful exit from the Champions League. As far as comparisons to Madrid are concerned for every bit of similarity there is dissimilarity too. True Chelsea has huge stars in their rank but they are utility players unlike the ones in Madrid . For the last two seasons Frank Lampard has been the prominent goal scorer for Chelsea . This might be pretty for Lampard but not so pretty for Chelsea . If a midfielder is scoring such a huge number of goals then there ought to be a problem up front. The signing of former European Player of The Year Andriy Shevchenko might just be the solution to miseries up front. It would be interesting to see him gel with Didier Drogba and score goals which he does best. With Crespo Italy bound there would be added pressure on the duo to provide the finishing touch. Chelsea ’s main strength lies in its midfield armor. Partnering Lampard in this zone of the field would be the new signing of the German captain Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and the World Cup sensation Joe Cole. Defense would rest on the shoulders of Captain John Terry, Paulo Ferreira, Khalid Boulharouz and Ricardo Carvalho. More importantly Terry in the aftermath Gallas-Mourinho spat. With Robben, Shaun Wright Phillips, Maniche and Kalou waiting in the bench the problem of plenty might cripple Chelsea ’s progress as it did to Madrid . Mourinho apart from being a masterful strategist is too good a resource manager and will go all lengths to prevent Chelsea from wilting the way Madrid did. The signings of Shevchenko, Ballack and most probably Ashley Cole is a job well done by Abramhovic and it is up to Mourinho and his bunch of boys to venture that horizon which no other team from Chelsea had ever dared to explore.
INTERNAZIONALE: - Against the contrasting backdrops of developments in Italy, Internazionale or Inter Milan, as it is famously known, represents the lone flag bearer from Italy in this edition of the Uefa Champions League. The huge match fixing scandal that erupted towards the dusk of the Serie A season has engulfed the prospects of two of the biggest clubs in Europe namely Juventus and AC Milan. While Juventus, the pivot of the match fixing scandal, were not only relegated from the Serie A to Serie B but also docked 17 points making their return to Europe next to impossible for at least three seasons. AC Milan was not penalized the way Juve was but it would need truly herculean if they do manage to survive the ruthless competition in Serie A especially after being penalized 15 points. All this after Italy won the World Cup in Germany . Though AC Milan had been after much grudging allowed a space in the Champions League but it would take a miracle for them to survive all along. This leaves only Inter Milan with the experience of having played the climax matches at the European level. Inter Milan , the winner of past two Scudettos after Juventus were stripped of all their trophies, is hence the only Italian challenge with substance. Keeping history aside for a while, Inter has what it takes to win big European cups like this and the arrivals of Patrick Vieira, record goal scorer Ronaldo and goal machine Hernan Crespo makes their challenge stronger. In the shape of Crespo, Ronaldo and Ibrahamhovic Inter have three of the most clinical finishers in front of the net. Luis Figo and Patrick Vieira are two of the world best midfielders and seeing the two in combination would be a real feast. All Italian clubs in the world are renowned for their watertight defense and Inter is no exception. They too have a renowned defense marshaled by Javier Zanetti ably supported by Toldo, the custodian. With the players of the caliber of Cambiasso, Emre and Veron providing vital support to the lead players Inter just might be the club to lift the vial of gloom threatening the foundation of Italian soccer.
