todays horse racing

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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Andy Newton’s Saturday Column

Can you name the last horse to win both the Cotswold Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season? Ok, I’ll give you a clue……  it was over 15 years ago! In fact, it was back in 2000. Got it yet? Okay, I’ll put you out of your misery, it was a Noel Chace trained horse called Looks…

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Is an Odds-On Favourite More or Less Likely to Win the More Horses There Are in a Race?

If you happened to have purchased Eddie’s ‘Odds-On Winners’ strategy guide, then you’ll know that it is possible to make a profit even by backing horses that are at extremely short odds. After all, a win is a win, and when you are getting value with your selections, as is the case with Eddie’s guide, long-term success is likely. However,…

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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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Who Are the Trainers & Jockeys That Love Kempton Park?

There is something special about floodlit racing. Horses look even more majestic than usual when galloping along beneath the lights. Yes, it is normally cold and usually wet, and if you get too close to the rails, the kick-back off the Polytrack will fly up and smack you in the face; but it is still an experience that every racegoer…

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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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Running to Form (RTF) – What Does It Mean & Can It Be Trusted?

Horse racing is full of abbreviations, and it is far too easy to get caught up in the complexities of the sport. Don’t assume that it’s impossible to win if you don’t know your TS from your RPR! Even so, a punter’s greatest weapon is knowledge, so it pays to learn and understand the various methods of ranking horses, trainers,…

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Weekly Eye-Catchers

Veteran’s Day A fairly low-key weekend on the racing front, not really surprising given the feast of racing over Christmas period. Sandown hosted a race to warm the cockles of the most cynical racing heart. Yes, it was the Veterans’ Series Final. The race, and its series of qualifiers, have quickly found favour with jumping fans. As a battle-hardened group…

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Weekly Eye-Catchers

Is 2019 The Year of The Clan? Well my holiday already seems far away, but I had a very relaxing time and the break was definitely needed. I returned from Mexico on Boxing Day, and just managed to see the action from Kempton, and what great racing it was too. The King George VI provided a bit of a shock…

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Who Were the Best Trainers in 2018?

We have come to the end of 2018 and now is as good a time as any to reflect on the best-performing trainers of the year, from the perspective of a punter. In this article, I will look at trainers on the Flat, AW, and National Hunt, and see if this year was par for the course or an anomaly.…

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Is There Money to be Made from Forecasts & Tricasts?

Forecast and tricast bets have often been decried as ‘mug’ bets by experienced punters. In their eyes, these ‘exotic’ wagers are akin to going for a four or five horse accumulator. The odds are long, the potential payoff is massive, but the chances of winning are minimal. However, are we looking at these bets all wrong? Are they a bookmaker’s…

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Frequent Flyer Miles – Can You Trust Trainers and Jockeys with Vast Experience at a Particular Course?

Experienced horse racing punters know better than to take strike rates at face value. Although a jockey or trainer (or perhaps a combination of the two) may have an excellent strike rate at a specific track, it means a lot less when their horses are primarily short-priced favourites. Likewise, having a low strike rate doesn’t mean avoiding a bet because…

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Are Irish Trainers Worth Following in the UK?

There are a plethora of Irish stables who each possess a string of talented horses that are often seen running in the UK. The likes of Gordon Elliott, Willie Mullins, Aidan O’Brien and John Feane are familiar names to horse racing fans and their stables tend to fire in winners on a regular basis. These talented trainers are always on the lookout for winning opportunities…

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Weekly Eye-Catchers

The last two weeks have seen some top-class Championship performances from Bristol De Mai and Buveur D’Air on their seasonal reappearances. This week it was the turn of Altior at Sandown. There have been some great winners of the Tingle Creek Chase over the years, like Moscow Flyer, Kauto Star and Sprinter Sacre, and this year’s victor is up there…

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Weekly Eye-Catchers

In recent years, the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle hasn’t had the quality of field you would like to see for a race of its history. On paper, this year’s renewal looked like the race of the season so far, with Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D’Air, and Cheltenham Festival novice hurdle winners Samcro & Summerville Boy all standing their ground.…

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Can the Ladbrokes Trophy Find a Future Superstar?

The upcoming Ladbrokes Winter Carnival is Newbury’s winter highlight, and racing lovers especially look forward to the feature race, the Ladbrokes Trophy, which is for horses aged 4yo+. Although it is ‘only’ a Grade 3 handicap event, this 3m 2.5f test of stamina has a habit of highlighting horses worth following in the season’s major events. The Ladbrokes Trophy was…

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The Racing Week Ahead…

With John Burke on holiday this week, the estimable Andy Newton has stepped-in to give us his take on the week ahead. His is a detailed, interesting read, from a different perspective. Enjoy… With last weekend’s Cheltenham November Meeting behind us, it’s fair to say……jump racing is back! It’s the hedgehoppers all the way now for the next six months…

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Weekly Eye-Catchers

Morning! Frost Returns To Wincanton I waxed lyrical about jockey Bryony Frost on a couple of occasions last year. The first time was when she won last year’s Badger Ales Trophy Handicap Chase on Present Man. It was a case of déjà vu as the combination returned to win the race again this year. Once again Bryony got the 8-year-old into a good…

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In the Long Run – Is Stamina a Defining Factor for Longer Races?

The weather is cold and wet which means one thing: The National Hunt season is upon us! The hurdles and fences are out, the going is sometimes Heavy, and the races are longer with every mistake capable of taking a horse out of a race. After backing a horse to win a 3m 4f Chase race on Heavy ground, your…

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Weekly Diary – Horse Racing

I have decided to take a break from jumps racing for just one week to look at the flat and, in particular, last weekend’s Breeders Cup and the upcoming Melbourne Cup.   There’s no horse for the tracker this week, but I have provided a Melbourne Cup selection and a Monday stat. There’s no better jockey for the big occasion than Frankie…

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