I’ve got two nice rides at York on Saturday beginning with Quenelle D'Or in the Ebor (3.35pm). She was a Listed winner in France last season and begun her season with a good fifth in the Copper Horse Stakes at Royal Ascot.

I’m not sure what happened at Leopardstown last time but she’s surely better than that and she looks a decent ride to pick up.

The race looks competitive as ever and it’s not hard to see why Earl of Tyrone is favourite. He’s a progressive type who has won his last three and Paddy Twomey’s horse couldn’t be in much better form, so he looks sure to go well.

My other ride is Silver Samurai who goes in the six-furlong handicap (4.10pm). He’s the main reason for going to York over Sandown because I rode him out the other morning and I was really impressed.

He worked very well, and I think he can put on a bold show here. Last time he was out of the race from a long way out, so I think you can actually mark that performance up.

These races are hard and don’t always go the way of the best horse. With a big field you need the rub of the green. He’s definitely capable and I wouldn’t be coming here if I didn’t think he had a chance.

The rest of the card looks typically competitive, and I thought the City Of York Stakes (3.00pm) looked a cracker.

Sandrine won pretty well at Goodwood last time and she looked the one to beat from my point of view, while Rohaan might go well at a bigger price.

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FIRST PUBLISHED: 19th August 2022

If there is one rule to successful sports betting, it’s to make sure that the match you are wagering on is precisely what you think it is.

While ascertaining complete legitimacy may be tricky – as recently as 2021, after all, the Houston Astros baseball team, World Series contenders for three out of five years, were sanctioned for stealing pitching signals from an opposing team – at the very least you need to make sure that the competition you’re betting on is actually taking place between bona-fide teams.

It’s a low threshold to maintain but, earlier this year, a group of Russian gamblers, maybe totally desperate to get down on something, wagered on cricket matches that were not only rigged but not even what they purported to be.

Most brazen of all, the names of the Indian teams – Maharashtra Rangers and Palanpur Sports Kings – were fabrications. The pitch on which they played was actually a patch of plowed farmland, situateed north of Mumbai, in the village of Molipur.

The uproarious crowd sounds had been prerecorded and grabbed off the Internet. And the players themselves? Amateurs who made their livings as laborers and farmhands.

In fact, it was all a major scam designed to fleece a group of Russian gamblers. Like all good cons, this one began with a front-man who presented an opportunity.

In this case, that person came in the form of a charismatic gambler who showed up in Russian bars and started talking about how great it was to bet on cricket.

Maybe the Russians had never seen a proper cricket match. If that happened to be the case, well, it was all the better for the scam artists.

In any event, the Russians were somehow convinced that cricket was a great sport for wagering and, presumably, an easy path to gambling riches. They were suitably intrigued and willing to lay down hard-earned rubles.

Now, as the con proceeded, a rigged match had to be put into play. After all, the event was being hyped as India’s Premiere League cricket finals and the real iteration had ended three weeks earlier.

Sachin-Sourav in 1998 ✅
Dhawan-Gill in 2022 ✅

Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill notched up the second-highest opening stand for Team India in the ODIs against Zimbabwe 👏🔥#ShikharDhawan #ShubmanGill #India #ZIMvsIND #Cricket pic.twitter.com/IuiMPCFGXO

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) August 18, 2022

That said, finding amateur cricketers is relatively easy in India where the sport is the equivalent of baseball or basketball in America. It is a national pastime.

And in Molipur, where unemployed farmers and wagerers are not in short supply, random people were willing to don bogus uniforms and play fake matches for real money.

Albeit, the payments were minuscule – 400 rupees, which was the equivalent of $US5 per match. Nevertheless, two phony teams were recruited and a handful of equally phony umpires materialized on the field.

They were all poised to join the pantheon of athletes who participated in sham betting events. While few have been as blatantly outrageous as this cricket charade, the Indian fraudsters find themselves in roguishly illustrious company.

To wit, the most venerable of sports-betting scams is the famous Black Sox scandal of 1919.

It involved key members of the Chicago White Sox, heavily favored to win the 1919 World Series, taking money from crooked gamblers to blow the Series.

They did so, got caught and live on in infamy, thanks partly to the movie “Eight Men Out.”

Decades later, in 1950, players on the City College of New York basketball team fell victim to greedy impulses when they took money for shaving points – but not necessarily losing games – so that illegal bookmakers and their cronies could clean up.

But such tricks are not only for college kids. In professional basketball, a referee by the name of Tim Donaghy faced disgrace for making illegal bets on games that he was officiating.