REAL MADRID : - If three trophyless seasons and a major change at the helm cannot spur the sleeping giants of European Soccer on then nothing would. The arrival of Fabio Cappello from disgraced Juventus is the best that have happened to Madrid in the three traumatic seasons gone by. The richest club of the world has now come to terms with reality. The reality is that it’s not all about running after green bags but one needs to perform in order to stay afloat. There is no doubt whatsoever that Madrid has one of the best assemblages of players. The problem however is that those players are often used as marquee products rather than on-field dazzlers. Zinedine Zidane was apt to the core when he credited Mr. Perez for all those Real flip-flops. Mr. Perez during his tenure as the club president emphasized more on accumulation of capital at the cost of the much essential teamwork. To acquire the services of Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos and finally David Beckham, all under one banner, was no mean task. However, the task to adhere all these mega stars into a cohesive unit was much bigger in proportion. Apart from this galaxy of stars, the likes of Vincent Del Bosque and Claude Makelele were important cog in the wheel. Perez blinded by the aura of these galacticos cannot gauge the situation well and consequently terminated the services of Del Bosque and Makelele. Calamity struck and three barren years followed. Perez buckled under pressure and was left with no other option than to resign. Disillusioned by the lack of attention Figo left for Italy and Patrick Vieira snubbed Real for Arsenal which he too left a year later for Juventus. Samuel, a class defender, too abandoned Madrid for Inter and the whole defense was reduced to a farce. Now, imagine yourself as a coach of a club with a reputation to defend with no quality defender to fall back to apart from one and your boss is hell bent on signing marksmen one after the other. In such a situation what’s going to be your call? Either you can be a witness to defeats in a bunch and be sacked later or you can resign in frustration. This must exactly be the suffocation which various Madrid coaches would have felt under the regime of Perez. This treatment might give rise to the suspicion that Perez was dictorial to a certain extent. However, in fact Perez was only realizing his dream of making Madrid the club with the biggest star value in the world. Various Asian tours to cash the popularity of Beckham and co. points finger towards the dismal fact that Madrid was more interested in money making than trophy collection. The rest is history and no Madrid would like to stress upon it. It’s a dawn of a new era under Cappello and a fresh team with new draftings like Rudd Van Nisterlooy, Diarra, and Emerson and more significantly one of the best defenders of the world Fabio Cannavaro. With the signing of Nisterlooy, Madrid would be hoping that he can rekindle his chemistry with Beckham as the duo did back in the United days. But it would be the combo of Cannavaro and Carlos at the back which will determine the course of the season. Casillas as a custodian is one of the best in the world and would be delighted to have Cannavaro as his center back. With a wave of change blowing over the whole of Madrid , it can have an everlasting impact. The only one missing would be the legend of Zidane, the class act who gave his heart and soul to Madrid for six long seasons.
MANCHESTER UNITED: - Like Chelsea , Man U now too has a non-Briton as their boss. Malcom Glazer of the New Tampa Bay Buccaneers bought Manchester United amidst strong protests and would have strong hope of turning around Red Devils’ fortunes much like Abrahmhovic did for Chelsea . But as the transfer deadline draws near Sir Alex Fergusson has only Michael Carrick to show as the only creditable transfer so far. But does lack of signings cast a shadow over Man U’s title aspirations? The answer would be obviously no. Man U in spite of the departure of a world class poacher in the form of Van Nisterlooy has too good a quality in attack, midfield and defense. This season would probably see the pairing of Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha up front. Saha would be the one thankful if Fergusson does start with him in the attack especially after playing second-fiddle to Rooney and Nisterlooy for most of the time since his arrival from Fulham. However, the talking point for most of the football zealots would be to see how Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo would cope up with each other. Ronaldo, who at one point of time declared that he would not be returning to England , has decided to carry on especially after Fergusson refused to relent. Rooney too has stated that what happened at the World Cup was history and that there are no problems as such between him and Ronaldo. This was a great bit of news for Fergusson who can now go ahead with his plans of mounting a serious assault on his rivals rather than losing sleep over negative vibes between two of his best players. United have a formidable defense with Ferdinand and Gary Neville acting as defensive cores. Once an opponent does nudge past the defense he sets up a date with Edwin Van der Sar, one of the best custodians in the world. United have an above par midfield with Cristiano Ronaldo partnering Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. In other words, United has among its arson three of the most creative midfielders in the world and now add to that Michael Carrick and you would say that the incision factor is at the optimum level in Man U. Any neutral would say that with such a huge level of talent and skill in store United must be the ones bagging titles at ease. Well, like Madrid United too have gone through a rough patch for the last three seasons or so. The rise of Chelsea and Liverpool has so far stalled Man U’s progress. The exodus of Beckham has taken a hefty toll on Man U’s aspirations. Probably Carrick the perpetrator in chief of most of Tottenham’s goals last season would prove to be a suitable substitute of Beckham in the times to come not only for United but also for England . Ronaldo has come of age in the World Cup gone by whereas Giggs is an old warhorse getting better and better with age. Scholes has recovered from a persistent vision problem and it is to be seen whether he can return firing on all cylinders. Rooney and Saha would be two top marksmen for United as regards to this season but Fergusson would have plenty to choose from if one of the two falters a bit. Alan Smith, Ole Gunner Solskajer and Fletcher would be the likely substitutes up front. The problem however is defense. Ferdinand has shown indifferent form throughout the World Cup whereas Neville is dwindling fast. The consequence is increased pressure on Van der Sar but he is too good a keeper to keep mighty oppositions at bay for most of the 90 minutes. Sir Alex Fergusson has always banked on a cohesive unit rather than going for an extravagant squad. The root of all difficulties is that the whole squad seems to be lukewarm in their approach rather than banking on killer instincts. We all saw how aggressive tactics worked wonders for Germany in the World Cup. Probably, United must fast change lanes if it has to mount a serious challenge this season. With such amazing creativity in the midfield department we all can be witness to yet another glory night in Man U’s history.
