the betfair hurdle

Had a look at Restitution , but came down in favour of Rubaud (8s) , with a theoretical 97 rated flat run at France's only Left hand track on decent ground , could be well in off 130 . Have saver on Master Chewy 20s , who gets dropped a couple for the soft ground run last time , may help if Nicky's comes out so weight is better for STD ,

Onemorefortheroad looks interesting. He was fancied last year but was pulled out with a minor issue shortly before the race. This has been the plan, 4lb lower than he would have been last year, course and distance winner and ground is ideal.

I backed Monviel quite a while ago but it has hardly shortened. The stable is still not firing but they have kept this horse for the race. Otherwise it will be the Nicholls pair for me.

I have had an eachway bet on Restitution, but with few hopes really.

Castle des Mottes (6/1) is the heavily backed fav from Mr Mullins' stable. He's decent form in France but never runs in Ireland either. This is a big-ask even for Closutton. He's in the same ownership as El Fabiola. Hit or miss?

Significantly his UK rating is sis pounds lower than that in Ireland.

He is 4/1 now. The nemesis could be the high winds and getting horses across the Irish Sea. Connections are watching the weather for a break in the wind on Wednesday.

My heart bleeds for connections!

It's not a pleasant crossing when it's stormy.

I'm surprised no tunnel under-the-sea connecting Ireland and the UK. We've one in London under the River Thames. It's called the Rotherhithe Tunnel.

Boris wanted to build one, which should tell you everything you need to know.

It is about 60 miles from Holyhead to Dublin. It's around 15 from Portpatrick to Northen Ireland, but Portpatrick is a long way from pretty much anywhere, and they used that bit of sea to dump all the unused munitions from WW1.

It's significantly shorter than the tunnel to France yet...the UK would rather link up with the frogs.

^
Or maybe mainland Europe.

10/12 age 5/6
6/12 top 3 betting
3/12 won lto
10/12 ran within 65 days
6/12 ran at newbury
10/12 min 2 wins over 15-17 furlongs
0/12 owned by mark spitz
10/12 rated 134 or above
11/12 min 2 runs current season
8/12 won current season

The Stats Don't Lie

Impossible, the Channel Tunnel is an hour from London, Paris and Brussels. It also opens up access to a whole continental. A tunnel from Holyhead would go to Dublin, but would be a fair distance from any major settlements in Britain. A tunnel from Portpatrick would go near Belfast, but would be a long way from the population centres of GB (even Glasgow).

Funnily enough, a tunnel from Ireland to GB would likely be more attractive to the Irish than the British because it would create a landbridge between Ireland and the EU. Maybe we can get them to pay for it.

'strontium', you're very well informed on the above.

I understand the reasons and logistics of a tunnel between UK and France. But, there's so much history between the British and Irish more so than the Scottish (Sturgeon/Independence) and Welsh, in my opinion. For instance, the Irish have contributed (still are) in the rebuilding of UK infrastructure; the sea "drawbridge" to France ie Europe only meant more economic immigrants from that area.

Mr Tusk is the new PM for Poland 2nd time round; he left there in 2014 under a cloud to EU. He was well remunerated there, and was a huge fan of Germany and France leaders (for his support) in return for a mega annual EU contribution to Poland, and personal pension.