As Inspiral sparkles at Newmarket and Arsenal finally end their hoodoo against Man City, I discuss the weekend’s biggest talking points.
1. Inspiral inspired
Inspiral is a tricky horse to pin down. Special on her day and ordinary on others. Her performance on Saturday in the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes was right out of the top draw.
It was a plum ride from Dettori for his 500th Newmarket winner switching to the rail side at just the right moment, but the real eyecatcher was how smoothly Inspiral rolled up the inside before applying the afterburners to win readily.
She earned an RPR of 123 and now rates as the leading filly over a mile in Europe — ahead of fellow Clarehaven inmate Nashwa. This performance offered a timely reminder before Champions Day that Inspiral, on her day, is an elite competitor and could be a legitimate contender in the QEII.
Inspiral to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes @ 6/1
2. Kicking the door down
Eight years, 12 games, 0 wins. Man City have enjoyed their visits to N5 in recent years and Sunday’s title showdown looked to be another such occasion, until it wasn’t.
Given the tactical machinations of Master vs Apprentice when the goal arrived it was surprisingly simple. Up popped Tomiyasu with a neat knockdown, Kai Havertz with a the lay off and Gabriel Martinelli rippling the net.
It was a goal plucked from the old school textbook and it stirred old school memories of Arsene Wenger’s iron-clad vintages of the early 2000s grinding out attritional wins against their rivals when it really mattered.
Arsenal have barged through a door that most thought was closed, and City have lost two Premier League games in a row for the first time since December 2018. The Gunners are believing and rightly so, but on the other side of North London and in the red half of Merseyside there will be believers too.
This City side are beatable and there is a League title to be won…
Arsenal to win the Premier League @ 7/2
3. More of the same
Another weekend top-quality football from the best league in the world and yet another example of poor-quality refereeing.
Matteo Kovacic should have been given his marching orders in the 27th minute. But after a lengthy VAR check, the decision was made to stick with a yellow. Michael Oliver was given the chance to correct his decision in the 34th minute and inexplicably failed to deliver a second yellow card.
There are two major problems here. 1) Lack of consistency. Neither of these challenges warrant a sending off on their own, but with the precedents set by three red cards that are fresh in the memory (Malo Gusto, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota) Kovacic has to go.
2) VAR can’t review yellow cards. The very system that could have supported Michael Oliver when making a major decision in a huge game, which might have helped him come to the right decision, could not intervene!
Disquiet with Premier League officiating is reaching boiling point. Is change imminent? Who can say…
4. Ford vs Farrell
In the end England beat Samoa. Danny Care’s late heroics rescued victory from the jaws of defeat, but Owen Farrell’s assessment was shared by most of the watching fans and pundits: “not good enough”.
In some ways this sums up England’s World Cup campaign so far. They have just about done the business; they have knuckled down and qualified for the quarter-finals with some gritty performances. But do they have the resources to win the tournament, are they good enough to beat Ireland or France? Not on Saturday’s evidence.
Fiji are in all likelihood the team England will face for a place in the semi-finals. If England are to avoid the humiliation of what happened to them at Twickenham in August, then Borthwick will have to get the selection right.
The past must be sacrificed if England are to have a future in this tournament. Owen Farrell has deservedly earned plenty of plaudits in an England shirt, but he had a poor night on Saturday and George Ford has been a genuine bright spot in an otherwise gloomy World Cup campaign.
England to be eliminated in the Quarter-Final @ 9/4
Lola Katz Roberts is a Content Executive at Fitzdares.
