Betfair's Moments of the Decade: Part Two

/ Editor / 15 December 2009 / Leave a comment

In the second instalment of Betfair's Moment's of the Decade, our writers discuss Tiger, Zizou and an unforgettable afternoon at Longchamp....

""Sea The Stars’ swan-song in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe bettered everything that had gone on in horseracing in the previous 10 years."

Bill Elliott
Whatever now happens to Tiger Woods his entire sporting legacy was captured by one putt in the summer of 2008. The event was the US Open. The putt, a 20ft downhill, double-breaker, came on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines, San Diego. He needed to make it to set up a possible play-off against Rocco Mediate and he did. He did so despite a badly damaged knee and what turned out to be a broken leg. And then he won the play-off. A spine-tingingly brilliant moment from sport's fiercest competitor.

The Lord
Can I have two? The first has to be the Westmead Hawk's back-to-back Derby victories at Wimbledon, those whirlwind finishes that raised the roof at Plough Lane, scenes that we might not see again if the track becomes single-sided. The second is that genial Irishman Seamus Graham finally landing the Derby with Loyal Honcho after years of getting so close.

Tip for 2010: Seamus Cahill to win the Betfair Trainers' Championship. The Keston handler is up there with Wallis and Lister as the UK's best handler.

Will Hayler
Memorable sporting moments aren't always fantastic and joyous. Watching the 2001 Grand National still leaves me feeling like someone is running their fingernails down a blackboard for 11 minutes. At least the sight of Carl Llewellyn trying to chase down Beau after he was unseated at the 20th fence when surely on course for victory will always provide some historical levity to the occasion.

Maxwell Liu
When Roy Keane was sacked in November 2005, after making scathing, on-air criticisms of his team-mates, some said that his standards had proved to be higher than Sir Alex Ferguson's and called for the manager to resign. The following season, United won their first Premier League title for four years. Two more titles, one Champions League, a World Club Championship and two League Cups on, the lesson remains: never, ever write off Sir Alex Ferguson.

Tip for 2010: Back Argentina to win the World Cup

Simon Rowlands
Sea The Stars' swan-song in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe near the end of the decade bettered everything that had gone on in horseracing in the previous 10 years for me.
In football, they say good teams win even when below their best or in the face of adversity. Sea The Stars had shown more brilliance at times previously, but he showed true character against the odds that day when it really mattered.

Tip for 2010: "Long Run win back, RSA Chase, Cheltenham Festival.

James Pacheco
Zidane's head-butt on Materazzi. We'll never know whether Zidane staying on the pitch would have made any difference to the outcome of that match. But we do now know that 15 years of playing at the highest level, an army of sports psychologists and endless pre-match team talks can't prepare you for how you'll react in the face of provocation. And in a twisted way, that's one of the things that makes sport fascinating.

Tip for 2010: "Back Robin Soderling to win the Australian Open (with a view to trading) at [46.0].

Tags: football betting, golf betting, Greyhounds betting, Horseracing betting, Roy Keane, World Cup 2010 Betting, Zinidiene Zidane