Windsor 8.10
Gosden to strike ?
TIME: 8.10pm
TV: ATR

Hannon and Hughes benefit?

As tempting as it was to head to the island of Mallorca for their clash against Real Betis tonight – we’re sailing off instead to another exotic waterside venue closer to home – Windsor.

After the treble blew out on the final day of the season with Man City against Norwich – I’m parking football, for 48 hours at least.

What on earth was that all about at the Etihad? 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3.

Also, forgive us for not recommending 5-5 in the WBA v Man U game – just crazy scenes. In a way we feel sorry for anyone backing the draw (as much as we at Star Sports ever feel sorry for winning punters!) talk about doing it the hard way – you must have felt you needed 10 times the draw odds for how that one panned out.

Anyway, Windsor tonight.

First random fact of the week is that you can ‘sail’ to Windsor, courtesy of French Brothers, from Windsor town centre.

It’s £6 return and in case you were wondering…. the boats are weather proof!

We might not be ‘Hannon and Hughes’ proof tonight. The combo look to have outstanding chances in the first three races and if the first two go in it will be down to Thunder Strike at around 2/5 to complete the treble in the three runner 7.10 race.

Best bet on the card could be Proofreader in the 8.10 for John Gosden.

He comes here fresh from an excellent effort at Chester when third, despite not handling the roundabout course well. This looks more his cup of tea.

Just when you thought Saeed Bin Suroor had turned the tables on a poor start to the season with an excellent big race double at Newbury on Saturday – his two favourites at Ripon yesterday both disappointed and you couldn’t back their runner here, Ustura, with any degree of confidence.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
5 points win PROOFREADER (8.10 Windsor)

(-4 points Sunday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

Wrong notes on the high street

The surge in online shopping continues to wreck havoc on the UK High Street economy and you just wonder if and when it will end.

The retail sector has been battered by a wave of failures this year, with entertainment retailer HMV and camera chain Jessops both entering administration in January.

Electricals retailer Comet slumped into administration in November.

The internet has killed the high street. It was sad to hear on the radio recently of the music (instrument) shop owner who said people would come to his shop, try the instruments, take up half an hour of his time and expertise and then leave to go and buy cheaper online.

The first thing greedy and short sighted councils need to do is to reflect on how much they charge people to park in their town centres. We’re now in an era where shoppers should be PAID to visit local shops not vice versa.

Premier League
Final Day Matches
TIME: 4pm
TV: Sky

Well done Bradford.

We got clever yesterday and tried for the triple whammy – the 1-0 and UNDERS were quickly wiped out so we managed to turn a winning prediction into a break even bet. Not that clever.

However, we did put in a good word for Denmark last night in the Eurovision.

Anyone ploughing in at short odds though would have been VERY worried after the first few rounds when Denmark amassed next to nothing.

It’s the final fling in the Premier League today and all matches kick off at 4pm.

It’s hardly the dramatic end which we enjoyed last year but that was once in a lifetime fairytale stuff.

Man U, of course, are already champions and the question is has Wayne Rooney ALREADY played his last game for Man U?

Rooney will miss Manchester United’s final game of the season at West Brom as his wife Coleen is due to give birth to the couple’s second child.

The 27-year-old’s Old Trafford future is in considerable doubt after he asked for a transfer recently.

Sir Alex Ferguson has now passed that matter on to new manager David Moyes to deal with.

As for the final day. A little Star Sports treble seems the order of the day.

Spurs, Man City and Liverpool look blindingly obvious at around 4/5 the treble.

And we’re not going to get complicated, unlike yesterday.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
4 points treble Spurs, Man City, Liverpool

(LEVEL Saturday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

LOO RUN

Venezuelans have been hit by a chronic toilet paper shortage, leading to empty supermarket shelves and long queues to snap up the remaining rolls.

When new stocks arrive at supermarkets customers have been rushing in to fill their trollies.

Maria Perez, another customer in the same supermarket, said: “Here there’s a shortage of everything – butter, sugar, flour – but there always used to be toilet paper.”

President Nicolas Maduro, who was chosen by the dying Hugo Chavez to carry on running the country and won April’s election, claims it is a conspiracy to destabilise the country.

However, the government has agreed to import an extra 50 million toilet rolls to cope with demand.

