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- Get £50 In Free Bets When You Place £10
- Horse racing tips: 11-1 shot will relish the soft ground and can bolt up at Catterick
- 50 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Grade 3, 2m)
- Cheltenham Festival Handicap Hurdle Micro System
- Value Bet tips: Saturday, December 23
- Royal Ascot 2024 day one review & replays Rosallion wins St James’s Palace Stakes
- Samuel Spade
- Get £60 in bonuses when you bet £10 on horse racing
- more stars of sport
- Hot Trainers
- You are unable to access oddsdigger.com
- Free Horse Racing Tips and Trends: Sat 26th Feb 2022
- Check out all our bets at Lingfield, Beverley, Listowel, Warwick and Newcastle on Tuesday
- Two Cheltenham Festival Side Bets to Consider
- Cheltenham Festival 2024: Day One Preview, Tips
The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 13 winners from a total of 195 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 12 runners. On trainer changes, it is obvious that not all trainers are equally talented and, especially, not all trainers are equally good at finding the key to a horse in their care. A change of scenery is sometimes enough, but often it is a change of regime or some personal attention – maybe a weekly back massage or whatever – that can aid a horse’s progression. Under the conditions of the race, we can see that ‘Led’ (green blob) types have fared best.
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Aidan O’Brien’s Breeders’ Cup winner Unquestionable set the pace, with fellow Ballydoyle runner Henry Longfellow just in behind, while William Buick dropped Notable Speech out in the rear. Hannon has not been shy in making it known how highly he regards his colt, although he could have been forgiven if his confidence had been slightly dented when he was beaten by Notable Speech at Newmarket. Bit to find with Politologue on Tingle Creek form; unlikely winner. The course commentator has the opportunity to whip Cheltenham in to a frenzy right from the first race.
- There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap, Richard Fahey has sent a total of 11 runners to the race without recording any wins.
- He has also shown form here as have 80 per cent of the winners during the past 10 years.
- The winner that day was in receipt of a stone but faces those old foes off levels here.
- Connections probably have eyes on the Gold Cup 2022 after that Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Winners display.
- But he’s no bargain, especially if his jockey – presumably Rachael Blackmore though she has another option – allows others a head start.
Horse racing tips: 11-1 shot will relish the soft ground and can bolt up at Catterick
Just imagine as they freewheel down the hill if he can exclaim, “Jack Kennedy and Samcro are making ground, he hasn’t moved a muscle”. 1m 7f of Grade 1 jump racing coming up – can anyone stop the highly-rated Altior? He goes off at even-money after being punted into odds-on before the start. Altior looked to be struggling but his jockey held him together.
50 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Grade 3, 2m)
Losses have been steepest in Grade 1 contests with your £1 bet returning on average 79p (loss of 21p in the £). Horses that won a Grade 1 contest LTO have scored close to one race in every four which is impressive. Backing all runners would have yielded a good profit also of over 22p in the £. Horses winning LTO in either Grade 2, 3 or Listed company have very similar strike rates, but it is Listed LTO winners who have created the best profit (£49.48 returning 41p in the £). We will examine Irish trainers versus UK trainers in more detail later, but Irish-trained clear favourites have done well.
Cheltenham Festival Handicap Hurdle Micro System
- Fell at 9/2 in 2018, when Min was only second as a 5/2 shot, and – worse – 7th in 2017 as a 2/9 chance.
- The second won next time and was rated 89 when taking on handicappers for the first time, the third – also trained by Joseph – has won a couple of minor hurdle races, and the fourth won a Leopardstown maiden next time.
- It all started with a new superstar in the name of Bob Olinger, who absolutely bolted up in the Ballymore novices hurdle to become the first of the Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Winners.
- I’m struggling to make a case for any of Kings Hill, Supersundae and Gold Dancer.
- There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that, prior to the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, Ballyburn brings the best novice form.
- With a longer-term record dating back to January 2021 of a similar level, he is undoubtedly a true expert to listen to when looking for value bets for each day’s racing.
Earlier on the programme, CHECKANDCHALLENGE can keep Will Buick’s in-form run going in the Group 3 Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes (2.25). This is the right level for the three-year-old, who still has plenty of potential on the back of his solid effort last time out. MITBAAHY is fancied to win the battle of the fastest horses on Goodwood’s card in the King George Qatar Stakes (3.35). He has plenty of gears and the drop to 5f worked the oracle last time. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was contesting Group 1 contests by the end of the season.
