TURFCALL SUNDAY JANUARY 29th 2012
JOIN UP RACING POST
LEE MOTTERSHEAD SET THE SCENE YESTERDAY IN THE RACING POST
"TODAYS BIG TALKING POINT"
LEE takes a closer look forward to "an informative day - and a lead role for a superstar."
OF FESTIVAL POINTERS.
"ON FESTIVAL trials day we will watch and learn. It is an afternoon when vital evidence is created and clues are laid down that will help us solve the puzzles of March, Yet the horse who takes top billing on this stunning Saturday is a jumper who has nothing to prove. We know all we need to know about the outstanding BIG BUCK'S, Today should merely provide another opportunity to marvel at his magnificence.
"It was over today's course and distance on New Year's Day, 2009, that he first experienced British hurdles in public. Beaten in his opening nine outings over French hurdles, he has proved unbeatable over ours, establishing an unmatched record and reputation in his division.
It is a commonly held view that today's number one attraction is the finest staying hurdler to have raced in the modern era and perhaps in any other. Defeat in the Rewards4Racing Cleeve Hurdle would therefore represent a shock of cataclysmic proportions.
"None of the connections taking him on in the £50,000 contest expect to return home with a giantkiller.
"There is, however, always hope. Indeed the mere fact that that BIG BUCK'S just runs today is, for those sending the likes of MOURAD, DYNASTE and RESTLESS HARRY, the greatest inducement of all.
"For a few anxious seconds at Ascot , BIG BUCK'S appeared vulnerable. As he set off in pursuit of the front- running DYNASTE, there was a brief hint of increased urgency in the body language of Ruby Walsh. What transpired was still an eight-length victory but
what Paul Nicholls saw that afternoon, and what he has subsequently seen at home, has convinced him that BIG BUCK'S should go in pursuit of his 15th consecutive success not, as assumed, in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle - a race he has won for the last three years - but in its Cheltenham trial. That offers his rivals a tiny crumb. They can expect to be offered no more."If the outcome of the Cleeve has a sense of inevitability, there is considerable uncertainty about the races which precede it, none more so than the Argento Chase, Cheltenham 's own sighter for the Betfred Gold Cup.
"Such has been the standard set by KAUTO STAR and LONG RUN that none lining up in this £100,000 prize can be confident about claiming jumping's ultimate prize in 48 days' time. However, CAPTAIN CHRIS, TIME FOR RUPERT, DIAMOND HARRY and MIDNIGHT CHASE face the starter as chasers at least capable of becoming genuine threats to the big two, or the big three if you include today's notable absentee GRANDS CRUS.
"Most interesting of all are the King George v1 Chase third CAPTAIN CHRIS, who must prove his stamina, and the ever-fragile DIAMOND HARRY, who must prove his ability to get to the start of a race, let alone to win it.
"Right at the start of the afternoon we will discover plenty about the JCB Triumph Hurdle, two of whose three market leaders. BABY MIX and GRUMETI, are among the six runners. Even more paltry is the line-up for Doncaster 's Lightning Novices' Chase, but it is well worth watching as KID CASSIDY, MENORAH and KUM BESHWAR are all possibles for a vintage Racing Post Arkle.
"For the more sadistically minded, or indeed Tom Segal, there are the handicap minefields of Doncaster 's Sky Bet Chase and Leopardstown's 30-runner Boylesports.com Hurdle. Try if you dare, to get those right. If you dare not, just sit back and enjoy BIG BUCK'S."
END
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/scottish-politics/9047397/Alex-Salmond-defends-Scotland-independence-referendum-question.html
ALEX SALMOND
"ALEX SALMOND t he Scottish First Minister said introducing the UK
END
The Rip Off Britain
ALEX SALMOND MSP A RECENT STAR GUEST ON THE MORNING LINE
ALEX SALMOND MSP speaking live this morning on the Andrew Marr Show, is it any wonder that he wants better for Scotland
(Live on the Andrew Marr show this morning)
IAN DUNCAN SMITH MP also speaking live on the Andrew Marr Show but in a very different tone, a forceful hardened dictator a typical lip service man, carbon copy of David Cameron, and the regulaters of the British Horseracing Authority mainly all bloodhorse illiterate. How are people as this getting away with what they do? The misery they are bent on causing others?
11:49AM GMT 29 Jan 2012 388 Comments
Some critics have argued that his preferred question – Do you agree that Scotland
But Mr Salmond insists it is clear and decisive, and is supported by people including electoral expert Matt Qvortrup of Cranfield University
Mr Salmond responded to suggestions on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that voters should be asked if they want to leave the UK
The First Minister said: "It is SNP policy to have the Queen as our head of state.
