Down by the riverside….

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.