I think an Each Way bet on Hiddenvalley Lake at 8/1 – 9/1 is the way to go here. A wide-open renewal of this stamina-sapping Grade 1 hurdle prize, where SEABANK BISTRO is taken to cause an upset at attractive odds. This race is often Bolts Up Daily won at big odds, with favourites having an awful record in the event (the last favourite to win was At Fishers Cross in 2013). The selection is a typical Willie Mullins unexposed type, who scored a maiden hurdle at Naas in January.
A recent history of short priced favourites at the Cheltenham Festival
“At Doncaster and Sandown he maybe had to run to the level he showed last year to win them, but I think even with defeat in the Lockinge, his run told us he was a Group One horse and today confirmed it. “I’m delighted for my team, everyone works so hard at home. Docklands emerged from the chasing pack to lay down a challenge, but Charyn had enough in the tank to repel the runner-up and had two-and-a-quarter lengths in hand at the line. In accounting for stablemate Haatem in the Irish Guineas he as expected got back on track, and duly lined up against a very deep field in the day one highlight at Royal Ascot.
Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Wednesday, April 20
They are living, breathing animals that we cherish and love. A good horse can win under an inexperienced jockey but not even Sir Anthony McCoy and Frankie Dettori combined will win on a slow one. I love a lot of sports but horseracing has something extra special about it – so special, in fact, that I left Premier League football to present horseracing on ITV. All told, over the course of 406 bets advised during this free trial period, a profit of 138 points @ 22.79% ROI was made. This free service ran from March 2022 to August 2022 and was a resounding success, making a 138 point profit at 22.79% ROI over the course of 406 bets. Applying those negative filters would have left 375 qualifiers.
NB – Second best selection of the day
Their promotional offers for horse racing are more than decent, frequent throughout the year, and all the more interesting around big race meets. Betfair and Paddy Power are jointly out in front here, with the best in-play features for race betting. The cash-out function at Betfair is one of the easiest to use of its kind, ideal for making quick decisions during the heat of the action. Similarly, Paddy Power has strong in-play betting for racing punters. There are so many places online that we can turn to when we want to place a bet, whether we choose to head to Ladbrokes horse racing or to any of the other sites that offer this type of wagering. Over the next few centuries, interest in horse racing continued to grow.
Energumene – Marsh Novices’ Chase – 2/1 bet365 (NRNB, BOG)
- The favourite, and very short at that, is trained by Willie Mullins and owned by Mrs S Ricci, and he is called Gaelic Warrior.
- The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 13 winners from a total of 195 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 12 runners.
- Gordon Elliott has won six of the last seven (one of them under the pseudonym Denise Foster) Festival cross country races and has an iron grip on a bid for a seventh.
- And you have to be imaginative to see the horses lower down the lists beating the ones at the top.
While it’s not quite like a Usain Bolt 100m, some of these races are over short distances, which leaves limited time to react. Horse racing is a sport that can be tracked and monitored. By looking at the performance of the horses and their jockeys, we can try to guess how they might perform when the gates open. There are many sites dedicated to horse racing news features. Following these will give you some indication as to what you can expect in the run-up to a big event. Some major bookies even have their own news sections where they combine the latest news from the races with their predictions and outcomes.
Queen Mother Champion Chase – Marlborough’s preview and tips
Fifteen is also a neat number as we can easily compare 5–year periods (2008–2012; 2013–2017; 2018–2022) to see what, if anything has changed. MT – Coming round to Bravemansgame having not been a fan early season – he’s very hard to knock. A good half dozen possible pace angles here, headed perhaps by Mighty Mo Missouri.
- Three runs, three wins, in Grade 2 and Grade 1 (twice) company, beating the right horses with nonchalance.
- Jockeys are important at this meeting, however, and the experience of Rachael Blackmore versus the exuberance of Chester Williams tilts the pendulum in favour of Champion Green if having to choose between them.
- The County Hurdle is often won by a Graded performer, most notably last season’s subsequent multiple Grade 1 winner State Man.
- In accounting for stablemate Haatem in the Irish Guineas he as expected got back on track, and duly lined up against a very deep field in the day one highlight at Royal Ascot.
- Ontheropes is a slight rarity in that he’s a Cheveley Park Stud entry, and trained by Willie Mullins, that is not favourite.
- Many had been premature in casting doubts over the Mullins yard and the early prices on offer for Un De Sceaux were value – which we took full advantage of.
Constitution Hill
Willie has more than just State Man; he also saddles last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner, Vauban, and he’s an interesting contender. While Constitution Hill and State Man are likely to be on or close to the pace, Vauban has been ridden a lot more patiently and, as a result, has finished his races off well in respectable defeats to State Man. If State Man tries to force things against the favourite – and it’s unlikely the Closutton team will be riding for a place – then Vauban may be the one to hoover up any crumbs. The Goffer won a Grade A handicap chase at Leopardstown last time off a mark of 138. He’s got 149 here, as a result of both that win and the recalibration of Irish marks to British ones; while that seems a hefty enough elevation to overcome, the step back up to an extended three miles could be in his favour.
