Early in the week Betfair shares cracked the £10 mark again for the first time in a while, things were starting to look up, particularly on the back of some hard work promoting the company to its float partners last week. But that price took a real pounding yesterday, dropping back to 917p overnight, with a 15p recovery so far this morning. What triggered it? Did the market panic over another cold spell which may cause racing cancellations? Did some 'expert' analyst put out a sell call or did the market not like Betfair's association with sacked Sky pundit Andy Gray?
Who knows - I've given up trying to predict what the stock market will do on a day-to-day basis...Posted byScott Fergusonat09:55
Showing posts with label Fight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fight. Show all posts
Saturday, 12 February 2011
is sport finally starting to win the fight against corruption?
Could sport be fighting back against the corrupt individuals who wish to poison their respective games to line their own pockets? Encouraging signs this week with cricket and rugby league both acting to stem the tide.
In cricket, first the British Crown Prosecution Service announced it was charging the three Pakistan cricketers with obtaining and accepting corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat. Bear in mind that the CPS was the authority who were laughed out of court when trying to convict leading jockey Kieran Fallon of pulling horses a few years ago. Let's hope they've got their act together since then. Long drawn out cases which ultimately fail ruin reputations and make lawyers rich.
A day later, the ICC have come down hard on the three players, with minimum suspensions of five years. Expect appeals from each player pleading their innocence first, and then for leniency. There's legs in this case yet, but it's encouraging to see the ICC impose serious penalties.
In rugby league this week, charges have finally been laid in the NRL betting scandal from last season. Ironically, the player charged, Canterbury front-rower Ryan Tandy, hasn't been charged with conspiracy or sporting fraud, but giving false evidence police which is a much more serious charge in NSW. Tandy's agent and people connected to him are alleged to have bet heavily on North Queensland (the opposing team) scoring the first points of the match with a penalty goal. Tandy gave away a penalty directly in front of the posts after just two minutes, but the other team, unaware of the planned sting, chose to take a quick tap instead and go for the try.
Let's hope football, racing and tennis can get their acts together and follow suit where applicable. Tennis prides itself on using a sledgehammer to crack nuts - suspending guys for a year for placing €5 worth of bets, yet does sweet FA when blatant match-fixing occurs. UK football authorities have handed out some pathetically lame penalties for players found betting against their own team (the infamous Bury v Accrington Stanley game from a few years ago). Horse racing in the UK has recently been beating their own chest about the Casela Park case. It's all well and good to suspend guilty parties, but when the perception is one rule for the minnows of the sport and another for those with a higher profile, it defeats the purpose....Posted byScott Fergusonat08:23
In cricket, first the British Crown Prosecution Service announced it was charging the three Pakistan cricketers with obtaining and accepting corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat. Bear in mind that the CPS was the authority who were laughed out of court when trying to convict leading jockey Kieran Fallon of pulling horses a few years ago. Let's hope they've got their act together since then. Long drawn out cases which ultimately fail ruin reputations and make lawyers rich.
A day later, the ICC have come down hard on the three players, with minimum suspensions of five years. Expect appeals from each player pleading their innocence first, and then for leniency. There's legs in this case yet, but it's encouraging to see the ICC impose serious penalties.
In rugby league this week, charges have finally been laid in the NRL betting scandal from last season. Ironically, the player charged, Canterbury front-rower Ryan Tandy, hasn't been charged with conspiracy or sporting fraud, but giving false evidence police which is a much more serious charge in NSW. Tandy's agent and people connected to him are alleged to have bet heavily on North Queensland (the opposing team) scoring the first points of the match with a penalty goal. Tandy gave away a penalty directly in front of the posts after just two minutes, but the other team, unaware of the planned sting, chose to take a quick tap instead and go for the try.
