Author: Paul Davidson

Smad Place finished 27l behind Coneygree in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last season and you could forgive connections for abandoning the prospect of another tilt this season. However, an operation on his epiglottis seems to have made him better-than-ever, and with the absence of Coneygree, this eight-year-old has a real live…

The Paddy Power Gold Cup form is asked a number of questions with several horses re-opposing over the New Course at Cheltenham. It’s fair to say the market is dominated by the outcome of that race with the first and second priced at 7-8/1 and locked in a battle for…

Cue Card’s trainer Colin Tizzard has had a stranglehold on this race in recent years with Hey Big Spender winning on three of the last four occasions. Having been retired in the spring, Tizzard attempts to add to that run with Masters Hill parachuted in for an in-form yard. He…

Monetaire finished a disappointing eighth on his seasonal reappearance for the Pipe yard in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, and is turned out reasonably quickly here at Newbury. This is a much easier contest and Pipe was fairly positive on his chances before that race. It may just be that the…

There is great jumps racing action this weekend with some big names having their seasonal debut. But I can’t help but get drawn to the horses approaching the end of their campaign and more specifically, the flat-racing action at Doncaster, with the pick of the card a Listed 6f sprint. Lightning…

The international raiders will be hoping to dominate proceedings at Flemington, with a strong set of challengers bidding to take the trophy back to the Northern hemisphere. The Mullins/Ricci combination look mightily dangerous having targeted this race with Max Dynamite, and although 8/1 is plenty short for a contest of…

There are a number of horses sliding down the handicap that have been entered in to this race with two-time winner Dungannon, Robot Boy, and Confessional boasting a chance on the pick of their handicap form. They have all been running below par this season and it’s hard to be…

A cracking handicap to round off Champions Day with last season’s victor Brone Angel looking to reclaim his crown. This is an extremely competitive mile race with some seasoned handicappers and his revised mark looks a little stiff to capture this again. Buckstay did superbly to collar Gabriel’s lad last…

Frankie Dettori rides another Anthony Oppenheimer horse one week on from his triump in the Arc. Ooty Hill was fancied for great things this season and having finished second to pattern filly Star of Seville at Newbury in April, he came back off a five month break to finish behind Eagle Top…