Sven pays the price for bringing only 4 strikers to Germany! Ah well, theres always the horses to keep us entertained!

After last night I'm sure even the most blindly optimistic of England fans feels this World Cup adventure won't last too long! How can a side with so much exciting individual talent perform so poorly? If you turned down the overly upbeat commentary on the television and avoided the tabloids you'd clearly see England are average at best and fodder for the Argentinas, brazils and Hollands of this World Cup. But why is this so? With the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Joe Cole, Beckham, Terry, Ferdinand and a fit again Rooney the side should be flying high. The reason for their lacklustre group performances lies squarely at the hands of Sven. And now with Michael Owen out he has just three strikers to choose from. Rooney could get injured at any second, Crouch is a long ball man and walcott is in truth too inexperienced to make any impact against the top defenders in the World. I'm sure Darren Bent and Jermaine Defoe are sitting at home saying 'I told you so'.

On the forums though theres a lot of optimism from the likes of heinz, cotton racing, The Clan, Oakydokey, ADM Racing! Im afraid I agree with Wigs7, the English will be home from Germany sooner rather than later!!! Then again maybe I'm a bit bitter as the Republic of Ireland side are sitting at home watching all of this on tele!

Also spare a thought for the Music girl stable. MG put the months wages (£1,600) on an England win at 11/8! ouchhhh!

On the tipping front, we had a good result last night when Black Llama finished in third at 13/1. Well done slowstables, once again your horses don't live up to the stable name!

For all tonights top Getminted racing tips please click on read more....



Spanish Invader - 8:12 - 11/1

Theres certainly a mountain to climb for Spanish Invader in this Level weight race but I've a feeling the 2 year old grey colt from the La Catira stable can handle it. In good form recently he's won one and been placed in two of his last five races. Won in style on the 15th of June on Yielding going in Hong Kong and confidence will be high ahead of the 8:12 race in Canada this evening. Total stats read 15 runs, 4 wins and 5 placed finishes. Mixing it with the big boys now but should be strong enough to secure a placed finish.

Alice - 8:36 - 22/1

Nothing gets in the way of victory for Alice as recent stats show. Despite carrying a top weight of 140 lbs in many of her latest races she's won with ease!In lightening hot form the 7 year old fillie from the Clan stable has picked up 3 wins in her last 5 races and the purchase price paid of £42 for her at the start of this year seems like a bargain. In 145 races the old girl has won 27 times and has been placed in 58 bringing earnings to £2,688. On her favoured fast going tonight, she likes this trip and at these odds could go close.

Killer Kancha - 9:55 - 22/1

When you see the word 'kancha' in a horse's name your eyes automically veer towards it! This 2 year old colt from the fantastic Ken Allan's stable has started her career brightly and I'm suprsied by these long odds for the 9:55 race in Dubai. In 7 starts the bright bay coloured entry already picked up two high profile wins as well as three placed finishes. Came 2nd on muddy two days ago at a light weight in Dubai and will be aiming to go one better tonight but I'd be happy with a placed finish.