Copa America - Final (Uruguay v Paraguay)

It’s a sad, sad day for the Vic Page as we must mourn the passing of Rewilding (below, center), a tremendously promising (and indeed already proven horse) in the King George. The fact that it was a messy race or an unsatisfactory result for some is pale insignificance compared to the loss of life and talent on all levels for Godolphin and we can only be thankful that the man to represent racing in the heat of the moment was John Gosden, a true horseman who said and did the right thing in the most awful circumstances, and William Buick, a tremendous horseman and young talent who has had his biggest success rather cruelly marred. This Facebook tribute Group sums up perfectly how true racing fans feel about the loss of their starts, whether Group 1 winners or the poorest and most unreliable of claimers. 

Rewilding, a true champion, in his career highlight,
when upsetting the 2/11 shot So You Think in the
Prince Of Wales's Stakes

Moving onto far happier pursuits, the Copa America Final gives Uruguay the chance to cap off a glorious 13 months by crowing themselves the Champions of South America, adding to their fourth place finish in the world cup.

Their progress has been scratchy at some stages but once top man Luis Suarez has found his form they’ve managed to overcome Argentina on penalties and were the most impressive knockout team by far when beating Peru 2-0, a performance of real class.

Diego Perez, who scored against Argentina in the quarter-final but missed the win over Peru due to suspension, is now back in the fold, a much needed boost and the only real change given that Edison Canavni is struggling to recover from a knee injury suffered in the group stage - his club president stated that he is prepared to take serious action if Uruguay play the unfit striker.

Paraguay are yet to win a game in the 2011 Copa America after recording five successive draws, two of which have been settled on penalties. That sounds deeply unimpressive to come although they’ve proven they can take on the best when scoring twice against Brazil before holding them out for 120 minutes and then beating them on penalties along with doing the same to Venezula, making this their best performance at the Copa America since their previous win, bettering their fourth place finish in 1989.

Paraguay can and will give Uruguay plenty to think about but they’ve failed to win a game in 90 minutes and that’s a worry for anyone backing them at 4-1. If you fancy them then take out instance and back them to lift the Copa America at half the odds, but for me all the attraction lies with the former, and given that the favourites have scored before HT in 3 of 5 games, they may well have a quick edge. If things should go all the way, then Uruguay to win on penalties is a huge price at 9’’s and should be backed accordingly as a saver.

Advice

1 pt Uruguay in 90 minutes (11/10 general)

0.5 pts Uruguay on penalties (9/1 William Hill)