16lbs separate Generous Ransom and Irish Cavalier in the Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday, yet they last met at the festival when three lengths separated them, with the former receiving just 1lb. A race prior to that, also at Cheltenham, it was Generous Ransom who prevailed with a couple of…
0.5pts ante-post win Sound Investment @20/1, Paddy Power Gold Cup
Cheltenham’s Open meeting is for many the true start of the National Hunt season, with Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase the betting highlight. Final declarations are due Thursday, but the market is already alive with movers and a couple of intended runners immediately catch the eye. One such horse is…
0.5pts ante-post win Bobs Worth @25/1, Hennessy Gold Cup
Nicky Henderson has been markedly positive about 2013 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Bobs Worth’s work at home of late, expressing his regret for not running him in Cue Card’s Charley Hall Chase last week. He would have had to be very good to win that, so his words carry some…
Iveagh Gardens 1pt win @5/1, Golden Amber 1pt win @14/1, Doncaster 14:20
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…
0.5pts ew Olofi @20/1, Wincanton 15:15
The race looks to be around Paul Nicholls’s Irving and All Yours. Stable jockey Sam Twiston-Davies chooses the latter after his Grade 1 success at Aintree, yet his trainer has sounded caution over the deteriorating ground and the former is a dodgy jumper so neither can be backed with confidence.…
1pt win Simonsig @2/1, Aintree 14:30
As a seven-year-old, Bobs Worth was good enough to win the Hennessey under a big weight on his seasonal reappearance, but he was a shadow of his Gold Cup-winning self last season and, now aged ten, his best years are surely behind him. However, such has been the impression left…
Bondi Beach 1pt win @20/1, Sky Hunter 0.75pts EW @33/1, Flemington 04:00
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…
0.5pts win Quest For More @100/1, Flemington 04:00
It might be worth sticking a few quid on Quest For More in the Melbourne Cup at huge odds. Despite his car park draw, he’s far too good for his 100/1 quote and has this season already beaten second and third in the betting for this, on similar terms. An unsuccessful preparation…
1pt ew Keen Ice @12/1, Keeneland 21:35
The first horse in 37 years to win America’s triple crown, American Pharoah (10/11), is all the rage in both the media and betting for the $5m Breeders’ Cup Classic. Except he was defeated last time out by Keen Ice – a horse he’d beaten in all three classics – who…
1pt ew Tepin @11/1, Keeneland 19:30
The Breeders’ Cup Mile has shaped into an excellent betting heat. A strong European challenge headed by Andre Fabre’s in-form Esoterique look to have a stranglehold on the market, but the mare – according to her trainer – doesn’t get her ground today and is done no favours being drawn in…