Bradford v Northampton
League Two Play Off Final
TIME: 1.30pm
TV: Sky Sports 1

The play-off’s reach Wembley today and we are in search of a win after a desperately disappointing Copa Del Rey Final where we were wrong on both counts.

The (so called) Special One proclaimed after the match that the current campaign constitutes the “worst season” of his life.

We’d love to disagree with that but …….

And Mrs Marple too, what does she know?

Bradford are the right favourites on Star Sports today. They meet the Cobblers for the fifth time this season and as you can see have the edge:

League Two 06 Apr 2013 Bradford 1 – 0 Northampton
FA Cup 13 Nov 2012 Bradford 3 – 3 Northampton
FA Cup 03 Nov 2012 Northampton 1 – 1 Bradford
League Two 23 Oct 2012 Northampton 0 – 1 Bradford

Lies, damn lies and statistics raised its ugly head again last night with the Real Madrid stats over Atletico but there are other sound reasons for thinking Bradford are the team to be on at lunchtime.

Bradford already have the recent Wembley experience which could be a big factor. They were trounced 5-0 by Swansea in the Capital One Cup Final but won’t be daunted by the arena and now have a point to prove.

Aidy Boothroyd’s Northampton are strong in defence and are hard to break down so we don’t think it’s going to be a game of goals and therefore suggest the ‘unders’ and also a Bradford win 1-0. We’ll go for a triple whammy today.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
4 points BRADFORD win in 90 minutes
4 points UNDER 2.5 goals BRADFORD v NORTHAMPTON
1 point correct score 1-0 to BRADFORD

(-13 Friday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

MAKING YOUR MIND UP

So Denmark head into tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest as the hottest favourites in years.

Only Teardrops is the name of the song and the lyrics include betting friendly line “How many times we can win and lose”.

We heard the song for the first time today and surprisingly liked it.

Catchy and well above average of recent Eurovision winners.

It’s no Waterloo but then we’re showing our age.

As for Bonnie Tyler (United Kingdom). She’ll be eclipsed. Totally.

Copa Del Rey Final
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid
TIME: 8.30pm
TV: Sky Sports 1

We’ve spotted an alarming trend and immediately got Miss Marple on the case….

See if you can spot it……

27 Apr 2013 League, Atl Madrid 1 – 2 Real Madrid
01 Dec 2012 League, Real Madrid 2 – 0 Atl Madrid
11 Apr 2012 League, Atl Madrid 1 – 4 Real Madrid
26 Nov 2011 League, Real Madrid 4 – 1 Atl Madrid
19 Mar 2011 League, Atl Madrid 1 – 2 Real Madrid
20 Jan 2011 Copa del Rey, Atl Madrid 0 – 1 Real Madrid
13 Jan 2011 Copa del Rey, Real Madrid 3 – 1 Atl Madrid
07 Nov 2010 League, Real Madrid 2 – 0 Atl Madrid
28 Mar 2010 League, Real Madrid 3 – 2 Atl Madrid
07 Nov 2009 League, Atl Madrid 2 – 3 Real Madrid

No prizes for guessing. Luke Tarr has unfortunately blown the Star Sports competition budget this week with his great banoffee pie giveaway.

But I have taken delivery of a handwritten note from Miss Marple which simply says:

In fact, including draws, the stats are even more incredible. Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last 25 matches against Atletico. Unreal or should that be Un-Real.

With a Champions League semi-final exit and an unsuccessful defence of their La Liga title, Jose Mourinho’s side need to salvage their season with a win tonight at the Bernabeau.

Atletico’s own form has tailed off towards the end of the season and we see no reason why the stats shouldn’t be continued with a win for Real and over 2.5 goals the likely call.

We escaped with a draw after Trading Leather (recommended each way) ran well in the Dante to finish second to shock winner Libertarian. We were surprised as anyone with that result and made the winner 20′s for the Derby after the race.

Even Miss Marple couldn’t figure that result out.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
8 points win REAL MADRID to beat A Madrid
5 points win OVER 2.5 GOALS Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid

(LEVEL Thursday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

Snow is a cider drinker… ooh arrh, ooh arrh ay, Ooh arrh, ooh arrh ay……

If you’re going to attempt to do an accent try and have a modicum of talent.

