Kennedy to prove he’s a star of the future on Woodford Island December 17, 2015 Ascot hosts an intriguing card on Friday afternoon. Alan King will be hoping that Yanworth continues his unbeaten record over hurdles in the Supreme Novices’ Trial (1.55pm). However, with just the four rivals he’s going to be very short indeed. The conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle (3.05pm) features a really interesting contender in WOODFORD ISLAND, who makes the [...]
Quirky Renneti is ready to land a big prize for Mullins December 17, 2015 Trainer Harry Fry saddled the well-fancied Activial to finish third in last season’s Ladbroke Hurdle (3.35pm) and the market suggests that the talented young trainer can go a couple of places better on Saturday. In-form Fry opted not to give Activial a prep race 12 months ago, but this time brings a race-fit and unexposed [...]
Wavering Manchester United ripe to be picked off by Cherries December 10, 2015 When Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth sealed promotion to the Premier League in May, the visit of Manchester United would have been one of the first fixtures Cherries fans looked out for. Howe’s men come into Saturday's clash full of belief that they can beat the drop, especially after their eye-catching victory at Chelsea last time out. United, [...]
Wash down the caviar with Champagne in Saturday’s big race at Cheltenham December 10, 2015 The biggest betting race of the weekend is the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup (Saturday 1.50pm) which features plenty of those that ran in last month’s Paddy Power Gold Cup. Annacotty did this column a favour in that race, but this is a very hard double to pull off. Buywise is respected, as he will surely win a big [...]
Solid Stoke will be hard to break down for inconsistent Manchester City December 3, 2015 Will Manchester City come to regret not taking charge of the Premier League title race in its formative stages? They sit top but the heights they’ve hit in their nine wins from 14 have been undermined by some shaky performances. Manuel Pellegrini’s men lost at home to West Ham, were torn apart by Tottenham, and [...]
Liverpool revival under Jurgen Klopp to continue at Newcastle’s expense December 3, 2015 Few Newcastle fans will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of facing Liverpool on Sunday. Since their uplifting 6-2 defeat of Norwich six games ago, the Magpies have shipped 11 goals and scored just two. The five they conceded to Crystal Palace last time out were hardly a fillip either. Little wonder, then, that [...]
No Planning has the attributes needed for Becher stamina test December 3, 2015 The build-up to the 2016 Grand National begins at Aintree on Saturday afternoon with the Becher Chase (1.40pm) run over the famous spruce-topped fences. Even though this race is over a mile and a quarter less than the National itself, it’s still set to be a stamina-sapping slog as the ground is already soft, with a [...]
Tingle Creek: Tiara can produce another sparkling display at Sandown December 3, 2015 The Tingle Creek (3.00pm) was robbed of its star performer when Willie Mullins’ high class chaser Un De Sceaux was ruled out on Wednesday. It’s a real shame that he won’t line up, although, as he was 4/7, the race is a much more attractive betting proposition. He is now a best-priced 7/4 favourite for the [...]
Hennessy Gold Cup betting odds: The Young Master is the best value call despite recent blip November 27, 2015 Sadly this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Coneygree failed to sparkle in a pre-race gallop and has been ruled out of tomorrow’s Hennessy Gold Cup (3.00pm). That leaves World Hurdle runner-up Saphir Du Rheu at the head of the weights and the market at just 7/2 with Betway. Paul Nicholls has never made any secret about [...]
Newbury betting odds: Richard Johnson and Wait for Me to put down a marker November 27, 2015 Richard Johnson is taking full advantage of AP McCoy’s retirement this season and he is surely now the champion jockey in waiting. And much deserved too. In his Betway Insider blog on Monday, he flagged up the chances of WAIT FOR ME in this afternoon’s closing maiden hurdle (3.45pm). This son of Saint Des Saints [...]