Racing and Cricket

20/20 quarter finals try to continue amidst the showers today and time to stick with the outsiders.

2.45 Wolverhampton Le Chiffre 5/2 (3rd -1.66 - looked to have stolen the race when he went 6 lengths clear off the bend, but tied up towards the line and was beaten by half a length)
In the latest James Bond film, Le Chiffre was a banker for various terrorists, and tortures bond by threatening to castrate him after losing a fortune to him in a poker match. Well Le Chiffre is my banker for today, and as a gelding he's already had his balls chopped so he can focus on not losing our bet. In this seller he is best off according to the official ratings, and he was 3/4 length second here last week after the jockey dropped his whip with a furlong to go. He won a similar race here on 10th July last year and then at Kempton 3 weeks later. If you believe the official ratings he is a slightly better horse today so 5/2 will be a nice price.

5.40 Middlesex to beat Lancashire 5/4 (WON -0.41 - God knows what price Middlesex were at 2-2 and 21-4, but a sublime 103 in 54 balls from Dawid Malan took the game out of the northerner's reach)
You look down the Lancashire line-up and names such as Loye, Vincent, Law, Cork, Flintoff, Chapple, Mahmood, all suggest this should be a powerhouse of a side in all formats of the game, and compared to Middlesex's main contributors Morgan, Malan, Godleman, Henderson, Murtagh, Nannes, an ill-informed observer may not be able to see beyond a Middlesex win. But do a bit more analysis on the actual results these teams achieved in the group stages of this competition. Lancashire won 6 of their 10 games, but all 6 were against the bottom three teams in their group - failing to register a win against Durham or Yorkshire. Middlesex, however, finished top of their group, which included the much talked about Essex side, and Middlesex completed a double over their rivals - including a win at the renamed 'Fortress Chelmsford'. The lads from north of the river have put together a great all-round team with no big stars, and despite giving up home advantage and playing at The Oval, 5/4 seems a big price.