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He finished a credible sixth place in the Kentucky Derby but was a disappointment for a number of punters who expected a much bigger run from him and, similar to Frosted, he was forced to the rear of the pack in the race and unleashed a furious charge in the final 1/4 mile to get from 13th place all the way up to sixth. The horse looked hesitant at times and clearly struggled with the massive traffic trouble we usually get for horses coming out of the pack in the Kentucky Derby.
Today saw a very interesting occurrence as two European books have taken the Triple Crown favourite into odds-on territory ahead of the race. There is some very interesting price discrepancies with some books listing him as high as 6/5 while others have him trading at a slim 4/5 margin. In the absence of bad news about his chances, you can expect Pharoah to continue to drop as many American punters actually expect him to be as short as 1/5 on the day of the actual race.
With a sloppy surface, you might see him drop even shorter, down into 1/9 territory if he really looks to have an advantage because of the conditions...
It isn’t often that American thoroughbred racing fans get an opportunity to savour two Triple Crown attempts in as many years but 2015 has seen the emergence of American Pharoah and a second date with destiny at Belmont Park in New York. While some racing observers have commented that the Zayat-owned Baffert-trained bay colt hasn’t connected with the American public in the same way that the rags-to-riches story of California Chrome manage to capture hearts and minds last year, the truth is that there is a significantly better chance of the Triple Crown happening this year than last year.
They are priced at around 7/2 right now but it will be tricky to predict how everything will actually wind up when they come out of the gate because this is a supremely impressive field with about seven or eight who could theoretically win it.
Up With The Birds is a high-profile Canadian horse that has run in some good races during the past year or two and you can expect Drayden Van Dyke and Graham Motion to put together a good jockey/trainer partnership here and pull off a decent result with their 5/1 morning line odds.
Things are definitely starting to get exciting over at Pimlico Racecourse outside of Baltimore, Maryland as the 2015 Preakness Stakes is nearly upon us. The eyes of the thoroughbred racing world are going to be firmly-fixed on Old Hilltop tomorrow as American Phaoroah will go off as the odds-on favourite to give us a live Triple Crown heading into the Belmont Stakes.
In a pleasant rematch of the top 3 finishers from the Kentucky Derby, we’re expecting another tough battle for the son of Pioneerof The Nile as he will have to do battle with Firing Line and...
Another De Bromhead charge, Sadlers Risk, lines up as the second favourite and he’s been taken into 9/2 from a 6/1 margin. His high-quality rating of 150 puts him head and shoulders above the rest of the competition on paper so anybody looking to beat Identity Thief will probably be looking here.
The third race is one of the feature contests with the Irish Daily Mirro Novice Hurdle. The talented Shaneshill gets the nod here with a very impressive combo of Ruby Walsh and Willy Mullins. He comes in off a blockbuster score in a Grade 2 at Fairyhouse last time out when he romped home by an impressive 13 length...
The Punchestown Festival is in full swing and the de facto finale to the National Hunt season enters its second day on Wednesday with a stellar selection of races that will be offering up plenty of value for punters. We have a few solid Grade 1 contests set to unfold in addition to a couple of extremely deep handicap races that have some really interesting outside contenders so there are a pile of very good opportunities here to make some money.
Criterion is the big hope shipping up from Australia and he captured a big score at Royal Randwick when he took the Group 1 Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes over Red Cadeaux - who put in his always-valiant performance. He rounded out the trifecta in the Longines Hong Kong Cup back in December when he was finishing up about a length behind Designs on Rome and Military Attack.
He was steadily reeled in over the final furlong in that race so you wonder whether they will attempt slightly different tactics in a contest that is more than likely to unfold in a very similar fashion.
Things are definitely going to be heating up tonight at Hong Kong’s prestigious Sha Tin racecourse as one of the world’s biggest flat races is set to unfold. A number of talented globetrotting superstars will be contesting this one and there are a large amount of past winners returning for another kick at the can in one of Asia’s biggest thoroughbred horse races.
The early wagering in the ante post markets has centred heavily around the trio of Criterion, Designs On Rome and Military Attack. The latter of the three has the highest price right now with some bookmakers...
Zawraq has seen his price descent quite clearly over the past couple of days as he has picked ups team on the back of that listed score at Leopardstown last week when he got the better of a competitive field of 7 by securing victory by a three and a half length margin. He was sent off at 11/8 as the lukewarm favourite and was able to get the better of some talented colts.
He is down to as low as 7/1 with some books but there are a few others who continue to list him at a 12/1 margin and that brings him firmly into each-way territory. He will likely be able to improve a bit after that last victory and could be a real...