He allegedly supplied a couple of bettors with information on such games – and he got paid if his information proved profitable.

It was never proven that he was rigging games, but his actions were deemed devious enough for him to get sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Returning to the baseball diamond, Pete Rose, an esteemed All Star known as Charlie Hustle, got himself in hot water for betting on his team, the Cincinnati Reds, to win games he played in.

Classic by one of my ALL TIME favs ⁦@PeteRose_14⁩ on his 1984 return to the ⁦@Reds⁩ as Player Manager. He smashes a triple later ruled as a single and 2 base error. Charlie Hustle .. I knew I could be a Pete Rose of RAP just mash the grind 200% down adversaries necks pic.twitter.com/gVSohnBpXw

— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 25, 2021

He’s insisted that he never bet against the Reds and “bet on my team to win every night because I loved my team.” Major League Baseball officials were unimpressed by the sentiment. They banned him for life from the sport.

Back in India, where the cricket scam unfolded, there was no love for anything but ill-gotten profits. And, for anyone who knew about cricket, it was all horribly unconvincing.

Lackluster players competed on a grubby, dirt-covered field, where what looks like some kind of an ivory-colored rug was laid down for the actual playing of the sport. Bets came in via a Telegram channel and the “match” was viewable on YouTube.

Refs wore tiny earpieces, received instructions on how to manipulate the matches to maximize profits for the house, and players were instructed on how to proceed.

As can be evidenced by remnants of matches that linger online, crafty cameramen usually kept the shots tight enough to hide the fact that there were no stands or spectators – just a woodland behind the improvised pitch.

On the side of verisimilitude, however, the play-by-play was covered by a fake announcer. He shoddily imitated the famous Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle.

The original plan was to put on a whole season’s worth of games and soak the Russian gamblers for all that could be gotten from them.

But, nine games in, as they entered the quarter finals of the faux tournament, things began to unravel. While the dopey Russians remained clueless about what was being perpetrated against them, some of the poorly paid athletes became suspicious.

They wondered why the games seemed so fake and why the refs were telling them when to flub plays. Somebody got annoyed and notified authorities.

A raid took place while one of the fake matches was being played. In its wake, several of the scam artists behind the scheme have been arrested.

While the Russians are out some $US4,000 and the guys who put this whole thing together claim that their initial outlay was so high that they failed to rake in the anticipated profits, at least one person in the cricket world is amused.

As news of the scheme went public in India, superstar announcer Harsha Bhole took notice and Tweeted, “Can’t stop laughing. Must hear this ‘Commentator.’”

Can't stop laughing. Must hear this "commentator" pic.twitter.com/H4EcTBkJVa

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 11, 2022

No doubt, the Russian gamblers, with pockets lighter and lessons learned, have managed to stop laughing over the cricket matches that weren’t.

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I kick things off with Farhan in the 1m4f handicap (1.50pm). He won a nice race at Doncaster last year and his two runs this year haven’t looked like they’ve gone to plan.

However, coming back to a track like York, which is quite similar to Doncaster, he might just show the spark that he’s been missing.

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Chuzzlewit goes in the Group Two Gimcrack (3.00pm). It’s nice to pick up a ride for Kevin Ryan who I’ve won it with twice before.

It is a big step up in class and it looks a very strong renewal, but if this was a maiden, he’d probably be odds-on in the betting.

I think I’d be very pleased if he ran into the top four. I really like Royal Scotsman and after the way he won at Goodwood, he’s definitely the one to beat.

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In the 1m2½f handicap I’m on The Flying Ginger for Roger Fell (4.10pm).

She’s becoming quite well-handicapped and has been dropping down the ratings. She’ll have to step up to be competitive here, but on her best form she’s more than capable of doing that.

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In the 7f maiden I ride No Barrier (4.45pm). Kevin [Ryan] always brings some nice two-year-olds to York and he has a few in this so we’ll have to see which is the best on the day.

The ones in here who have raced have pretty strong form and I think that’s testament to the prize money on offer. It’s over £40,000 to the winner and York must be applauded for that.

Where in England in the last 10 years would you race in a maiden for that sort of money? They’re putting on huge prize money and it’s attracting big fields with class horses.

While everyone is trying to figure out how to solve the problems in racing, York already has the answer.

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FIRST PUBLISHED: 18th August 2022

• Bergkamp was a hugely influential import to the Premier League

• Throughout his time at Arsenal he was one of the best-paid players in the top-flight

• The retired legend has a wealth that is befitting of his genius 

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Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp was born on May 10th, 1969 in Amsterdam.

