Sir Anthony McCoy

Sir Anthony McCoy

Sir Anthony McCoy, knighted in 2016 for services to horse racing, was simply the greatest National Hunt jockey of all time. Born in Moneyglass, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, McCoy rode his first winner on the British mainland, Chickabiddy, trained by Gordon Edwards, at Exeter in 1994, when conditional jockey to the late Toby Balding. By the end of the 1994/95 season, he had ridden 74 winners, enough to…

Lucky Punter

According to the song, 'Old Christmas comes but once a year' but, for one anonymous Sky Bet punter, the festive season started several weeks early in 2017. On December 7 that year, the unnamed individual staked £2.30 each-way on a five-fold accumulator on National Hunt racing at Leicester and Wincanton. Four of his five selections – Arthington (3/1), Vocaliser (18/1), Lagavara (9/2) and Dontmindboys (4/1) – were at…

Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion

With the title challenge almost certainly over with now, Arsenal come into this one knowing they need to keep winning just to keep pace with Manchester City in the hope they make a rare mistake or two. A home game against a Brighton and Hove Albion team who just got thrashed 5-1 is a hard game, though, with the Seagulls looking to make up for what was probably…

Manchester City v Leeds United

If you could pick a game to have as your first in a new job, away to Manchester City would be pretty far down the list. Sam Allardyce steps into the fire as Leeds United job, managing the biggest club he has ever been involved with. Can Big Sam find something in his favour in this crucial first match? Manchester City News Expect City to line up in…

Argentina v Saudi Arabia

As a game that immediately screams ‘Lionel Messi for top scorer’, Argentina playing Saudi Arabia on opening match of a FIFA World Cup throws up some great opportunities. This game is going to come with some very intriguing match-ups, but the simple fact is that for all of the results Saudi get in the Asian conference they very rarely bring that with them to the biggest stage. They…