How about this shocking Liverpool accent from Jon Snow ….

It’s so bad we’ll guarantee you’ll watch it at least twice !!!

Dante Stakes
York
TIME: 2.45pm
TV: C4/RUK

Good grief. Call the stewards in…. a late goal that went in favour of this column last night in Amsterdam when Branislav Ivanovic’s injury time header sealed the 2-1 win for Chelsea and more importantly the Europa League Cup.

We head racing today at York for the feature race of the week – the Dante Stakes at 2.45.

The original favourite, Telescope, misses this race and is still a considerable doubt for the Derby itself at the beginning of June, or, if you prefer just 16 days time.

The plan now for Telescope (pictured) is for him to have a racecourse gallop and owners Highclere tweeted yesterday: “Telescope is responding well to the antibiotics. Positive news, but next few days are critical if he is to work next week.”

Whatever connections say, as a punter you can’t be happy if you are clutching an ante-post ticket with his name on it. Along with the industry, Star Sports have taken a negative line on the news and pushed Telescope out in our ante-post book.

With Telescope out, let’s put the ‘new’ race under the microscope.

One thing his defection has done is to make the race a lot more open and, for once, we have a classic trial without an odds-on favourite which also looks an appealing betting heat.

Aidan O’Brien, is the obvious starting point, if not the default selection. He mopped up four Derby trials last week and relies solely on Indian Chief here who, excuse the cliche, could be anything !!! He won a maiden well at Leopardstown and O’Brien sounds confident, unless the ground becomes soft. The stable won this most recently in 2009 and 2010.

Greatwood by-passed the Lingfield Derby trial on Saturday because of the rain softened ground and is closely matched on the formbook with Windhoek and Ghurair. Luca Cumani has headed north in search of better ground for Greatwood but it will only be marginally better and that might still be a concern.

The surprise package could be Trading Leather for Jim Bolger and catching him fresh might be the key. He progressed to win a Group 3 last season and the ground was probably too soft for his final start when only fifth in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster won by Kingsbarns.

He is a front runner who could prove very hard to peg back and we’ll play win and place.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
3 points each way TRADING LEATHER

(+10 Wednesday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

Houston, we have a problem……

An American Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency detour after a passenger refused to stop singing the Whitney Houston hit I Will Always Love You.

The flight left Los Angeles last Thursday afternoon and was meant to fly non-stop to JFK in New York.

But the pilot made the unscheduled stop two and half hours into the journey at Kansas City International Airport.

“The woman was being disruptive and was removed from the plane for interfering with the flight crew,” airport spokesman Joe McBride told KCTV.

“There was a federal air marshal on the aircraft, who subdued the woman and put her in cuffs and removed her from the plane.”

The ejected woman won no plaudits for her singing from fellow passengers, who endured a long delay in Kansas and arrived late in New York.

Airport police are seen in the video posted on YouTube escorting the passenger off the plane.

Quite right too.

Benfica v Chelsea
Europa League Final
TIME: 7.45pm
TV: ITV

We’ve no domestic interest in the Champions League Final despite it being played on home soil at Wembley.

Tonight, Chelsea go into tonight’s Europa League Final as warm favourites to lift the trophy with Star Sports but are without John Terry and Eden Hazard who have travelled over to Amsterdam but will miss the match through injury.

The teams have clashed only twice before, in the Champions League last year, and Chelsea edged victory both times.

04 Apr 2012 Champions League, Chelsea 2 – 1 Benfica
27 Mar 2012 Champions League, Benfica 0 – 1 Chelsea

Both teams arrive in vastly different moods.

Chelsea secured a Champions League spot with a 2-1 success at Aston Villa on Saturday after they were 1-0 down at half-time. That leaves them with a Champions League spot and for all the hostility shown to Rafa Benitez he hasn’t excactly done badly with third in the Premier League and tonight’s chance of silverware still to come.

Benfica, on the other hand, had a disastrous day on Saturday when they were knocked off top spot in the Portuguese League for the first time in over months after a last gasp Porto goal.

That’s one hell of a defeat to bounce back from in a short space of time and Chelsea would appear the obvious play here – we’ll got for the win in 90 minutes at around 13/8.