Value Bet tips: Saturday, December 23
Since 2009, the total wagered on horses has been falling, as online and mobile bookies have led the charge with other sports. This coincides with the rise of mobile betting, and underlying trends in sports betting that have seen football and tennis gain more ground. When it comes to promotions for big race events, it’s always worth shopping around. These vary between different providers and often change from year to year, so it’s usually a good idea to do some homework on the available promotions and bonus terms ahead of the bigger racing events.
Royal Ascot 2024 day one review & replays Rosallion wins St James’s Palace Stakes
The nature of most HC1 plays is that we’re grappling in the dark, with every chance that the horse is just not very able and runs a clunker. Below are a few more Instant Expert grids, and your challenge is to decide which horses offered playable value, and which races looked too competitive and should have been passed. Even if we’re right about the true odds being 7/2, we’re still looking at 77.7% losers. But, over a thousand £1 bets, those 22.3% winners (223) will return £1,115 – or a profit of 11.5%.
Samuel Spade
There is currently little value in the early markets for this tight little handicap. Le Breuil looked very impressive on latest start, with the form being sound. 2023 less markets were traded – 17,459 – but a with a similar profit to 2022. 2022 saw TradeHost become even more profitable with 22,698 Betfair markets traded. Then you will love the 2022 Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide in association with the Sporting Life. A firm favourite with punters for nearly two decades, the guide is now in its 23rd consecutive year and back better than ever before.
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Faivoir was pulled-up that day and has already proved the form all wrong with a good second behind Gin Coco, while the well-held eighth Rare Middleton has since won by five lengths doing handstands off just 2lb lower at Doncaster. With 59 racecourses in Britain and 26 in Ireland, you’re almost certainly not far away from a local track, and tickets for regular meetings (when spectators are allowed) can often be as low as £10. They are amazing, beautiful, unpredictable and so clever. They are lean, mean, powerful machines, athletes that can get to 60 kilometres an hour from a standing start in just five strides. We have built the fastest cars and bikes but the racehorse is pure nature. Every horse has his or her own character and personality.
more stars of sport
However, with the benefit of expert insight, or even just a second pair of eyes, you can more readily identify the best betting options. The leading trainer in the Ayr Gold Cup over the last 20 renewals is Kevin Ryan who has won the race five times with those five winners coming from Advanced (2007), Our Jonathan (2011), Captain Ramius (2012), Brando (2016) and Bielsa (2021). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Ayr Gold Cup are Richard Fahey (2 wins), David O’Meara (2 wins) and Andrew Balding (2 wins). Those mythical beasts, the favourite backers, are often “on good terms with themselves” – as the vernacular of the lazy studio pundit hackneys – because, well, because the favourite wins more often than any other market rank.
His form is in another postcode to his rivals in a market still trying to get him beaten with the wonderful but past his best Altior and a sizeable group of second division chasers. A horse like Fakir D’Oudairies, who is 20/1 NRNB in a place because he’s more likely to fly Ryanair, might be a feasible hail mary in a race loaded with if’s and but’s. Three runs, three wins, in Grade 2 and Grade 1 (twice) company, beating the right horses with nonchalance. He travels like a dream, jumps very well and, if he faces the starter at Cheltenham, will have managed more runs this season than in the previous two combined. A place strike rate of 36% is more compelling, and a majority of runners have performed at least close to market expectation. Notably, the big guns – Chantry House, Champ – have run very well.
- Altior showed the problem was behind him when soon putting Politologue to the sword that day and winning by four lengths.
- The micro-systems above will provide plenty of action for those who like a mechanical approach.
- Brandy Love has been very lightly raced but is a Grade 1 winner at this range, when seeing off Love Envoi who, by contrast, was having her sixth battle of last season.
- Tiger Roll is only small but stays longer than Matt Chapman on Dancing On Ice and he loves Cheltenham, having completed a bizarre double in the two-mile Triumph Hurdle and four-mile National Hunt Chase here.
- I have spoken to Daryl Jacob and he is going to ride a patient race, sneaking into contention, and he is one of the best in the weighing room at that.