Let's hope football, racing and tennis can get their acts together and follow suit where applicable. Tennis prides itself on using a sledgehammer to crack nuts - suspending guys for a year for placing €5 worth of bets, yet does sweet FA when blatant match-fixing occurs. UK football authorities have handed out some pathetically lame penalties for players found betting against their own team (the infamous Bury v Accrington Stanley game from a few years ago). Horse racing in the UK has recently been beating their own chest about the Casela Park case. It's all well and good to suspend guilty parties, but when the perception is one rule for the minnows of the sport and another for those with a higher profile, it defeats the purpose....Posted byScott Fergusonat08:23
Friday, 12 November 2010
Jockeys' title fight helps ATR to record daily audience
The battle between Paul Hanagan and Richard Hughes helped pull in a daily record audience of 565,487 viewers to At The Races PICTURE: Getty Images Jockeys' title fight helps ATR to record audience By Howard Wright 4:51PM 10 NOV 2010 THE final-day battle for the jockeys' championship at Doncaster, Kauto Star's reappearance at Down Royal and the culmination of the Breeders' Cup contributed to At The Races notching a record daily audience reach on Saturday, according to figures released by the official research company BARB on Wednesday.The number of viewers who tuned in at some stage to the channel's 11-hours of live broadcasting totalled 565,487.The previous highest figure was recorded on Victor Chandler Chase day at Ascot in January 2008, followed by the 2005 Breeders' Cup, which took place over a single programme at Belmont Park.Saturday afternoon's highest quarter-hour audience was 184,563, while exclusive Breeders' Cup coverage in the UK and Ireland, negotiated in conjunction with betting-shop service provider SIS, peaked at 113,000 from 6pm.More than 100,000 tuned in for both the Breeders' Cup Turf and Classic, which ATR regarded as more than satisfactory, with a spokesman pointing out: "Saturday evening is generally a tough slot, against the likes of X Factor on terrestrial TV."ATR recorded a peak audience of 130,000 for the Breeders' Cup on Friday, when the live programme began at 7.45pm. Friday's highest quarter-hour figure of 144,139 was registered from 7pm, during coverage of Wolverhampton's evening meeting with the Hanagan and Hughes both riding on the penultimate day of the season.ATR chief executive Matthew Imi revealed that the channel is now regularly reaching two million viewers, up 500,000 from two years ago. FacebookDeliciousDiggStumbleUpon Tags: Kauto Star
Monday, 11 October 2010
Fight to the F1 finish begins in Japan
8:37pm 6 Oct 2010 Show All Current Stories FOOTBALL New regime 2-1 to bring league title to Liverpool 8:27pm 6 Oct 2010 Blues 8-13 for title after beating Arsenal at Bridge 8:27pm 3 Oct 2010 Correct-score backers left reeling as Blues ease off 7:11am 20 Sep 2010 Flying start for City and Reds in Europa League 11:20pm 16 Sep 2010 Chelsea and Arsenal ease to clear Champions League wins 3:52pm 16 Sep 2010 Drained Pool still 1-6 to clinch top-ten finish 8:11pm 8 Oct 2010 Holloway early favourite for monthly award 8:01pm 5 Oct 2010 Reds 14-1 for the drop after Blackpool shock 8:32pm 3 Oct 2010 Eriksson just 11-10 not to last season at Foxes 8:23pm 3 Oct 2010 United out to 3-1 for title as Sunderland get point 7:39pm 2 Oct 2010 Show All Current Stories GOLF Westwood picks up new ankle worry in Dunhill 9:52pm 7 Oct 2010 Sky claim Masters for all four rounds 8:17am 22 Sep 2010 Lords of the Manor to shine again in Dunhill 2:07pm 6 Oct 2010 Europe's Ryder Cup win costs layers dear 3:35pm 4 Oct 2010 CRICKET England backed for Ashes success in Oz 1:42pm 23 Sep 2010 India 1-3 for series spoils after Mohali win 6:58pm 5 Oct 2010 TENNIS Nadal 5-2 to hold all four Slams after New York win 6:56pm 14 Sep 2010 Kim cut for Oz Slam defence after US stroll 9:13pm 12 Sep 2010 Federer 12-1 for Grand Slam after fourth Aussie win 11:39am 31 Jan 2010 Serena shakes off Henin to land fifth Aussie Open 2:01pm 30 Jan 2010 RUGBY Tigers on drift after third loss of season at Sarries 6:56pm 3 Oct 2010 Warriors 9-4 to retain Grand Final crown 3:45pm 3 Oct 2010 Rhinos land Grand Final hat-trick 8:46pm 10 Oct 2009 OTHER SPORTS F1 Suzuka qualifying delayed until Sunday 12:04pm 8 Oct 2010 Barney fancied to tackle mighty Power in final 7:20pm 8 Oct 2010 Dovi can strike as Lorenzo eyes MotoGP title 7:17pm 8 Oct 2010 Notre Dame can put pushy Pitt in their place 9:33pm 7 Oct 2010 Taylor 1-4 for Grand Prix after the Wizard departs 2:31pm 8 Oct 2010 8:37pm 6 Oct 2010 Contador evens to win 2011 title 6:19pm 25 Jul 2010 Disappointed David 5-1 to step down as MP 7:45pm 28 Sep 2010 Taylor 9-2 to take title haul to 20 2:49pm 4 Jan 2010 Schumacher makes F1 return with Mercedes 12:19pm 23 Dec 2009 Show All Current Stories GOLFWISE EXTRA Golfwise Extra: Toms still looking good in McGladrey Classic 7:13pm 8 Oct 2010 BOXING Haye huge favourite for Harrison clash 4:35pm 7 Sep 2010 Search our News Archive Sport News RSS Feed All Racing Post RSS Feeds Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Download our iPhone app
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