The Open
Day two of The Open was brought to a premature close and several players will need to complete their second round early this morning. Torrential rain early on Friday meant that no play was possible before 10am so at least three hours were lost. When the play did start however the scoring wasn't quite as bad as feared. Especially for Englishman Danny Willet who shot a 69 to go with his first round 66 to finish his two rounds on nine under par.
Dustin Johnson is the overnight leader on ten under with five holes his second round still to be played.
Of the three selections mentioned on this blog, Adam Scott is best placed on seven under par after an excellent 67. This puts him in an superb position for the weekend and fingers crossed he can shoot something low today to really put himself in the mix.
The Ashes
Australia continued to pile on the runs yesterday with Rogers hitting a huge century and the Number one player in the world Steven Smith reaching his first ever double ton.
As is quite often the way when a team puts up such a huge amount of runs the pitch appears completely different when the other side goes into bat. To be fair though all of England's wickets to fall were regrettable shots and they will hope that Cook and Stokes can continue the partnership they put on last night and steer them closer to avoiding the follow on. I think if somehow England can make the magic total of 357 then they have a great chance of escaping with a draw. Getting there feels a long way off at the moment though.
Horse Racing
The news came yesterday that three times champion jockey Richard Hughes is going to retire after Glorious Goodwood. Hughes is a jockey I have always liked and it will be a great shame that he is no longer riding. I am sure he will take to training really well though and look forward to him starting in the autumn.
The JLT Stakes at Newbury today is a good looking race. Consort was third behind Gleneagles in the St James Palace Stakes and the extra two furlongs here looks likely to really suit. At 6/5 he is short enough but he looks the real deal and should have far too much for his rivals here.
Premier League
The Premier League starts again in three weeks and we will have plenty of analysis and tips over the course of the season.
Christian Benteke had a one in two goalscoring record for Aston Villa over the course of the three years he was there and that included coming back form a very serious injury. He will get far more chances at Liverpool and I am confident he will score 20 plus goals this season. If so, he has a shout of being the Premier league's top scorer and at 20/1, and considering the two short priced favourites Aguero and Costa are both injury prone, I think he is a little bit of value.
Today's Bets
Newbury 14:35 Consort - 1 point @ 6/5
Christian Benteke Premier League top scorer - 1 point each way @ 20/1