A small bet on a race can be a thrilling way to enjoy the action. While the more you know will generally enhance your chances of finding winners – and hence following this sport can give a lifetime of pleasure and achievement – even beginners can improve their odds by following a few simple rules. That is why they have been the world’s favourite betting medium for hundreds of year – you really can study the form (see below) and use it to pick winners. Not getting any younger at the age of seven but looked at the peak of his powers when smashing the course record at Newbury last time. He’s proven on softer ground and will get this race run to suit with plenty of competition for the lead. Danny Tudhope is a brilliant hold up rider and he looks a worthy favourite.
Free Horse Racing Tips and Trends: Sat 26th Feb 2022
If you’d had the proverbial crystal ball and been able to predict every front-runner at HQ since 2009, you’d have been on to a very good thing as you can see from the table below, taken from geegeez’ Query Tool. ‘4’ signifies an early front runner, ‘3’ a prominent racer early, ‘2’ a midfield runner, and ‘1’ a hold up type. This particular race was won by the unexposed, and still unbeaten – now in three races – Hickory, who was a class above his rivals. As the result shows, he was good enough to travel on the heels of the speed, while the placed horses came from far back, even though typically this course and distance favours front-runners (see the green blob above the pace map).
Check out all our bets at Lingfield, Beverley, Listowel, Warwick and Newcastle on Tuesday
Icing On The Cake unseated at the third in that Ludlow race having dug deep to win at Newbury on his previous outing. There are a few firms quoting double figures for his chances. This year’s fundraiser will again be centred around the Cheltenham Festival. For a donation of £25 you will get the exclusive Cheltenham preview, horses to follow direct from the Lambourn trainers plus membership for the period 11th to 19th March. Your full £25 will go directly to the Lambourn Valley Housing Trust. Chef D’Oeuvre won unchallenged on desperate ground at Hereford and that piece of form is difficult to evaluate.
She was very impressive on Irish debut at Fairyhouse beating Zarak the Brave and backed it up at Leopardstown at Christmas before being narrowly beaten by Gala Marceau at the DRF. Lossiemouth was severely hampered at one stage and looked well beaten before staying on strongly to finish only 2.5 Lengths behind the winner. I’ve spoken historically about “the rule of two”, whereby we get past the notion that a single heavy ground win might have been in a very weak race or by some sort of fluke. Two wins affirms that a horse is definitely suited – or can at least handle – extreme going. Naturally, if the horse is two from five, it will be more compelling than if it’s two from 25! And, of course, as we should never tire of saying, the price makes the play.
Then we head to Wales for the two meetings on Tuesday with good prize money on offer at Bangor and further south for Chepstow. Decent jumping ground at both with course Bolts Up Daily alterations affecting the official distances. Horse race gambling is the cornerstone of the sports betting world, and has been for the best part of a century.
- Whilst the race is open on paper, it may be worth chancing WINDSOR AVENUE.
- He was unlucky at Haydock last Saturday and a return to this trip will suit.
- Day one of the Newbury Greatwood meeting with tomorrow’s Greatwood Gold Cup being the highlight.
- My selection was below par when dropped back to six furlongs at Pontefract on his penultimate outing, but roared back to form under Clifford Lee on the Knavesmire 20 days ago with a half-length margin from Blue For You.
- You can also place single bets from the Bet Slip – just click the price in the Bet Slip.
- Events like Cheltenham serve as a barometer of both the excitement and unpredictability of horse racing, illustrating the necessity of astute financial planning.
- Add in this year’s Troytown and former Thyestes Chase winner Coko Beach and a raft of credible place contenders at least and it makes for what is very likely the deepest field in Glenfarclas history.
- Over the course of his first 15 months (Jan 21 to March 22), he performed so well that we setup a Free Tipster service for SBC members to follow.
- Edwardstone probably just wins, after a good prep when a lot went wrong last time.
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Madara rates a mention as a progressive 5yo with a 3-3 record on testing ground, and he went to Ireland to spank the local handicappers at the DRF. That allowance was 6lb when he won at Cheltenham two starts back and still 3lb at Leopardstown but has now been eroded entirely. It won’t stop him, as such, but he’s effectively 19lb higher than when beating In Excelsis Deo two starts back, and I don’t think it has been factored into his price. There are lots of poorly handicapped horses in this race and it’s not hard to whittle the field down to horses well enough treated who can cope with the conditions and the Cheltenham fences. Most of his best form is on a sounder surface, as when fourth in the Gold Cup two years ago; but he’s raced mainly on softer recently. Indeed, he was second to Delta Work in this race a year ago and was down the field in the two handicap chases over the track/trip late last year.