- This special spot was also once part of the stables to a once neighbouring 18th-century coaching inn, with evidence of this time still seen in the cottage’s ancient, exposed beams.
- There have been ten headgear-wearing winners of all aged handicap hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival since 2008, from 293 runners.
- As Docklands carries the colours of Australian-based owners OTI Racing, he is set for a trip to the southern hemisphere later in the year.
- All of the above verbosity is by way of suggesting that Shishkin will probably win assuming he turns up in one piece (never a given).
- Having access to a variety of tipsters who cover a multitude of races ensures that punters can make well-informed decisions across different races and even different countries.
- And yet it’s Henry de Bromhead who saddles the ante post favourite, Minella Indo.
- Lazuli (1.50) is a sprinter going places and should be able to land the Coral Charge after his brilliant victory in the Scurry Stakes last time.
Grand National
This season, battle lines are drawn between Britain and Ireland and, as with the Champion Hurdle two races later, team captains are Messrs Henderson and Mullins. Willie also has Zarak The Brave, who is at least vaguely credible for the frame at a price. His form this season is 1P1, wins in the Galway Hurdle (off 145 in a field of 19 on goodish ground) and a Naas Grade 3 in a small field on soft sandwiching a flunk when he was found to have been post-race clinically abnormal. I’m not entirely sure what that means but perhaps it was a fibrillating heart; conjecture aside, if he can bring his A game he is one of the few within a stone of State Man on ratings. Although they’ve been getting closer in recent times (2nd and 4th last year), the Irish don’t have a great overall record in the Ultima (0/38 since 2007) and you have to go back to 2006 and Tony Martin’s Dun Doire to find their last winner.
Queen Mother Champion Chase full result
There will be plenty of interest in Black Corton, the mount of Bryony Frost. The pair have formed a formidable team this season and should be thereabouts. Elegant Escape has stamina as his strong suit and should make a bold show. Ballyoptic is too inconsistent to have too much faith in but there is no denying his ability. “But by the time he got to the winning post he was miles away and gone.
History of Racing in Cheltenham
- A short-head Wolverhampton maiden victor in November, Fast Company’s son made his return for 2022 in the Listed Burradon Stakes on Newcastle’s All-Weather Championships Finals card in April.
- Deviating the other way, to soft, we see a fairly consistent picture for winners of one to three previous races on soft turf.
- Prescott, who won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Alpinista in 2022, was saddling just his third winner at the meeting in all, with Wizard King in the 1994 Britannia his only other success.
- He’s not been nearly as flashy as those shorter in the market but he’s highly effective and has been well on top each time in spite of narrower margins of victory.
- The Mare’s Chase is being billed as a match this year and while I do think both Allegoire De Vassy and Imprevious are brilliant mares, I think the market has overlooked MAGIC DAZE.
- We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG.
- Their promotional offers for horse racing are more than decent, frequent throughout the year, and all the more interesting around big race meets.
- That leaves Gentleman De Mee, perhaps the most likely pace angle.
He was extremely impressive on his debut at Fontwell last month, travelling strongly and powering clear on the run-in without breaking sweat. On that evidence, he could well be above average, in which case he should be capable of giving away the weight. The Championship race of the day was remarkably won by another mare making it 2-0 to the girls so far. She really relished the jumping test, and travelled so well behind the leading bunch throughout. Her jumping was immaculate and she managed to avoid all of the hustle and bustle that was happening after the last to catch Chacun pour soi up the home straight. Following this Monkfish stepped up and won the Brown Advisory Chase without needing to be at his best to do so.
Years of Gold Cup Glory
Sprinter Sacre may have pulled harder at the heart-strings, as Nicky Henderson said afterwards, but he could not win the Supreme. Opening meeting of the jumps season at Newcastle plus Stratford on Thursday. As the ground at Newcastle is already on the firm side of Good a fair amount of watering will be planned. We then start November with Uttoxeter and the opening day of the Charlie Hall meeting at Wetherby. Decent card at Wetherby on the Friday to get the two day meeting underway.
More than that, the same horses seem to have hit the frame with regularity. In 2020, Ireland’s trainers saddled seven of the dozen runners, again taking top honours but this time ceding the consolation spots to the domestic quintet. Irish runners finished 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th and fell.
Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Futurity Trophy Weekend)
Brian Ellison was very confident that he was coming back to form when asked in a recent interview about his 9-year-old for Sky Sports Racing. From the surface underneath, to the topography of the track, to the tightness of the bends, every racecourse in Britain and Ireland is unique. Some will suit prominently ridden horses, others those ridden more patiently.
- Despite being novices, most horses running in the Festival novice races have an official rating.
