New Articles on The Daily Dust today

Posted: 13 Dec 2008 04:17 AM CST

With the heavens opening overnight forcing Cheltenham and Lingfield to abandon – and in the process wiping out my best bet of the day – I'll be looking to Doncaster the all-weather to try and pull back this week's losses and make it a sixth winning Saturday.

Trainer Henry Daly hasn't sent out a winner for a few weeks despite some placed runners but he boasts a healthy strike-rate at Doncaster, where Sunsetten (12.00) can take the opener.
This four-year-old improved for his hurdles debut when sixth by scoring at Ludlow last month despite hitting a few hurdles. He will be hard to beat under a penalty.

Another trainer with a good course strike-rate is John Gosden at Southwell, where Racketeer (12.40) can go in 40 minutes later.

This youngster ran a creditable debut at Wolverhampton when running on well into second and can put that experience to good use this afternoon.

Allowing half-an-hour for a bite to eat at tea-time, it's all go again at Wolverhampton in the evening where Café Mystique (6.50) could be surprisingly decent odds to get off the mark after three previous attempts.
The final effort came when a cracking third at Wolverhampton last month when finishing like a train despite getting blocked earlier. He debuts for his new trainer David Barron today, who places his horses extremely well on the all-weather.

The final bet comes a few hours later when Princely Hero (8.50) can again defeat Follow The Flag here as he did in November.

This gelding showed improvement for joining shrewd trainer Marco Botti from Dermot Weld that day, storming through late to win with a bit in hand. Despite conceding more weight to the runner-up tonight, he can progress further having only raced three times on the all-weather.

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Battle of the Ratings Tonight - X Factor and Strictly

Posted: 13 Dec 2008 01:47 AM CST

What side will viewers turn to, BBC and Strictly or X Factor? Both shows are pulling out all the stops..

With the X Factor final tonight hopefully hosting stars such as Beyonce, Strictly Come Dancing will have to be even better then last week to ensure viewers flick back and forth all night.

So far both shows have been neck and neck with the viewing figures, this week, Strictly is showing the results show live.

Strictly Come Dancing is on first at 6.10pm - 7.10pm

X Factor - The Final is on at 7.10pm - 8.40pm

Strictly Come Dancing is back at 8.55pm - 9.40pm

The one blot on the horizon that could stop some viewers of the second Strictly show could be the Girls Aloud Christmas party starting at 8.40pm..The ratings war has begun..

X Factor Final Chaos

Posted: 13 Dec 2008 01:28 AM CST

Rhianna out of tonights X Factor final

Tonight is the night we have all been waiting for, after 18 weeks of glorious TV.

But it seems Simon Cowell and his team have a lot more stress than they could have ever bargained for..

Rihanna pulled out at the last minute, she’d been due to perform her huge global Number One hit Umbrella with JLS but at the last minute she told show bosses that she hadn’t got time to jet over here and do the show after all as she has to rehearse for her US tour (which was planned months and months ago..). The boys now get to sing with Westlife, not quite the same..

X Factor was thrust into further chaos yesterday over fears Beyonce may also not appear in tonight's big final. The US star was going to duet with Alexandra in a performance of her hit Listen. Cowell is apparently doing “anything possible” to ensure the superstar performs.

With Eoghan singing with the reformed Boyzone, the scene is set..

JLS have scored more money in bets during the final week than any other act in the show's history, according to bookies Ladbrokes, they have even taken more than Leona Lewis.

The group are responsible for more than 80 per cent of all the latest bets. Alexandra remains 8/13 favourite, while Eoghan is 9/2 to win.

The DailyDust think JLS will win but Alex has best voice so it should be between those two for the £1m prize.

Semi-Final Night on Strictly

Posted: 13 Dec 2008 01:02 AM CST

Big night tonight for Bruce and Tess as they host the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing

Three couples remain in the competition into tonight’s semi-final.

Tonight they will all be taking on the Argentine Tango; plus their favourite dance of the series with enhancements, new music and with new choreography -

Tom & Camilla - Argentine Tango and Jive
Lisa & Brendan - Argentine Tango and Quick Step
Rachel & Vincent - Argentine Tango and American Smooth

The main show is live on BBC1 at 6.10pm, and the results programme is being shown live tonight at 8.55pm. Many have stated this is to compete with X Factor but the BBC Sports Review is the real reason.

The cast of West End musical Chicago will be performing ‘All that jazz’ with the pro dancers in the results show along with World Showcase champions Craig Smith & Natalie Woolf previewing next week’s show dance, and this week the pro dancers are performing a group Jive to ‘Land of a thousand dances’.

Which two couples will be lucky in week 13 and make it through to next weeks grand final?

“Walkies” No More On The BBC

Posted: 13 Dec 2008 01:00 AM CST

Corporation pulls out of airing Crufts over breeding dispute.Those expecting to watch the Kennel Club’s premier dog show, Crufts, on the BBC in 2009 are going to be disappointed. Following on from investigations by a BBC documentary ‘Pedigree Dogs Exposed,’ which looked at claims that pedigree dogs were suffering because owners were concentrating on breeding for looks rather than health.

The Kennel Club disputed the findings, and complained to Ofcom over the show, including the editing. Ofcom is still to make a ruling on this.

In any case, the BBC were happy to cover Crufts if certain breeds were not involved in the show, including the German Shepherd, Bulldog and Cavalier Spaniel. This isn’t acceptable to the Crufts organisers:

“We are unable to agree to these demands, as it would compromise both contractual obligations and our general responsibility to dog exhibitors and our audience and we believe it would be inappropriate and counterproductive to exclude any recognised breed from Crufts,”

The sho is officially suspended, so it may return in 2010. We’ll just have to see.

No Taxation Without Transportation

Posted: 12 Dec 2008 10:22 AM CST

Manchester voters reject congestion charge.

With a 79% rejection, the proposals for the Manchester Congestion Charge will not be going ahead. The investment in the city promised by the Government was dependent on the C-Charge being in place, so the grandiose plans for a connected system, to include trams, will go back to the drawing board to wait for financing to appear.

Turnout was only a shade less than the last General Election (53.2% and 54.4% respectively), and every region of Manchester said no. Salford was the most emphatic, with 84.45% saying no to the idea of paying to enter the city centre in private transport.

There is a school of thought that referendums, no matter the question, are seen by many as a vote for or against the government, in which case Hazel Blears (the MP for Salford and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) must be looking at that large vote and getting ready to cross her fingers for the next General Election, whenever that is going to be.

(Hat tip to Political Betting for the voting breakdown and percentages)