Michael Wilding
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Apr- 2011 -3 April
Two Suggestions for this Year’s Aintree National Hero
This year’s John Smith’s Grand National promises to be the usual mix of thrills and spills, triumph and disaster, but does appear to have attracted a very good quality field on a par with anything seen in the race for some years, writes Elliot Slater. After giving the matter a great deal of thought and working on the assumption that…
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Mar- 2011 -29 March
Presvis primed for Dubai Duty Free
Dubai specialist Presvis is reported bang on target for another crack at the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free having pleased his trainer Luca Cumani in his final piece of work before the high profile race, one of the main supporting events on the World Cup card at Meydan on Saturday evening, writes Elliot Slater. Runner-up to Gladiatorius in the 2009…
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29 March
Racing Post winner Quinz in the National path
Philip Hobbs has revealed that his Racing Post Chase winner Quinz will be aimed at the Grand National. Hobbs resisted the temptation of taking the gelding to Cheltenham for one of the Festival Handicaps after his Kempton win and he now has fresh horse to take into battle at Aintree in April. Quinz is a good ground horse who likes…
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29 March
Lee National Hope Gets Stuck Without Mud
Richard Lee has made absolutely no secret of the fact (and the statistics plainly speak for themselves), that without the mud flying his Grand National 2011 hope Le Beau Bai has little hope of running with credit in the Aintree marathon, writes Elliot Slater. With the advance going at Uttoxeter having been given as ‘soft’ ahead of Saturday’s Midlands Grand…
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29 March
Triple Cheltenham joy for resurgent Walsh
It must have been very tough for the hugely talented Ruby Walsh to sit on the sidelines for four months following his fall at Down Royal in November in which he sustained a broken leg, and watch high-class horses trained by Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins win for other jockeys when under normal circumstances he would have been on board,…
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11 March
Solwhit misses World Hurdle after failing to sparkle
Hopes of an Irish winner in next Thursday’s Ladbrokes World Hurdle, one of the highlights on day three of the Cheltenham Festival 2011, have been dealt a blow with the news that the smart performer Solwhit will miss the race and is unlikely to be seen again this season, writes Elliot Slater. Trainer Charles Byrnes had been looking forward to…
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10 March
King delighted with Bensalem form
Alan King has put Bensalem through his final piece of work prior to attempting to justify favouritism in the Stewart Family Spinal Research Handicap Chase on the opening day of the forthcoming Cheltenham Festival, as he switches back to the larger obstacles having been campaigned over hurdles so far this term, writes Elliot Slater. One of the market leaders when…
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4 March
Dream Going Straight to 2000 Guineas
If you exclude his one disappointing effort in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes that came on the back of two stunning victories at the highest level just a short while before, then it is hard to argue that David Simcock’s imposing colt Dream Ahead doesn’t have the best quality profile of any three-year-old going into their Classic season – and…
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4 March
Zeb Breezes Through Final Strong Work Before Cheltenham
Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Big Zeb is set to return to Cheltenham on March 16 in top form to defend his title after coming through his final piece of serious work in fine style before attempting to land back-to-back renewals of the two-mile chasing championship, writes Elliot Slater. Colm Murphy’s imposing 10-year-old was schooled over six fences at Leopardstown racecourse…
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Feb- 2011 -28 February
The Irish Independent Arkle Chase
The Irish Independent Arkle Chase is one of the popular races at the Cheltenham Festival and is one of the feature races of the first day. This year is sure to be no different with a number of well-regarded runners in a tough field holding entries. Amongst the favourites in the ante-post horse betting market are the very well-fancied Ghizao,…
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24 February
Cheltenham – The Big Five
The build-up to the Cheltenham Festival 2011 continued to gather pace a few days ago with the release of the latest acceptors for the big five Championship races which will take place at the Festival this year. As Championship contests they all carry Grade One status – the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup (run on Gold Cup Day, Friday, March 18),…
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24 February
Nicholls going for broke with 10 National entries
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has won nearly every major prize going in National Hunt racing but the John Smith’s Grand National has eluded him thus far. With ten of the 102 horses entered in this year’s race being in the care of the Ditcheat handler, Nicholls couldn’t be giving a clearer signal he wants to add the Aintree marathon to…
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16 February
Midge Misses World Cup for Sheema Classic Challenge
Brian Meehan’s smart performer Dangerous Midge will not take his chance in the Dubai World Cup at Meydan on March 26 and will instead bid for glory in the Sheema Classic on the same card, writes Elliot Slater. The decision to bypass the $10 million contest against the likes of Cape Blanco, Twice Over and Bold Silvano, has been taken…
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7 February
Whisky provides dream result for racing investor Walters
It’s not always the case in life that you get back even a fraction of what you put in when it comes to hard graft and investments, but in the case of Dai Walters, the driving force behind the creation of Ffos Las and the principal investor in the excellent new Welsh track, the victory of his own Oscar Whisky…
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4 February
Ashes Review and How We Can Profit From It
Guest post written by Anth Raine ENGLAND beat the Aussies 3 times by an innings, which in itself is a colossal achievement but the manner in which they did it was the key to profit for us and the England team will be number 1 in the world, I am convinced of it. I personally landed a monster bet at…
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Jan- 2011 -26 January
Handicapper gets juvenile colts’ assessment spot on
Guest post written by Elliot Slater It might be an unfashionable thing to say just at the moment following the publication of the World Thoroughbred Rankings, but I believe that the panel have correctly assessed the relative merits of Britain’s two leading juvenile colts, Frankel and Dream Ahead, in awarding them both a rating of 126. There have been more…
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23 January
Ruby closing in on February return
Guest post written by Elliot Slater The signs are positive that the tremendously popular Ruby Walsh could be back in the saddle in February after an examination of his broken right leg showed that he is making good progress. Those assessing the latest betting tips note that Paul Nicholls’ stable jockey has had to sit on the sidelines and watch…
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19 January
Fallon serious about winning back jockeys’ title
Guest post written by Elliot Slater Former British champion jockey Keiren Fallon has made clear his intention to do everything he can in the year ahead to regain the title he last won in 2003. Fallon has never been far from the headlines over the years – and not always for the right reasons – but having returned to the…
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16 January
Easy first chase win for Quantitative
Guest post written by Elliot Slater Much was expected of Jonjo O’Neill’s Quantitativeeasing last season, especially after he won his first two outings over hurdles. He didn’t win again, but showed he had plenty of ability, and having now opened his chasing account with a comfortable success at Fontwell he could potentially go on to much better things. Among the…
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11 January
How To Get Started On A Betting Portfolio
Guest post written by Eddie Lloyd We need to start by keeping it simple. To illustrate this I thought I’d relay how I started out and have continued over the last three years. Prior to my journey as a pro, I had to establish how I was to start building my bank up from a small amount into something that…
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