Bar the brilliance of Frankel and Camelot the start to the flat season has been a mess. The appalling weather and horrible has been to blame but the arrival of summer will hopefully kick start the season. The jumbled start to the campaign has been summed up by the betting for the Irish 2,000 Guineas this week as confusion reigned when the market opened. It has settled down since then and revolves around Parish Hall (declared non runner on Saturday morning). The Dewhurst winner is available at 4.2 and is the one potential star in the field that could also fire up the Derby market (currently 14 on Betdaq).

Roger Charlton could well have a winner for the Queen with Moidore in the opener at Haydock on Saturday. Charlton is excited but his group of three-year-old colts this year and this horse has been working really well at home and will be fit for his reappearance over a trip that should be right up his street.

I’ll also be backing Tamareen (win and place) in the 4.40 at Haydock. Everything went wrong for him at Chester last time, I still think he’s on a decent mark and the Fahey team think a fair bit of him.

Poor old Frankel. What more does he have to do to be the headline story on the back pages of the newspapers? He was a scintillating winner of the Lockinge at Newbury on Saturday yet his performance was completely over-shadowed by all the other sport happening last weekend and his story confined solely to the racing pages. The sport finally has a superstar but how do we get him to capture the imagination of sports fans across the country?

To me, racing aficionados were left purring by his rout at Newbury but by beating the same opposition, the race meant little to sports fans and it’s likely to be the same story in his next outing: the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot. To interest sports followers across the board I think Frankel needs a rival. A contest for sports followers, punters and journalists to get their teeth in to. Just recall the press coverage of Kauto Star v Denman, which really captured the public’s imagination. Racing needs Frankel all over the back pages of our daily newspapers and I don’t think that will happen with a ten length procession in the Queen Anne but would happen with a heavyweight clash with Black Caviar. “The Ashes on the racecourse”.

Betdaq Euro 2012 prices: 4/4.1 Spain, 4.2/4.3 Germany, 8.2/8.4 Netherlands 12.5/13 France, 13.5/14 England, 15.5/16 Italy

Prior to the Champions League Final I was very keen on Germany’s chances of winning Euro 2012. Now I have two worries. First, the German players in the Bayern Munich side showed worrying mental frailty. Snatching at chances in front of goal, arguing between themselves and eventually managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A second concern is the effect defeat will have on those players’ morale ahead of the tournament. Schweinsteiger, Muller and co. looked crestfallen after the game. They will take some picking up. For Spain, France and others the final will have made pleasant watching.



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