Author: Joel Roberts

Big Orange is absent to defend his Ascot Gold Cup crown, but the 2018 renewal looks very classy nonetheless with 2016 winner Order Of St George, rising star Stradivarius and leading French stayer Vazirabad among a field of nine. Most of the pre-race talk has been of Stradivarius progressing from…

Wednesday’s Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot now closes, rather than opens, the card and it looks a typically competitive renewal. John Gosden’s horses are flying as he and Frankie Dettori combined with three winners on Tuesday, so it’s little surprise to see Emaraaty installed as 5/1 co-favourite, stepping out of…

Royal Ascot kicks off on Tuesday with a large field in the Queen Anne Stakes, where Lockinge winner Rhododendron heads the betting from Dubai Turf and last year’s Hampton Court Stakes winner Benbatl. It’s a competitive race with 15 runners and not too much towards the top of the market…

We’ve been in rare form the last few weeks to firmly banish the memory of a frustrating end to the jumps season, and a huge Derby day double at Epsom yesterday, courtesy of 20/1 Masar in the Derby and 7/2 Century Dream earlier on the card, meant we finished the…

The Curragh hosts Ireland’s first Classic of the 2018 flat season with the 2000 Guineas over a mile taking centre stage, where English Guineas fourth and sixth, Elarqam and Gustav Klimt re-oppose. The market has been topsy turvy in the last week as Ryan Moore has opted to ride champion…

The race of the day this Saturday might be the Group Two Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock for three-year-old sprinters, a trial for next month’s Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. It’s a tough task picking between the top four in the betting, as they’re all much of a muchness and…

STEPHENSONS ROCKET is a strong fancy on Sandown’s Thursday evening card, stepping back in trip to a mile – a particularly stiff mile I might add – having failed to get home last time out at Newmarket. He traveled like the best horse in the race in that ten-furlong affair, hitting…

There’s Group One action at Newbury this Saturday as the older horses tackle the one-mile Lockinge Stakes, this year – unlike last – run on fast ground and without a clear Group One miler at the top of the market. It’s an interesting betting heat with 16 runners to consider,…

We’ve not got a lot of evidence to go by, but NORDIC LIGHTS fits the profile of an improving, unexposed horse at a nice price in the Dante at York on Thursday. Unbeaten in two starts, he could be anything at this stage as he’s one of the first crop of three-year-olds…