AT A GALLOP

AT A GALLOP

The quiz got into top gear with three predictions decided in 8 days. Six quizzers were up to the job of predicting all three(GLYN JAMES, DAVID MAHON, JAMES MERRETT, RUBY NEWALL, MARION WARR and KATIE WORGAN).Enough to propel Glyn into a three way tie for the lead.

Teething problems with updating the mini leagues-you’ll just have to read the full list to find your nearest and dearest. Tough luck for the six quizzers stalled on the starting grid. My mantra

” Marathon, not a sprint” has a touch of desperation now.

7)“Oxford, Oxford,”shrieked the umpire as the two university boats edged across the Fens on the Great Ouse. Was this THE Boat Race? It was, a hundred miles from the Thames. I had thought the move was entirely to avoid Covid rule breakers on the riverbank. Apparently a further reason is that Hammersmith Bridge is closed to traffic, over and under. Even if the Boat Race returns to the Thames in 2022,it would be on a different course.

The Great Ouse produced a really close women’s race, our quiz question. The lead changed hands twice, the final margin less than a length. To put it diplomatically, the Oxford cox steered a brave course, threatening to push the winners CAMBRIDGE into the reed banks. Cambridge had been long on favourites to win their fourth race in a row so this was unexpectedly exciting as was the men’s race, also won by Cambridge by under a length. No wonder the Beeb, so short of top sport, spent three hours prowling the Fens. And most important all, Cambridge were overwhelmingly the quizzers’ favourites and got many stranded on the stake boat(rowing metaphor) away from zero,,always a happy day at Quiz HQ.

6)The headlines for the Grand National are much the same as they were at Cheltenham. The festival’s leading jockey, Rachael Blackmore, became the first woman jockey to ride the National winner, taking the brave inside route throughout. The Irish trainer who had trained a 1-2 in the Gold Cup trained the first two horses home. The Irish who had been so dominant at Cheltenham filled all the each way places and had 12 of the 15 finishers. As in the Gold Cup, the first English horse home was 12 years old and so hardly a prospect for future years. The winner, Minella Times, is EIGHT years old and in National Hunt terms just coming to his peak years. The National is a handicap for heaven’s sake and in theory all 40 runners should have an equal chance. We should just have crossed out the 22 English and treated the race as an 18 runner handicap chase at Clonmel(happy memories, Glyn). Another gloomy week for English racing.

Our American correspondent Neil Dewhurst wrote his Masters report while bottle feeding a one year old at 3 a.m. and answering his boss’ call to sort out some oil wells in Galveston.

Only 5 months on from the pandemic delayed 2020 running of the Masters, where Dustin Johnson triumphed, it was time again to enjoy the sights, sounds & challenges of Augusta National. Following Trump’s defeat, Georgia’s Republicans have changed voting laws to suppress the working class vote. Basketball’s All-Star game had been moved from Atlanta to protest those changes. The 2021 field started in that shadow behind the ceremonial tee shots of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player & notably Lee Elder, the first Black man to compete in the Masters. 

Thursday’s opening round saw a strong day for Justin Rose who recovered from being 2 over after 7 holes to card an eagle & 7 birdies in the last 11 holes to finish 7 under; his 65 separated him from the field by 4 shots. Notable other accomplishments on opening day, good & bad, were Tommy Fleetwood’s ace on the 16th & Lee Westwood’s 78; a bad start while aiming to break the Golden Bear’s record for the oldest Masters champion. 

The second round on Friday saw overnight leader Rose struggle early on, with 2 bogeys in first 4 holes. He managed to claw back to even par by the end of his 18 holes to hold a one shot lead as the field closed up behind him going into the weekend. While the top 50 plus ties guaranteed themselves 36 more holes there were a number of high profile casualties of the cut such as Rory McIlroy, defending champion Dustin Johnson, past champion Sergio Garcia & big hitting Brooks Koepka. 

Saturday brought Round Three; so called moving day. Unfortunately for most, during a weather affected days play, most at worst moved in the wrong direction going backwards through the field & at best stayed stagnant. The main outlier to that trend was Hideki Matsuyama who charged through the field. Starting the day at 4 under, he shot an unmatched round of 65 to finish the day 11 under & with it gave himself a 4 shot lead on the field going into the final round. Behind him a group of four were tied at 7 under including Rose & Xander Schaufelle, who was one of only 5 players to shot a sub 70 third round with a 68. 

Sunday’s round started as a  contest over the first few holes but ultimately fizzled out as the round wore on. Debutant Will Zalatoris, starting 4 shots & one group back from Matsuyama opened up with back to back birdies. With Matsuyama’s bogey on hole one meant the lead was cut to 1 by the time the Japanese player had finished his first hole. One hole each later, the former carded a bogey & the later a birdie meaning the lead opened up to 3 shots. For the majority of the final round it was just those two in the fight for the win & Matsuyama’s lead ebbed & flowed, at one point extending to 6 shots, but by the last stroke of the 72 holes the winning margin in Matsuyama’s favour, was only ONE SHOT.