Author: Paul Davidson

The King George at Ascot takes centre stage on Saturday, rightfully so. But there is a nice looking Group 2 contest taking place at York earlier in the afternoon. The race has a wide-open feel with the removal of Eclipse third Desert Encounter, and the current favourite Autocratic doesn’t appear…

There’s a good looking renewal of the Listed John Smith’s City Walls Stakes at York this afternoon, with plenty of Group One horses having a go. With Caravaggio, Lady Aurelia, The Tin Man, Limato, Tasleet and Harry Angel somewhat dominating the sprinting division right now, some good horses are forced…

John Gosden enters the unexposed four-year-old TASHWEEQ in the Bunbury Cup and he has very likeable claims. He ran extremely well to finish a close third from a tough draw in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot last month, and is allowed to run off his same mark, officially 4lbs well-in. He picked…

Favourites have a poor recent record in the Old Newton Cup, and Shraaoh, could be another sort to join those ranks. He looks set to line-up as favourite after strong support in the ante-post market. His reappearance run was fairly underwhelming and he has yet prove the hype is true to…

Last year’s winner Outback Traveller sits near the top of the market at 8/1 and it would be pretty special if he could repeat his success, but that victory was on a softer surface and he looks vulnerable 4lbs higher than last year. Projection has also been supported, with his…

El Vip and Abe Lincoln have been backed in off-the-boards over the last few weeks. The former has been the subject of a jockey change with Jamie Spencer switching from Banksea due to Frankie Dettori’s injury, and although unexposed, he lacks experience in these big-field events. Abe Lincoln is similarly…

There are a few horses coming in to this handicap on the upgrade, and several will be competing in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot in a few weeks time. The favourite is currently Godolphin’s Culturati, who has been off the track for over 600 days having not raced since he…

The fastest five furlong sprint in UK racing is held at Epsom on Derby Day. The ‘Dash’ always proves to be a spectacle and with twenty runners lined-up, it looks extremely competitive. The highly drawn horses have historically had an advantage, indeed last year the top four places were filled…

As final declarations were made for the Epsom Oaks on Friday, we learned that there would be a field of nine who will try to contest what looks to be a mighty challenge from Rhododendron. The O’Brien filly is yet to tackle the mile-and-a-half trip, but there seems to be…