1)
Never bet, or tip on friendlies
The world champions at near full strength
against the world’s No 10 side, who had made significant changes. Not only
that, but they were a side that weren’t even meant to be in that position, with
several faults and lack of possession against a team that contained the biggest
and best midfield in world football. Easy money at 11/10 right? Wrong.
Vicente Del Bosque’s La Furoja Roja
controlled up 70% of possession - with Spain touched the ball 348 times in
England's half up to the interval while England had reached 75 by the same
measure – but lack of real chances and missed Cesc Fabregas sitter led to a
1-0 win for the hosts, who had given
hidden warnings of their poor performance in friendlies beforehand, and what had
been a solid day for fans of the Vic Page was nearly totally ruined by the men
in red. Lesson bloody learnt.
2)
England aren’t a truly hopeless case
Despite being very lucky to escape with a
win (it should have been a draw at least) you couldn’t help but admire the
effort put in by several promising talents on Saturday. Phul Jones showed why
Manchester United had paid £18 million for him, while Jack Rodwell and Danny
Wellbeck were willing to put in the hard yards and it showed. England still
need to make a large leap up in class (they should have lost on Saturday) but a
strong defensive attitude is half the battle to major tournament progress.
After all, how many goals did Spain let in at the last World Cup?
3)
There’s nothing quite like 2 mile chasing
While Harry Derham rightly made the
headlines for a cool and composed ride on Brampour to win the Greatwood, the
race of the day took place at Navan, where the classy Big Zeb fought hard to
see off Noble Prince giving away 4lbs and a run under a fine ride from Robbie
Power. Colm Murphy’s stable star may be rising 1 but he’s just as good as ever
and he could may hay throughout the season, with the Dial A Bet Chase looking
to be at his mercy – He could be one of the bankers of the Christmas season.
Not forgetting the impressive debuts made by Al Ferof and Peddlers Cross which
leave us with godwilling, the prospect of a fantastic Arkle. Sure beats Need
for Speed in any case.
4)
David Pipe is beginning to step out of his
father’s shadow
After 4 winners at a hugely successful open
meeting, it can be argued that the trainer of the Open Meeting was David Pipe*
who now has 2 horses well capable of Grade 1 success in Great Endeavour and
Grands Crus. Great Endeavour may have had anything drop right for him but he
still won on the bride by 7 lengths and such was the nature of the improved ride
given to him that you wouldn’t be dismissive of his chances of staying 3 miles
at Newbury and a 10lbs rise seems very fair for what is an unexposed horse. Not
much needs to be said about Grands Crus, who showed some devastating speed to
land the 2m4f novice chase, apart from Godspeak and Godspeed. Being the son of
Martin Pipe was always going to have it’s own positive and negative effects,
but David has shown himself to be a classy operator and it’s just hoped he has
the good fortune again this season.
5)
There’s nothing like sharing sport
Getting a bit cheesy here, All weekend, part
of what made the open meeting such a corker was the fact that we had some top
tweeps and a fantastic Facebook group to share it with. It’s easy to forget
just how small the Vic Page would be without you guys, so thank you if you are
reading this.
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