The son of a football-obsessed electrician, he was reputedly named after the legendary Manchester United forward Denis Law, and from a very young age Bergkamp showed he had the precocious talent to do the name justice. 

Spotted by Ajax as a schoolboy, he progressed through the club’s famed academy, going on to net 122 times in 239 appearances for his hometown club, while claiming domestic and European silverware along the way.

The silky striker won the Dutch Footballer of the Year merit for two consecutive seasons.

A big-money move to Inter Milan proved to be a disappointment but then came a remarkable rejuvenation at Arsenal, with Bergkamp becoming arguably the most influential foreign player to ever step foot on an English pitch.

At Highbury his intelligent and graceful forward-play brought three league titles and in 2003/04 he was a big part of their incredible ‘Invincibles’ side that avoided defeat all season.

So great was he that a statue now resides outside the Gunners’ new home, the Emirates.

His touch and vision have seen him described many times over as a genius. Its fair to say too that his genius has been well rewarded.

How Much Is Dennis Bergkamp Worth?

Bergkamp’s wealth can reasonably be pitched at £40m, a figure largely amassed from the latter stages of his illustrious playing career.

That is not to suggest of course he was paid a pittance in his early years. 

A lucrative signing-on fee would no doubt have been attached to his Inter switch in 1993 while his move to London in 1995 saw his income soar.

In his first season with Arsenal, Bergkamp was the Premier League’s highest earner on a basic of £25,000 a week. That sum does not include built-in bonuses.

By the time the esteemed forward hung up his boots in 2006 the average wage of top-flight footballers had quadrupled and with Bergkamp established as one of its leading lights – a bona fide legend, no less – it’s fair to place him in the highest bracket during that period. 

Indeed, in 2005 a FourFourTwo Rich List calculated he was the second richest player in the English game, behind only David Beckham. 

Intriguingly, Bergkamp was also one of the first footballers to secure his image rights from the clutches of his club, an agreement that would have been very profitable when becoming the international ‘face’ of the hugely popular videogame FIFA 99.

That aside however, he was not one for promoting himself off the pitch and to Bergkamp’s immense credit he has always wore his wealth lightly, driving a Land Rover Discovery, a luxury vehicle for sure but not ostentatious by footballer standards. 

He presently resides in a large property in Blaricum, Netherlands, which again is luxurious but similarly is hardly extravagant. 

Dennis Bergkamp Honours

Nicknamed the ‘Non-Flying Dutchman’ due to his fear of flying, in every other regard Bergkamp’s career hit rarefied heights.

In 1993, he finished runner-up to Roberto Baggio for the Ballon d’Or while his sumptuous displays for Arsenal saw him inducted into both the English Football Hall of Fame and the Premier League Hall of Fame. 

For both Ajax and Inter, Bergkamp won the UEFA Cup, additionally bringing the Eredivisie title to Amsterdam for the first time in five years.

It was with Arsenal though where the bulk of his glories came, winning the league on three occasions and the FA Cup four times. 

It is gratifying that a player of his stature possesses a medals-haul befitting his elite ability. Sadly, the latest Premier League betting suggests it will be some time before another title heads to North London. 

Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal

Bought by Bruce Rioch for a club record transfer fee of £2.5m in 1995, it was under Rioch’s successor Arsene Wenger that Bergkamp soared to unprecedented levels of excellence, impressing one and all with a skillset honed from the ‘Total Football’ philosophy of his homeland. 

Deployed as a ‘second striker’ before the term became popular, his long-term collaboration with Wenger proved extremely fruitful, and perhaps this was inevitable, with the Frenchman being the greatest Arsenal manager of them all, and Bergkamp one of the Premier League’s finest ever imports. 

For a measure of the high regard Bergkamp is held in, we only need look at his testimonial, that was the first match played at the Emirates Stadium.

Not only were Gunners legends on display that afternoon, such as Patrick Vieira and Ian Wright, but genuine Dutch masters in the form of Marco Van Basten and the incomparable Johan Cruyff.

Touchingly, the game was kicked off by Bergkamp’s father Wim and his son Mitchel, with all four of his children acting as mascots.

Dennis Bergkamp Family

Growing up in a working-class suburb of Amsterdam, Bergkamp’s humble beginnings have informed an outlook that puts family before everything else. 

In 1993, he married model Henrita Ruizendaal with the couple still happily wed to this day and the couple have four children: Estelle Deborah, Mitchel Dennis, Yasmin Naomi and Saffron Rita.

Estelle is the long-term partner of the Dutch international Donny van de Beek, and regularly posts cute photos of the pair, who are now parents to a baby daughter named Lomee. 