OTHERS: - Apart from the above four there are various others which could prove to be a roadblock in Barca’s journey to the acme of European football. The notable among them being Arsenal, AC Milan, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Valencia, Porto, Olympique Lyon to name a few. AC Milan have had quite a tumultuous start to the season but they should consider themselves more than fortunate to be here. Apart from this, the club has managed to retain its high profile players of the stature of Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Fillipo Inzaqi, Alessandro Nesta and Dida among others. Though Shevchenko opted out of San Siro but there is plenty of firepower upfront with Inzaqi partnering young gun Gilardino. This season is big especially for Gilardino as he stakes his claim for a regular spot in the national squad and breaking his duck in the Champions League would help plaster his position as the top Italian marksman. Arsenal after a fairytale season last time around would be aiming for no less than a repeat perhaps a notch higher. Rosicky induction makes Arsenal a five star squad and Henry can now hope for better service from the midfielders. Fabregas, Rosicky and Gilberto Silva with Freddie Ljunberg form a reliable midfield and all these players are enjoying a rich vein of form. With such quality service providers, Henry and striking partner Emannuel Adebayor can expect sunny days ahead. Gallas would the key player as far as Arsenal is concerned for the simple reason that in the context of the exits of Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell he would be the one entrusted with bulk of defensive duties. Jens Lehmann would surely have a tough job to do in the days to come but the German has been rock solid while in trouble. Arsenal biggest asset however is Thierry Henry, a name that is ranked among the deadliest finishers in the game. The Arsenal captain would form the core of team attack and would the epicenter of most of the goals scored by the Gunners in time to come. Hopefully for Arsenal he will be epicenter of all attention in the season to come. Bastion Schweinsteiger will carry the load of Bayern hopes in the absence of Michael Ballack. It is opportune time for the man widely known as David Beckham of Germany . He is already being billed as the new German superstar and if Bayern does manage to survive it would not be without the useful contribution of Schweinsteiger. Perhaps it is ripe time for Schweinsteiger to emulate the past German legends and make his historically rich nation proud. Peter Crouch recently commented that Steven Gerrard is the best player in the world at the moment. Recalling Istanbul it would be hard to disagree with Crouch. Gerrard is the soul and body of Anfield and the whole of Liverpool cannot imagine life minus Gerrard. He has infused a new life in the fast fading squad of Liverpool . It was under his mercurial leadership that Liverpool decimated the might of AC Milan in a dramatic night at Istanbul erasing the deficit of three goals to nil. Last season Liverpool were shown the exit door as early as the second round but such was their mighty performance in Istanbul that Uefa had to bend its rule and for the first time ever a European nation in England had five entries in the draw. As far as this season is concerned Liverpool has been heartened by the form of Crouch as well as the induction of Craig Bellamy. Entry of Bellamy meant the exit of Fernando Morientes. Dijbril Cisse also ventured south to France but Robbie Fowler and Daniel Agger should make it up for him. Gerrard will once again be the player of utmost importance and one from Liverpool’s point of view would hope that Gerrard can once again relive the Istanbul night for his zillion fans in his quest for becoming the best player in the world. Two times runner-ups Valencia will pit their eyes on the experienced duo of Pablo Aimar and Fernando Morientes. Morientes is hoping to revive his career after his game hit a rock bottom at Anfield. He will have a confident striking partner in David Villa who has three goals to his credit in the World Cup gone by. Aimar will have the responsibility of running the midfield and also to achieve a personal aim of finding a regular spot in Argentina ’s playing eleven. The advent of Juan Roman Riquelme has subdued Aimar mania to a substantial extent and the only way Aimar can bounce back is through a string of powerful performances. Valencia are a threat to bookmakers’ favorites and if they are the ones playing the final match of the season then it would not be astonishing for those in touch with football. Juninho powered Lyon have been fantastic for the last two seasons in the earlier parts of the tournament but have lost their way in the later parts in spite of their heartening display. Frau, Wiltord, Malouda, Coupet and Govou the members of Lyon altogether form a quorum of footballers representing France . This fact in itself highlights the dominance of Lyon in French football. Moreover, Lyon are the best bet if a French league team does go on to win the Champions League. Lyon strength revolves round their talismanic skipper Juninho. Juninho though has failed to attract a regular call for the Brazilian national team but he is no less than a legendary figure in his club. Gerard Houllier is ranked among the best managers in the world but his methods came to no avail when Lyon lost out by the quarter-final stage in the past two seasons gone by. Nonetheless, one cannot count out the legend of Houllier and his immense contributions to France and Lyon. Perhaps both Juninho and Houllier have been blended for scripting one of the greatest nights in French history.
