John Burke
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Jun- 2019 -24 JuneRace Previews
Royal Ascot Highlights
Royal Ascot is over for another year. A strange meeting, a bit like this year’s Cheltenham Festival, it was a slow burner. The first two days took place under grey skies and torrential rain. There were no highlights off the track, and in all honesty, there weren’t many of them on the track either. Blue Points to Win On Tuesday…
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17 JuneRace Previews
Royal Ascot Special
Just one day to the start of Royal Ascot and, what I believe, is the best five days of horse racing anywhere in the world. Nearly 300,000 people will visit Royal Ascot over the next five days, including of course Her Majesty the Queen and various members of the Royal Family. Each day of Royal Ascot begins with the Royal…
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10 JuneAdvice
Liberty Set for Royal Ascot
Just seven days ago we were looking back at a weekend of Classic action. High class racing that took place under blue skies and warm sunshine. What a difference a week can make… Granted there was no lack of racing around the country. But it wasn’t the strongest summer Saturday in terms of quality. Even worse, the weather was more…
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3 JuneAdvice
John Burke Monday EyeCatcher
In this week’s article I look back at the Derby & Oaks, and some interesting stats for those punting at Brighton. We’ve had four of the five English Classics already run, and the flat season is just two months old! Frankie’s Famous Five My decision to look at bigger priced horses in the Oaks meant I didn’t back Anapurna who…
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May- 2019 -27 MayAdvice
Epsom Derby & Oaks Previews
Hard to believe, but by the beginning of June four of the five English Classics will have been run and this time next week I will be looking back at the Epsom Derby & Oaks. Today I will be concentrating on previewing both next week’s Classics. I have to say both races have an open look about them. Let’s begin…
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20 MayAdvice
Derby Picture Gets Clearer or Does It?
It’s Monday again and my weekly look back at the best of last week’s action. On Saturday it was Lockinge Day at Newbury, and whilst there was some high-class racing at the Berkshire track, the rest of weekend’s racing was only moderate. That being the case, I thought it was a good time to look back at last week’s York…
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13 MayAdvice
Lingfield Hosts Derby & Oaks Trials
It’s Monday again and my weekly look back at the best of last weekend’s action. On Saturday it was Derby & Oaks Trials Day at Lingfield. The track is like Epsom, although overall, it’s a much sharper track. However, the conventional wisdom of most racing pundits is if a horse handles Lingfield it should be able to handle Epsom. Well…
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6 MayAdvice
The Flat is Definitely Back!
There’s no doubt the flat season is with us now. I’m writing this just after the finish of the first colts classic, the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, with the first fillies classic the 1,000 Guineas to come on Sunday. This week’s post concentrates on Saturday’s action from Newmarket, but there is time at the end to take a quick look…
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Apr- 2019 -29 AprilAdvice
Goodbye to Jumps
Just over a week ago I had my right kidney removed so it’s hard to believe that I’m able to write this week’s Monday blog post. The pain and soreness are still there and, although each day I feel better, I’m pacing my way back to full fitness. It was the final day of the British jumps season on Saturday…
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8 AprilAdvice
Tiger Rolls into History
Tiger Roll became a Grand National legend on Saturday. As he became the first horse since Red Rum to win the race two years on the trot. Like Red Rum, Tiger Roll is bred to be a flat horse, and he’s not exactly built to jump a fence either. But like “Rummy”, he’s just a freak of horse. Travelling powerfully…
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Mar- 2019 -26 MarchAdvice
Sean Bowen: A Future Champion Jockey?
I am big fan of Sean Bowen, the son of trainer Peter Bowen, and brother of James. Indeed, I have praised his riding a few times this jumps season. Well there is no doubt he’s riding at the very top of his game now. At Kelso on Saturday, Sean’s talents were once again showcased. Bowen won the first two races…
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18 MarchAdvice
The Good, the Sad and the Ugly
It’s just 359 days to the start of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival! And for some the countdown has already began, with a few bookmakers having already opened books on next year’s major races. I don’t know about you, but I find the few days after the end of festival hard to come to terms with. Suddenly you have that empty…
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11 MarchNews
You ready? It’s Almost Here…
The Cheltenham Festival is now just one day away. It doesn’t seem that long ago we had just had Champion Day. Maybe its age, but time just seems to go faster these days. As I am sure you were expecting, this Monday’s article is centred on the next four days at the home of National Hunt racing. But before looking…
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Feb- 2019 -25 FebruaryNews
Weekly Eye-Catchers – Horse Racing
Cheltenham Countdown As Andy Newton said in Saturday’s post . “Are you getting excited for the Cheltenham Festival yet?” The answer from me is a big…YES! I hope it’s the same for you too. Will the Cheltenham Trends Hold? Now it’s possible, that the all the trends/profiles that many punters have used at the Cheltenham Festival over recent years, will be…
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18 FebruaryNews
Weekly Eye-Catchers – Horse Racing
Thankfully British horse racing resumed last Wednesday with a few minor restrictions. All horses must have been given a booster influenza vaccination within the last six months before they can race again. That aside, it’s been business as usual, as horse racing bids to make up for lost time. There was plenty of high-quality racing on Saturday at both Ascot…
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11 FebruaryNews
Weekly Eye-Catchers – Horse Racing
It’s been a terrible few days for British horse racing, as the sport was shut down for at least a week due to an outbreak of equine flu. Late on Wednesday evening the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced three cases of equine flu, which we later found out had come from the Donald McCain yard, which led to the cancellation…
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4 FebruaryNews
Weekly Eye-Cathers – Horse Racing
Last week’s blog post had a Cheltenham Festival feel and today is similar. This week, and each Monday for the next six weeks, I will be taking a look at a festival race from an ante-post perspective. Starting with the Champion Hurdle. Before that, lets have a look back at the weekend, and a good Saturday for owner J P…
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Jan- 2019 -28 JanuaryNews
Weekly Eye-Catchers – Horse Racing
Today’s post has a real Cheltenham theme to it. Cheltenhamheld its last fixture before the Festival on Saturday. Trials Day, as it’s become known, has developed a reputation for pinpointing winners for the Cheltenham Festival in March. More of that and some other Cheltenham Festival stats later. Firstly, let’s have a look at the story that was making the racing…
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21 JanuaryNews
Weekly Eye-Catchers – Horse Racing
Altior: The Best National Hunt Horse I Have Ever Seen! Since winning a Chepstow novice hurdle, back in October 2015 by 34 lengths, Altior has never been out of the winner’s enclosure. On Saturday he made it 17 wins from 17 runs, 12 of them over fences, when beating two rivals to win the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at Ascot. Jockey…
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14 JanuaryNews
Weekly Eye-Catchers – Horse Racing
It’s hard to believe that a Gold Cup & King George VI winning jockey can still claim 3lb. Sam Waley-Cohen has won both those races, but still gets a useful 3lb for his troubles. He even managed to get down to 9-12, to make full use of his claim, when winning Warwick’s Classic Chase on Impulsive Star. Impulsive Star , trained by…
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