Mitchel followed his father into football, though he is currently without a club after being released by Watford. 

Dennis Bergkamp Goals

The mere mention of the Arsenal great conjures up images of his most magnificent goals, some of which are seared into a nation’s memory. 

An unforgettable hat-trick against Leicester in 1997 contained two goal-of-the-season contenders, the latter arriving in the last minute of a classic encounter.

Bergkamp’s control and artful finish from a long-range pass is a much-viewed favourite on YouTube.

As too is his sublime and iconic goal for Holland in a World Cup quarter-final vs Argentina. Again, the magic took place in the final minute. Again, the cushioned take-down and clinical execution from a speculative long pass defies all logic.

Rewatching such moments of individual sorcery is a reminder that EPL predictions can only extend so far. That’s because all the data in the world can be undone in a heartbeat when very special players like Dennis Bergkamp are around.

Former Manchester United and Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre believes a change in mentality will be Erik Ten Hag’s most pressing priority as he attempts to transform the Reds’ fortunes.

"The most important thing for me is to make sure the attitude is right and that the commitment from the players is 100%. It doesn’t matter if you play City or Liverpool, or Southampton or Brighton.

"Whether you are at the beginning of the season, or the end. That’s what the fans want. There were too many games last season when the team gave up so this change in attitude is very important."

It is a damning assessment of a squad that too often flattered to deceive last term, eventually finishing a distant 13 points off the top four.

Yet, if the arrival of the Dutch coach signals a new start for United, with lots of optimism to accompany it, the French star has his doubts.

Not with Ten Hag, who he clearly rates, but with the media, and fans and – most crucially of all – the club’s hierarchy, giving the 52-year-old sufficient time to complete the job.

"In this moment, being patient in football won’t get you trophies. Those days are over. These days you sign your contract as a manger and you hope for the best, keeping your job for as long as possible.

"In England, the average time for a manger to keep their job is 14 months so that reality will catch you up at some point. You start in credit, and you want to increase your credit, then keep your job for as long as you can."

All of which suggests that Ten Hag had better get a move on, improving players and getting the club’s recruitment right and in both of these areas Silvestre has so far been impressed by what he’s seen.

 

 

 

 

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Anthony Martial, for example, has looked a different player in pre-season but now he must extend that early form into the Premier League season and prove his doubters wrong.

"Anthony has been a bit of an enigma after his first season, when he burst onto the scene, and now he hopefully has the maturity and a better understanding of what is being asked of him.

"The qualities are certainly there and if he can get the manager’s confidence, he can become a big part of United’s rebuilding. It’s up to him and hopefully it can happen."

Then there’s Marcus Rashford, whose two goals inside of a week against Melbourne and Crystal Palace hint at a player refocusing his aim after a sustained lapse in form.

With a World Cup place to fight for, does Silvestre anticipate an upturn in output from the forward in the weeks and months to come?

"It’s an important season for Marcus, for sure. He’s got responsibilities on and off the field and hopefully he can focus on the game and perform like he’s supposed to.

"Because we know his qualities. There is no question about that. But he’s been lacking in confidence and that’s been damaging his game."

As for new signings, the five-time Premier League winner has been somewhat bemused by Lisandro Martinez’s 5ft 8 stature gaining so many column inches, with some claiming the £55m purchase from Ajax is too short for the top-flight.

Still nursing wounds from the direct football that was commonplace throughout the 2000s, Silvestre doesn’t agree.

"There have been famous players as tall as Martinez. Roberto Ayala at Valencia. Ivan Cordoba at Inter. There haven’t been many but if you have a good spring and good timing you can bridge that lack of height.

"Also, football in England has changed. It’s less aerial from teams and not like back when I was playing.

"Then I would face Peter Crouch or Niall Quinn, with teams launching long balls for Emile Heskey. Duncan Ferguson! It’s different now and so it’s not so problematic at it used to be."

😱 'I've seen flaws in his game!'

🧐 Is Haaland nailed on for the Golden Boot?

💬 @Chelsearory, @ade_oladipo1, @AbbiSummers and @FlexUTD debate the Premier League's top 5 strikers. pic.twitter.com/bZVfB2bNvo

— 888sport (@888sport) August 11, 2022

Silvestre won everything that could be won across his nine years at Old Trafford before moving to North London to join an Arsenal side in flux.

More than a decade on, it could be argued that the Gunners are still in transition, though their ex-centre-back has been greatly encouraged of late, witnessing what he believes are significant strides being taken under Mikel Arteta.

"There have been new signings and we will see about the defence. But Arsenal going forward, I like their movement and combinations. The flair they’ve been showing.

