EP: 120 Hong Kong Derby Special March 18, 2022 Hong Kong racing expert Wally Pyrah discusses Sunday’s prestigious Hong Kong Derby race meeting at Sha Tin racecourse where the feature race, run over a mile and a quarter, takes place at 8.40am UK time. Local rivals California Spangle & Romantic Warrior head a 14 strong field for one of the major events in Hong [...]
NO DESERTING GALVIN IN GOLD CUP March 17, 2022 Bill Esdaile’s Gold Cup 1-2-3 Galvin Protektorat Royal Pagaille WEDNESDAY’S deluge at Cheltenham has meant the ground for today’s Gold Cup (3.30pm) will be on the soft side and whichever way you look at it, the 3m2f trip is going to take some getting. With that in mind, you’ve got to be looking for horses [...]
Irish pair Banbridge and I A Connect can go well in the Martin Pipe March 17, 2022 ALL THE talk in the build-up to the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (5.30pm) has been around last season’s runner-up Langer Dan who is back attempting to go one better off just a 2lbs higher mark. Dan Skelton’s six-year-old bumped into Galopin Des Champs this day 12 months ago and actually did well to get as close as he did when [...]
BACK BOB TO TURN A DECENT PROFIT IN HUNTERS’ CHASE March 17, 2022 PROPERTY entrepreneur, racehorse owner and amateur jockey David Maxwell isn’t everyone’s cup of tea in the saddle, but he is a huge supporter of horseracing and I think he should be celebrated rather than criticised. His win on Dolphin Square at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day was a dream come true for the jockey who [...]
Fil Dor can Triumph in rematch with Vauban March 17, 2022 ONLY the 12 runners stand their ground for the JCB Triumph Hurdle (1.30pm), the curtain-raiser on Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Day. The betting suggests that the Irish hold all the aces in the juvenile division with five of the top six in the betting. All of Tuesday’s rain will have been music to the ears of [...]
Royal Kahala to Floor Porter in Stayers’ March 16, 2022 Bill Esdaile’s Stayers’ Hurdle 1-2-3: 1. Royal Kahala 2. Flooring Porter 3. Thyme Hill THERE are few races at the Cheltenham Festival which are easy to solve and today’s Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (3.30pm) certainly falls into that category. Many of the leading contenders have put in performances more than worthy of taking this race but [...]
King can rely on his Queen for more Cheltenham glory March 16, 2022 IT HAD been a long time in between drinks for Alan King at the Cheltenham Festival before Edwardstone landed Tuesday’s Sporting Life Arkle. His last winner at this meeting was Uxizandre in the 2015 Ryanair, incidentally also AP McCoy’s final Festival winner, but he may not have to wait too long for the next one. [...]
Tiger retires after making Delta Work March 16, 2022 HE HAS roared for the final time, but what a roar it was! Tiger Roll went out on his sword at Cheltenham on a miserable, gloomy Wednesday afternoon, only succumbing to stablemate Delta Work in the dying strides of the 3m6f Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase. Ridden by Davy Russell – who partnered ‘the Tiger’ to [...]
Conflated can serve it up to monster Allaho in the Ryanair Chase March 16, 2022 THERE is a real sense of déjà vu about this year’s Ryanair Chase (2.50pm). Anyone remember a red-hot Willie Mullins-trained favourite returning to this race having blown his rivals away in the race 12 months earlier? That horse was Un De Sceaux who bolted up in this race back in 2017 but then had his [...]
EP: 119 Cheltenham Festival — Gold Cup Day, Friday March 16, 2022 Gold Cup Day at the Cheltenham Festival is for many the highlight of the week’s racing at Prestbury Park. Our special guests today are Davy Russell, Milton Harris & Max McNeill. City A.M. racing editor Bill Esdaile previews the final day’s action at this year’s Cheltenham Festival. Hosted by Chris Barnett The Punter ‘The Punter’ has been [...]