- That doesn’t mean Ireland doesn’t have a say in the race, though, as Irish-bred horses have been responsible for the last five winners and ten of the last 11 (exception French-bred).
- Your full £25 will go directly to the Lambourn Valley Housing Trust.
- With its own private patio and a fabulous hot tub, it also has a bright and spacious feel with an open-plan kitchen-dining-living area, and a breathtaking mezzanine bedroom.
- You have to make excuses for the horses at the top of the market where their price doesn’t allow for such latitude.
- He has some impressive performances to his name, most of them on genuine good ground, but I can’t quite shake that County clunk from my memory banks.
- And, from a value perspective, especially if that horse is returning to optimal conditions today having recently run under less suitable criteria.
Losses have been steepest in Grade 1 contests with your £1 bet returning on average 79p (loss of 21p in the £). Horses that won a Grade 1 contest LTO have scored close to one race in every four which is impressive. Backing all runners would have yielded a good profit also of over 22p in the £. Horses winning LTO in either Grade 2, 3 or Listed company have very similar strike rates, but it is Listed LTO winners who have created the best profit (£49.48 returning 41p in the £). We will examine Irish trainers versus UK trainers in more detail later, but Irish-trained clear favourites have done well.
He really had to step at a few of the obstacles, but his engine proved far superior to his other graded rivals. Connections probably have eyes on the Gold Cup 2022 after that Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Winners display. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
Tuesday’s UK & Irish Horse Racing Bets
That fast finishing effort was six races ago, on a different track and under what is presumed to be a different tempo to today’s race. The bias is less extreme but the linearity remains, with front-runners still well favoured over prominent racers, and the later running styles about even behind those further forward. On firm ground, we see a similar leap from maiden on that terrain to those with one or two wins.
This is perhaps the simplest of the five differentiators. We’re looking for races where all runners are exposed; that is, they’re experienced and have shown pretty much all they have to the handicapper already. In such races, we are not expecting a progressive horse to leap forward seven to ten pounds; rather, we expect that the horse best suited to conditions will have a great chance…
HIDDENVALLEY LAKE is one I have had my eye on for this race for quite a while. He will appreciate a stamina test; a good pace and soft ground and I think he will get it here. He was a good winner of a Naas maiden hurdle before backing that up with winning a Grade 3 hurdle at Cork on only his second start.
The number of runners in a race often has a bearing on the tempo at which the race is run; and that in turn has a notable influence over which horses in the field might be best suited. Again, we’re looking towards the extremes here, though, having said that, with the continued shrinkage of field sizes comes a problem for those one-paced galloping types. Good to soft has a similar, if slightly more consistent for prior winners of one to three on the same ground, profile. Good to firm shows a similar increase from going maidens to those with a single verdict on the same official turf, then a regressive profile for winners of two and three. Deviating the other way, to soft, we see a fairly consistent picture for winners of one to three previous races on soft turf.
The two wins were both achieved by the same horse, Buena Vista, in the same race, the Pertemps Final. Willie Mullins is the dominant player in this sphere over the last decade, his fifteen winners almost double that of the next man (Nicky Henderson has eight). No other trainer has more than two novice G1 wins in the past decade, excluding as we are the Bumper and Triumph Hurdle. The Cheltenham Festival is almost upon us and soon we’ll be faced with the unenviable – though highly enjoyable – task of trying to find winners in 28 deeply competitive races. Many sensible players will focus on a subset of the full four-day card but, regardless of your plan of attack, there are some rules of thumb worth keeping in mind.
The 39 in the last decade which didn’t were all unplaced bar one. Indeed, horses rated 140 or below, including those without a rating, are a combined seven from 308 for a loss at SP of 185 points. None of the 238 horses sent off at 25/1 or bigger managed to win an open Grade 1 at the last ten CheltFests. Moreover, only three priced bigger than 14/1 scored, from 335 to face the starter, with this group losing 274 points at SP. Meanwhile, those priced at 14/1 or shorter won 50 races from 300 starters, and lost just two points at SP. Chacun was imperious at Christmas, value for plenty more than the official six and a half lengths.
The Williams team have excellent contacts in France and have a long history of recruiting nice hurdlers from across the channel. I’d love him to be up there from the outset as there isn’t much pace elsewhere in the race and that looks the best scenario for Jack Tudor to get a truly run race to suit. It must be a recurring issue they keep having to tinker with. Of course, if a horse keeps running badly you’d be wise to give it a wide berth, but ignoring one or two bad runs can lead you to back winners at decent prices.
Paul Nicholls has a very good record in handicap hurdles, too, in contrast to his Grade 1 performance in recent seasons. But the likes of Evan Williams and Charlie Longsdon (0 from 31, 0 places, between them), Noel Meade and Dr Richard Newland (0 from 27, 3 places, collectively) are probably best passed up. Naturally, then, the other 50 winners came from horses priced at 16/1 or shorter, the 381 such runners losing just 31 points at SP, and breaking even at BSP.