After scrutinizing most of the top teams in Europe it’s the turn to analyze the chances of Barcelona defending the crown won in Paris . Ronaldinho powered Barcelona to a historic double last season. The season of 2005-06 turned out to be one of the greatest seasons in Barca’s history if not the greatest. Though Ronaldinho was the main fuel power the contributions of Samuel Eto’o, Deco, Iniesta, Puyol, Marquez, Belleti, Larsson, Messi and Valdes are too big to be ignored. Eto’o was fantastic last season and served the purpose of converting sublime passes of Ronaldinho, Deco and Iniesta into an umpteen number of goals. Striking partner Henrik Larsson was also a partner in crime with Eto’o and the duo gelled well. Ronaldinho, Deco, Messi and Iniesta converted the midfield into a five star zone. In presence of such a strong attacking and midfield lineup how can defense be left far behind? The trio of Puyol, Marquez and Belleti were too difficult to penetrate for the best of attacks and even if they were penetrated Valdes was always there to counterpunch the attack on his goal. Yes, the last season was a special one but what about the present. Analyzing front on, Ronaldinho is afresh from a horror of a World Cup. Deco was at times injured and at times suspended to command analysis. Messi was by and large injured throughout the World Cup. Eto’o’s Cameroon did not qualify for the World Cup. Belleti, Valdes, and Iniesta were nowhere to be seen. Larsson fluffed a penalty and simultaneously said good-bye to Barcelona and Sweden . Puyol was not his consistent self. However, the notable exception was Marquez who had a stunning world Cup with Mexico and was the only Catalan star to twinkle at the World Cup. The Uefa Super Cup loss to Sevilla sent tremors throughout Catalonia . But does this recent inconsistent performance of the champions hold water? The reply can be two folded. One that Barcelona is suffering from the hangover syndrome and these setbacks serve as timely wake up calls. The other interpretation can be that it is just by mere coincidence that most of Barca’s players failed to click in Germany and it is humanly impossible to win every single time. Frank Rijkaard though has his problems at the dawn of another season. Goodjohnson can serve as an ideal foil to Eto’o especially in the absence of Larsson. But all eyes would be on Messi. The teen Argentine sensation has quite a talent and it is only matter of time before he steps on the gas. The long testing road for Messi begins with this season as he attempts at becoming the new Diego Maradona of Planet Soccer as mentioned by the legend himself.
In the season set to commence and seasons to come by leading up to South Africa 2010, a pertinent question rings round the mind of soccer lovers as to which new name would be added to the list of legends of the game. Whether it would be Pele, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo or it would be Pele, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi or possibly Pele, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho? The answer is hidden somewhere in the garbs of time.
Betting On Horse Racing ~ Sensible Money Management (part 1)
Author: Max Redd www.ReddRacing.co.uk
I recently re-mortgaged our house, sold all my shares, emptied the savings account, drained the kids’ Trust Fund…. and put it all on the favourite in the 2:30 at Newmarket.
Of course I didn’t! That would have been complete madness, and dicing with financial suicide. Putting absolutely everything you have on one horse is an example of bad money management – albeit an extreme example, but it got your attention didn’t it?
Yet all too often the average punter is guilty of bad money management. On a much lesser scale admittedly, but is it any wonder that the average punter loses money betting on horse racing? I am often asked by my members “how much” they should put on each bet, “do I have a staking system?”, or “how soon can I give up my job and just bet on the horses?”.
It seems plenty of people like to pay lip service to managing their betting bank-roll, but it never ceases to amaze me how so many people are still acting so recklessly with their money when it comes to betting. It strikes me that the perennial losing punter is a little like the over-weight bloke, who sets out on January 1st with every good intention of losing his beer gut. He has a few salads, maybe even pays a visit to the gym. But more often than not come February he is back to his comfortable eating habits, and the weight continues to pile on.
It’s often the same with the average punter – he has developed bad habits that have, over time, contributed to a steady flow of money out of his bank account and into the coffers of his local bookmakers. To become a winning punter he must change his ways.
Let’s examine some of the bad betting habits that contribute to an unhealthy bank balance:
1. Poor value bets
Let’s imagine you go into Tescos and pick up a tin of baked beans from the shelf. At the check-out the spotty 17-year-old scans the tin, and says “four hundred and seventy-eight pounds sixteen pence please, sir. You hand him your debit card, key in your PIN number and stroll out of the store. Ridiculous? Of course it is – you wouldn’t pay whatever price the store decided to charge. So why do so many punters take whatever price is on offer about a horse they fancy?