"The question is whether they can do that in the Premier League and show it consistently because that was lacking last season.

"It’s still a young group of players with not much experience in terms of games, and it’s still a young manager too. But they look to be on the right track."

Regarding those signings, the defender who won 40 caps for France bristles at the notion that Spurs have enjoyed a better transfer window so far, or indeed that Tottenham should be considered as favourites to again secure a top four berth.

For him, the Gunners remains a huge draw for any available talent.

"The name always sounds good in a player’s ears because Arsenal is an institution. It was a massive club and still is in terms of recognition.

"The last few years they have been winning the FA Cup so it’s not like they haven’t been winning anything at all. It’s London. It’s the Emirates. It’s still an attractive club."

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The Man United rebuild will take time.

Because bringing a top club back to the levels of many years ago is never easy, in some cases it also requires many seasons as happened for example in Italy with Inter and AC Milan which needed almost 9/10 years to return to winning a title in Serie A.

The Manchester United structure is now very dependent on Erik ten Hag: the new manager is the man on whom the present and future project will be built, with his indications and ideas always supported.

Also during this summer, Manchester United have tried to support the manager in his ideas compatibly with a big problem that has complicated many negotiations: the absence of Champions League football.

Manchester United's greatness and history remains attractive to many players, but has become an obstacle to some negotiations such as that for Frenkie de Jong, Man United's priority target for many months.

That's why Manchester United, like all big clubs, have a big meeting at the end of May in which to decide the priority targets for the summer window; but then the negotiations always depend on the player, on the agreement with the clubs and cannot always be completed.

The guidelines come from Erik ten Hag: it was he who put de Jong's name at the top of the club's list, who approved Bruno Fernandes' contract extension, who decided how to proceed on Christian Eriksen as a priority target on a free transfer.

Without a call from ten Hag, Eriksen would probably have stayed at Brentford for another year.

Of course, Lisandro Martinez would not have made it to Manchester United who were targeting Pau Torres for defense ... and instead they invested more than € 60m for Lisandro because considered a perfect top player for the Premier League by the Dutch manager.

 

 

 

 

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Consequently, the Man Utd structure has a clear form: ten Hag expresses his ideas, has an important voice in the club and participates in the discussion phase with the players who can join the Red Devils.

The same happened in the phone calls with Lisandro, Malacia and Adrien Rabiot with the last one who wanted Champions League football at all costs.

But who carries out the negotiations is the board with Richard Arnolds and John Murtough, they have direct contact with the players, the agents, obviously the clubs as happened in the case of Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong with more than one meeting in Catalonia.

But also for Lisandro Martinez, it was a 48-hour mission by the English executives to make it possible to reach an agreement with Ajax when the negotiations were starting to slow down.

Everything passes from the board, aware that not being able to offer Champions League football in many cases is a problem to consider; many top players consider that factor as key to signing with a club.

This is why the strategy has already been marked since May, but negotiations do not always proceed as a club wants.

Darwin Nunez was one of the players on Manchester United's roster, for example; considered a top striker, Man Utd had prepared a € 65 / 70m budget for him without wanting to go any further.

That's why there was no bidding war with Liverpool when the Reds offered € 100m add-ons included, knowing they could offer Champions League football.

This makes the difference in the management of a transfer window, where not everything can be in control of the single club if there is no Champions League football available.

Ten Hag is the guarantee for Manchester United's project after an excellent job at Ajax appreciated by many players, but before rebuilding a competitive team it takes time, planning and a lot of signings.

Ralf Rangnick for example last January was not happy that the club had not immediately invested for a striker: Julian Alvarez was available for less than € 20m release clause, but Man Utd decided to wait for the summer and so Manchester City signed a top talent at very good conditions.

Sometimes timing makes a difference, this is a factor ten Hag insists on and that will need to be improved in the next few years to bring Manchester United back to top levels.

📝 “I’ve written a love letter to #MUFC.”

😡 “Do these players know what it means to play for this club?”

🙌 “Man United will never die.”

Alex Crook reads out his love letter to Man United after their defeat to Brentford 👏 pic.twitter.com/yPM5h0YjXh

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) August 14, 2022

That's why sometimes there can be opportunities out of nowhere just like Adrien Rabiot, while Marko Arnautovic is an idea born with Steven McClaren and Erik ten Hag that collapsed after fan complaints... and a € 10m opening bid turned down by Bologna.

Yes, sometimes even the fans can make a difference in a top club. This is also the Man United transfer market which from 2023 will no longer be able to make a mistake.

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