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Cheltenham Day 4 preview

Well done if you've lasted this long. A couple of decent results yesterday could have been a lot better if I was simply boxing my selections in trifectas. The tide might be turning... Anyhow onto the preview! TRIUMPH HURDLE Bunting - one of the seven runners for Willie Mullins. Won a maiden then ran fourth in a Mullins 1-2-3-4 in the Dublin Racing Festival G1 Juvenile Hurdle, which was where he ranked from the stable (and all of those run here). Can't see any reason to promote him. Ethical Diamond - was further behind the aforementioned quartet at Leopardstown and 50/1 that day. It's only "trained by W.Mullins" preventing him from being that price here. Highwind - beat Boodles winner Lark In the Mornin in January, but blotted his copybook in the G1 Juvenile Hurdle, running eighth and last of the six Mullins runners, with a few mistakes thrown in. Not reliable enough to put any faith in. Ithacas Arrow - 33L behind Sir Gino at Kempton over Xmas, won a C3 hurdle
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Cheltenham Thursday preview

  CHELTENHAM THURSDAY Interesting card today as they switch to the New course. A few races I quite like, and others I'll be happy to skip right over... TURNERS NOVICES Colonel Harry - had been running OK in small-field novice chases until last time at Sandown, finishing 29L behind the winner in the G1 Scilly Isles, in a race where the odds-on fav was ever in it. Perhaps the unseasonal good ground caught him out? Loves the wet. Djelo - second in the Scilly Isles, achieving a career best in the process. Did well to get within 7L after the tearaway leader simply didn't come back to the field and the other jockeys banked on the odds-on fav carting them back into it (he didn't). Has had a progressive novice chasing campaign, winning three, then getting taken out at the first fence in a G2 at Lingfield. Could yet be more to come. Facile Vega - obvious favourite simply because he has started fav every start except his last one. The hype has been on this one right from the start

Cheltenham Wednesday preview

 CHELT WED Here we go again for day two, hopefully with a drying track. GALLAGHER Ballyburn is a machine and wins this in a canter, hence the price. Won his maiden on soft/heavy by 25L, and last time won a G1 at the Dublin Racing Festival ahead of Slade Steel who won the Supreme. A battle for the minors as they say... Handstands has been flying for Ben Pauling, winning four from four, but is the British form good enough? Ile Atlantique bolted in on heavy going back in November, ran second in the G1 Lawlor's in mid-January, beaten just a neck. Has class, obvious second choice. In the top five speed ratings performances of horses in this race, he is the only one that's not the favourite. Jimmy Du Seuil is another Mullins runner (he supplies five of the octet who accepted), coming straight out of maiden class. Will have talent but doubt it's G1 level, at least at this stage. Jingko Blue - has started fav at all three starts under Rules, and carried topweight to an easy wi

Cheltenham preview - Day 1

CHELTENHAM TUESDAY SUPREME NOVICES' A weak-looking edition, where the field is simply dominated by the Mullins stable. This race rarely goes beyond the first few in the market so don't overthink it (10 of last 11 winners in single figures, but only two outright favs in last 19 runnings). Asian Master - an unusual runner for Mullins, a small family-owned horse retaining an amateur jockey (the son?) who would be entitled to claim 7lb if it wasn't a Grade 1. So none of the regular Mullins jockeys could take the ride anyway, so we are only guessing at his rank in the stable. He thumped Better Days Ahead last time out, but was ridden out to the line, and that runner-up is a formline for Slade Steel. Interesting side note, he ran second on debut in a P2P against one of the hottest favourites of the festival, Fact To File, two years ago. Judging by the Mullis stable tour reports, they don't yet know how good he is. Favour And Fortune - consistent gelding in lower class (with

Melbourne Cup preview 2023

The great race - a good blend of foreign raiders, locally-trained imports and a couple of freaks who were bred locally. Where's the best formline - the Caulfield Cup, the Ebor, last year's Cup...? Vauban has been all the rage for a few months, but we've heard that song before. Willie Mullins is determined to win this race, he's been close several times. Fingers crossed for a dry day, there's nothing more annoying than rain on race day that messes up all the ratings. Weather report : 30C, likely storm but late in the day, so might be after the Cup. 70% chance of rain, but only up to 2mm - so how much of a storm actually is it? Might make the track slippery (favouring front-runners) if it arrives before the race.  Gold Trip winning in 2022 ====================================================== The Lexus Melbourne Cup Group 1 Handicap, 3200m AUS$8.4m,  Flemington 1500 local, 0400 GMT Expected going - Good 4, approaching Good 3 by race time depending on the breeze. 1 -

Another Australian racing Ponzi scheme

 It's happened again (see pinned article above from a few years ago), but this time it's a lawyer that's the (alleged) crook! Law firm under investigation over bookies’ missing millions snippet The Victorian Bookmakers’ Association oversees a $10 million fund on behalf of its members, with about 20 per cent loaned out by AMS Ivanhoe to Melbourne first mortgagors. A source close to the bookmakers estimated at least $20 million in additional private investments had disappeared alongside $1.8 million from the association. The bookmakers’ association fears its $1.8 million investment is gone days before the biggest events on the spring racing calendar, including the Melbourne Cup, while one private investor could also be out of pocket an estimated $11 million. Apparently this has only come to light after the lawyer involved has died (although other reports suggest a death certificate hasn't yet been seen). More details in this RSN podcast . So rather than being a genius ti