We were right with the overs last night at the Emirates but wrong with the HT/FT. Always a sickening blow when a team wins 4-1 but didn’t lead at halftime.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
5 points CHELSEA to beat Benfica in 90 mins

(-2 Tuesday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

Looking after the pennies……

…. and the pounds will look after themselves.

It’s all about getting good value whether you’re betting or shopping for tea bags.

High street retailer Poundland is no longer living up to its name as it has CUT its prices to 97p in some stores in a bid to undercut rivals charging 99p.

Jim McCarthy, chief executive of the low-cost retailer, told Retail Week that the move was part of the company’s “competitor response” strategy, which also includes promotional vouchers.

“It is those early weeks [when a rival opens] that are very important and if you can pop the balloon early we find that doing that rather than nothing at all is helpful,” Mr McCarthy said.

“And it sends the message that we’re not a soft touch. It’s a bit like when a supermarket has a competitor opening nearby. They have hosts of tactics to dampen the impact.”

Will a penny really make that much difference to them? We’ll see, meanwhile I’m off to spend a penny. Too much tea you see.

WIN A £25 FREE BET and a LARGE BANOFFEE PIE

The lads left in a deliberate error (or so they told us !) See if you can spot it ?

A large banoffee pie and a £25 FREE BET to the first out the hat.

Email the error to: luke@starsportsbet.co.uk

(Prices are subject to fluctuation. Please call 08000521321)

Arsenal v Wigan
Premier League
TIME: 7.45pm
TV: SKY

Ground Control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills and put your helmet on.

What an unlikely star of Twitter Commander Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) has become.

He was worth following alone for the incredible pictures of earth he was tweeting from onboard the International Space Station but then became even cooler by posting a cover version of the David Bowie classic “Space Oddity” that showed him singing and even playing the guitar aboard the station.

What a guy.

After 147 days in space, he returned to earth safely yesterday and is now said to be “happily readapting to the heavy pull of gravity”.

Wigan have a similar problem to deal with tonght at the Emirates. Just 72 hours after their dramatic FA Cup victory over Man City on Saturday they have the major gravitational force of Arsenal to overcome.

And they are meeting Arsenal at exactly the wrong time because the Gunners still have plenty left to play for at the fag end of the season. They are still pushing for a Champions League spot and have also rested for 10 days before this match.

Wigan are already around 20/1 ON to be relegated and at Star Sports we can’t see any other outcome than them going into the history books for becoming the first team to win the FA Cup and be relegated in the same season.

ARSENAL – ARSENAL in the HT/FT market is probably the best option in a game in which we see plenty of goals flying in – so will have a pop at the overs too.

TEAM NEWS:
Arsenal (from) Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Cazorla, Walcott, Ramsey, Rosicky, Arteta, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Vermaelen, Fabianski, Coquelin, Gervinho, Jenkinson, Gibbs.

Wigan (from): Robles, Boyce, Alcaraz, Scharner, Gomez, Watson, Espinoza, McArthur, McCarthy, Maloney, Kone, McManaman, Al Habsi, Henriquez, Golobart, Caldwell, Di Santo, Fyvie.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
5 points ARSENAL/ARSENAL in the HT/FT market
5 points OVER 2.5 GOALS in the HT/FT market

(-5 Monday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

WHAT THE DUCK !!!!

The chasers at Sedgefield will have one less fence to navigate this afternoon due to a nesting duck setting up home inside a fence.

The first fence that the runners would have faced from leaving the stands will be dolled off to protect the mallard and her six eggs.

Brighton v Crystal Palace
Championship play-off semi final second leg
TIME: 7.45pm
TV: SKY

The odds say Brighton are 59% likely to win tonight.

That’s a bingo callers dream – 5 and 9 the Brighton line – choo choo.

We can’t find the true origin of that saying. So, in Call My Bluff style it’s either:

(1) The journey from London to Brighton used to take 59 minutes (can take LONGER these days – have you been on a Southern train recently?)

or

(2) The fare was 5 shillings and nine pence

or

(3) It was Engine 59 that was used on the journey

That’s the wonder of the internet. All the answers are there – just some of them are incorrect.

Anyway we digress. It is of course a huge night for our neighbours at Star Sports – the football club of Brighton and Hove Albion who are a minimum of 90 minutes away from facing Watford in a Wembley Final with a ticket for the Premier League at stake.

