Sports Update March
March is a great month for sporting action and pride of place must go to Formula 1, where the season starts with a bang in Australia and continues into China and Japan later in the month. Mercedes are favourites to lift the constructors championship this year and they are followed by McClaren and Ferrari, as far as the bookmakers are concerned anyway. Naturally it follows that George Russell, Mercedes lead driver, is favourite for the drivers championship and second favourite is Max Verstappen from Red Bull, in spite of his team being behind Mercedes, McClaren and Ferrari in the constructors list. It looks like the skill and talent of Verstappen is being given a good deal of respect in spite of the trials and tribulations of the team he represents. Ferrari are not out of the race for the title either and with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton driving for them, any improvements they make through the season will see them fighting it out with the rest. Your dates for this month are Australia on the 8th, China on the 15th and Japan on the 29th. We should know a lot more about what shape the various teams are in come April.
If it’s March, it must be Cheltenham. The greatest show on turf is with us again and the action starts on the 10th of the month and goes through until Gold Cup day on Friday the 13th.
Although the domination of the meeting by the Irish is likely to continue, it does look like the British contingent are heading to Prestbury Park with a stronger team and there is some talk of a fight back this year, with English horses heading the betting in plenty of the Grade 1 events over the four days. Willie Mullins, the most successful trainer in the history of the meeting with over a hundred winners, will no doubt send another battalion of well fancied horses over from his base in Closutton but to my eye the team doesn’t look quite as strong as in previous years and I think the race between Ireland and the rest to see who turns out the most winners will be a closer run thing than we have had for a good while. Whatever happens, we’ll be seeing the best against the best over the four days and for us horse racing fans, there’s nothing like it!
Other highlights in March
include the round of 16 matches in the Champions League, being played on the 10th and 11th with the return legs on the 17th and 18th. We also have the Carabao Cup final being played at Wembley on the 22nd, which features a clash between Arsenal and Manchester City, which may have some psychological impact as the same two teams look the only realistic contenders to be the Premier League champions this year. I would think the first piece of silverware under the belt and a defeat of your opponent in a showcase final would be a considerable boost as the season concludes.