The answer is simple – they have no idea what a good price about the horse should be. We are all familiar with a tin of beans, we have an idea of how much it is worth, and we can make a decision what we will and will not pay. But when it comes to backing horses, probably the only limit most punters will place upon themselves is never to back odds-on.
This self-imposed rule can in itself be a fallacy – if you offered me 4/5 odds-on about a horse with a 4/9 odds-on chance of winning, I would bite your arm off!
The odds about any given horse are a reflection of the weight of money behind it, and not necessarily a reflection of the true odds of the horse winning. Let me give you an example: top trainer Sir Michael Stoute is running a valuable filly for the first time in a maiden race at York. Champion jockey Kieron Fallon is in the saddle. The Racing Post has 7 experts tipping this horse to win. There are 11 other runners in the race. This horse’s price is 11/10 – is this a good bet? Do you really think that a filly running in public for the first time with no form to point to has a genuine chance of just under 50% to win the race?
This is a good example of when a horse’s price is lower than it’s true chance of winning. NOT good value.
The only way to make a profit from betting on horse racing in the long run, is to consistently back horses at prices too high compared to their actual chance of winning. This is known as getting ‘value’ into your bets. You are paying less for something than its true worth. It’s stuff you would learn on day one of your economics GCSE. Equally, you will profit long term if you consistently lay horses to lose at prices too short compared to their actual chance of winning.
The lesson to be learned is only ever bet when you have value on your side. Otherwise, just let the horse run. I will continue my examination of the other money-sapping betting habits in future articles, but that’s all for today.
About the author: Max Redd has been making a living betting on horse racing for over 10 years. He runs the Redd Racing betting advisory service which offers members a FREE trial and a 60-day money-back profit guarantee. Find out more at http://www.reddracing.co.uk
Derby contenders line up for Dixieland
Oaklawn Park’s 56-day live season opens on Friday, January 19 with a nine race card featuring the five-and-a-half furlong Dixieland Stakes for three-year-olds.Among the most notable entries are Officer Rocket, Irish Dreamer, Sir Five Star, and Go Poppa Fooze.
Officer Rocket won Arlington Park’s Spectacular Bid Stakes in August and the Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Futurity in September but finished fifth in the Iroquois Stakes on October 29 at Churchill Downs and sixth in the 1 1/16 mile Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs on December 1. Owned by Frank Fletcher Racing Operations Inc. and trained by Bob Holthus, whose success at Oaklawn Park is legendary, Officer Rocket has won three of six starts overall and needs a solid performance in the Dixieland to keep pace with rival Hard Spun, winner of the Grade III Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds earlier this month.
A solid performance in the Dixieland Stakes would leave trainer Chris Richard in a position to enter Irish Dreamer in either the 1 mile Southwest Stakes on February 19 or the 6 furlong Mountain Valley Stakes on February 24, but first Irish Dreamer must clear his final hurdle of 2006 on December 26 at Hawthorne. The loser of four since an impressive debut win at Arlington, Irish Dreamer will need to run back to his earlier form to be a serious Derby contender.
Sir Five Star enters the Dixieland with a career record of four wins from 10 starts and earnings of $169,870. A wire to wire winner in the Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park in New Mexico, Sir Five Star is owned by Gus King and trained by Steve Asmussen, who recently completed a six-month suspension for medication violations at Sunland Park and Evangeline Downs.
Six times the leading trainer at Oaklawn Park, Cole Norman finds himself saddling a serious Dixieland contender in Go Poppa Fooze, but both trainer and horse enter the race under a cloud of suspicion. Norman was fined $1,000 and suspended for six months after two of his horses failed pre-race testing before the running of the $150,000 Jean Lafitte Stakes on November 3 at Delta Downs. Go Poppa Fooze, who won the race by nine lengths, and fourth-place finisher Bayou de Storm both showed excessive levels of total carbon dioxide (TCO2), said Larry Munster, assistant executive director of the Louisiana Racing Commission. It is believed that horses with high TCO2 counts gain an unfair advantage in their ability to run through muscle fatigue.
Norman is appealing the ruling, and will continue to saddle horses pending that outcome. A hearing is expected to be conducted on January 26, 2007.
The remainder of the field for the Dixieland includes entry Hadacure and Proud Leader; Westwon; Tricky's Tick Tock; Tortuga Straits; Harrow Land ; First Regent; Speedway; and Chawnado.
For more information on Oaklawn Park and all other U.S. thoroughbred, quarter horse and greyhound tracks, visit ThoroCap Handicapping at http://thorocap.com.
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