The scenes at Vicarage Road were outrageous yesterday. A junior script writer for Roy Of The Rovers would have been castigated for being too fantastical if they’d come up with that sequence of events (See And Finally below).

Tonight – they face arch-rivals Crystal Palace but the odds (59%) have turned in favour of The Seagulls after a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park on Friday and Palace have further problems as they are without their top scorer Glenn Murray who has a knee injury.

Brighton boss Gus Poyet is likely to name an unchanged squad.

Biggest shock is that tickets are still available – but only to Brighton supporters with a purchase history within the previous three seasons.

The odds on a Brighton win in 90 minutes are much more tempting than the shorter odds about Brighton qualifying – if it goes to extra time we can see that favouring Palace.

Brighton have to use their home advantage and get the job done inside 90 minutes.

A winning goal on 59 minutes would do us nicely. Choo Choo.

We landed the overs (just) in the Man U game yesterday. For a long time it looked as though those Swansea boys hadn’t read the script. Great farewell to Fergie though and his speech at the end was well delivered.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
5 points BRIGHTON to beat CRYSTAL PALACE in 90 minutes

(-0.20 Sunday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.

UNBELIEVABLE JEFF…..

Just incredible….

Manchester United v Swansea
Premier League
TIME: 4pm
TV: SKY

Old Trafford farewell to Sir Alex

Forgot the form book – forget everything.

No other result can be contemplated at Old Trafford today bar a win for Sir Alex Ferguson.

That’s what this match is about, not Man U, not Swansea – it’s about Sir Alex Ferguson in his final home game in charge.

1-0 won’t be acceptable now – it might have been before the news this week to put the seal on Man U’s season as Champions again. But now we need and demand fireworks today and for that reason I’m going goals – and lots of them.

Over 2.5 goals is obvious and odds on with Star Sports but needs to be taken as does any offers on Man U’s supremacy.

Can quite easily see them keeping a clean sheet and defying a 2 goal handicap at odds of around 15/8.

SAF will make his final home selection from: De Gea, Lindegaard, Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Buttner, Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Anderson, Cleverley, Scholes, Kagawa, Welbeck, Van Persie, Rooney, Hernandez.

It’s a match that will go into the history books and you can demand and expect goals in Swansea’s net.

4,999 runners disqualified…..

We’ve seen it all….

Only one competitor out of 5,000 completes the correct course after Marathon of the North organisers send them the wrong way.

About 5,000 runners have been told they failed to complete a marathon after they took the wrong route due to a marshalling error.

Organisers of the Marathon of the North apologised for the blunder after they realised the route was 264m short of the full distance.

Winner Jake Harrison, of Leicester Tri Club, was the only entrant to run along the correct course and therefore complete the run in Sunderland.

Every single one of the other competitors missed out on running the full length of the marathon or half marathon courses on April 28 because the second and third placed runners were not within sight of the race leader and lead vehicles.

In a statement to Sky Tyne and Wear, race organisers DS Media & Events said: “Regrettably, due to incorrect placing of marshals, which we take full responsibility for, only the lead athlete followed the correct route through the Sheepfold area near the Stadium of Light.

“Unfortunately, the second and third placed runners were not within line of sight of the leader and lead bikes/vehicle.

“This resulted in all those who followed taking an incorrect route through this section.

“Our course measurer has now confirmed that 264 metres were therefore lost from the measured route.

“We are sincerely sorry for any confusion and frustration that this has caused.”

Race-goers reacted angrily, with one tweeting: “Bit gutted!”

Another wrote: “Been thinking about the Marathon of the North debacle. Think it’s an insult to offer 25% off race entry as recompense.

“People train … for months and have had a hard earned achievement taken away from them. Free entry to alternative race is the least they deserve.”

Affected runners have been offered 25% off entry to other events in the hoped the error will not put off future competitors.

Forget the 25% lads. Get an appeal into the BHA at Holborn first thing on Monday.

STAR FORECAST
(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)
8 points OVER 2.5 goals MAN U v SWANSEA
5 points MAN U (-2) handicap market MAN U v SWANSEA

(-8.00 Saturday)

Agree OR disagree? Call Star Sports on 08000 521 321 to place your bet.