WHAT A TURN UP!

ONE problem with writing for newspapers is that events move constantly and even the best-considered piece can look out of date overnight. This week, The Guardian challenged us all with: ‘Boiler suits — the queerest piece of clothing ever invented?’ That Zinedine Zidane press conference in Madrid must have come as a bit of a shock. The British horseracing Authority have come under fire for their reaction to the carnage in the National hunt Chase at Cheltenham on Tuesday, but if one horse is dead, twice as many fell as finished and three jockeys were accused of taking their mounts to the point of dangerous exhaustion, the event is a tragic failure. Amateur riders have always played a part in the Festival, but times have changed. If a jockey doesn’t know how to guide a horse safely, or adequately, around Cheltenham, it is probably best he doesn’t. IT IS ironic that clubs from the lower leagues are upset at the distribution of Carabao Cup money, with Premier League sides taking more than £10m in revenue, in addition to the prize pay-outs. That big clubs sell the competition and merit a greater cut, and say, is exactly the argument being used against the Football League by the biggest players in the Championship. Why should the logic be any different for cups?