Racing to the second last he switched to the outside, found some better ground and a bit of daylight, and in a few strides had gathered in all but Min. The bookmakers early mark up on the races of interest is too far tilted in their favour. I suppose the thinking is that Saturday punters will have a bet whatever.
His progressive chase form over three miles plus is enough to put him in with a solid shout anyway, but it was his latest performance, when chasing home the smart Our Duke over 2½ miles that underlines his class. The trip would have been plenty sharp enough for Presenting Percy – he had won over 3m 5f two runs earlier – yet he traded blows with a horse that is third favourite for Friday’s Timico Gold Cup. As the coming week progresses the ground will be drying which brings a number of factors into play.
I’d rather take shorter when knowing the ground with him. In the end, I’m swerving The Goffer on the basis of the Irish record, which will of course be the wrong thing to do one of these years; but I definitely want a bit of the The Big Breakaway with the extended places as well. A bit of a wise guy horse on the preview circuit has been Mistergif, another Willie wunner, this one in the double green of Munir and Souede. Rated 75 or so on the flat in France, he failed to win in nine starts before trying hurdling. Under the new code, he was fifth in a Listed race on his debut and then second in a conditions event, both at Auteuil; but the horse that beat him on that final French start is zero from five (fallen three times, third once) since.
Doddiethegreat might be Nicky’s main hope, but I’d not be dismissive of First Street either. Whilst we know him best as a two miler these days, he stayed this sort of trip earlier in his career, and he has won a handicap off a 3lb higher mark back in 2022. Another class animal with the right sort of mark from which to go well. Having written about these two horses, I was curious as to how Willie’s maiden winner to Grade 1 hurdlers have performed.
The undoubted highlight of day one is the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle. Since just under two hours before last year’s Champion Hurdle, Constitution Hill has been close to, or outright, favourite for the 2023 renewal. The reason for that was his destruction of a solid-looking Supreme Novices’ Hurdle field in the 2022 curtain raiser, where he easily despatched Jonbon et al in a very fast time. True, both Dysart Dynamo (joint favourite with CH that day) and Mighty Potter, unbeaten in four since, both failed to complete; but that is, after all, a fairly important part of the challenge. Corach Rambler won the race last year and will again be played late; he was much the best that day and is only six pounds higher now. A fine fourth of 15 in the Coral Gold Cup (Hennessy as was) in November was his most recent run, though that was 108 days ago.
He will again face the second horse from that Grade 1, Notebook, if both stand their ground at the weekend, and the fact that Notebook is circa 5/1 third choice for Dublin’s Festival Chase speaks of the paucity of opposition once more. There is the not inconsiderable frame of Min betwixt and between in the weekend market but, in the same ownership as Chacun Pour Soi, it is unclear what might be gained from that pair locking horns. Mind you, they did last season, CPS prevailing by most of four lengths. The tl;dr (bit late now, I realise) is that five of the last six winners – four of them, like Shishkin, odds-on favourites – won by six lengths or more.
She was second in the Mare’s Novice Hurdle in 2021 and was a well beaten in last year’s Arkle but that was a much better race than this. She’s had four runs since that Arkle, winning twice and second twice. She’s genuine and always runs her race and still only a 7-year-old there is plenty of improvement to come from her I feel.
If you can find an in-form horse, with strong recent form figures, a high Racing Post Rating and reasonably generous odds you could be on to a winner, so don’t be afraid to get involved. By doing those simple steps you’ve already started to read the form, albeit at its simplest. You already know that the better the form figures the better the chance and the shorter the likely odds.
Sent off 10/3 favourite for the November edition, he was never put into the race; but he did run a little better in the October variant, finishing a place and four lengths behind Minella Indo. This has obviously been the plan all season but I’m not at all sure he can bring his A game when water wings are needed. There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that, prior to the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, Ballyburn brings the best novice form.
You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at Ayr Racecourse section for links to these. Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap, that stallion Invincible Spirit has produced 2 winners (2019,2016). The course which has produced the most winners of the Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap is York, there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at York last time out.
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