Welcome to the BettingChoice Horse Racing Blog. Here you'll find all the tips, insights and opinions for the world's biggest races including: Cheltenham, Breeders' Cup, Dubai Racing, the Grand National and more.
We've just gone through another declaration stage as we get closer to this weekend's Racing Post Trophy race at Doncaster. The going is expected to be soft for this 1m race that sets up the premier two-year-olds with a great opportunity to get things off to a high-profile start as they head into their three-year-old campaigns.
Aidan O'Brien seemingly has half the horses entered in the race with a full six horses lining up for him. Nobody has decided which one Joseph O'Brien expects to ride but you reckon that just might set up a few clues. A number of talented colts are ready to roll in this one and we...
Mucho Macho Man looks to be one of the really interesting shouts here and he's a bit of an up-and-down performer at times. This is also reflected in his ante post prices as some bookmakers have him as low as 8/1 while the majority float him at 10s but Bet365 continues to list him at a 16/1 price tag.
To Honor And Serve had been getting some serious attention from many racing observers but just hasn't really looked his sharpest in the past few races. You'll see him at 12/1 with Bet365 but a whopping 25/1 with several others.
A real wildcard here looks to be Nate's Mineshaft - a hard-...
As the clock begins winding down on the European flat season, the de facto world championships of horse racing are set to run in Arcadia, California in a few weeks time as the latest iteration of the Breeders' Cup is nearly upon us. There has been plenty of twists and turns on the American scene since Mike Smith and Drosselmeyer struck the front at Churchill Downs as the hall of fame jockey pipped his ex-fiancee Chantal Sutherland by a length or so after she had gone to the front and led most of the way.
As the days draw closer we get nearer and nearer to the penultimate date of the English flat season - Champions Day. The first major contest on the afternoons card at Ascot is going to be the Group 3 British Champions Long Distance Cup - one of the premier staying contests you'll find on the European flat calendar. There are several very interesting entries here with most of the major yards represented.
A supremely deep field is set to contest the 2012 Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot this coming Saturday. With a full 19 entries still remaining in the mix before the final declaration stage on Wednesday, it really looks to be anybody's guess who's going to pull off the premier 6f dash of the 2012 season.
Many of the usual suspects are here for this one and you can see this one already shaping up to be a blanket finish if everybody winds up performing to expectations.
The pride of the Ramsey Breeding operation's distaff side this year, Stephanie's Kitten will definitely take some money for this race as she enters off a solid score at Saratoga in the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes. John Velasquez will remain with her as she looks pointed towards her second Breeders' Cup in a row. She was Ken Ramsey's birthday present when she captured the 2011 Juvenile Fillies Turf at Churchill Downs on the opening day of the Breeders' Cup Championships.
We've got a very competitive field in the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland this Saturday as a talented group of three-year-old fillies take to the turf at this venerable Kentucky racetrack. The chase is on to determine the best grass filly at 1m1f as we head into the 2012 Breeders' Cup and there is certainly a lot to like about this race from a value standpoint.
The race doesn't boast any genuine stand-out shippers crossing over from Europe as it looks like the bulk of them will be heading towards the Breeders' Cup as opposed to an out-and-out prep race. This is effectively the...
The only horse who is available at a single-digit price is the Haafhd gelding Countrywide Flame. Bet down to 8/1 following a solid victory at Chester a month ago after having been on the shelf since April, you may also remember him since he captured the JCB Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival before finishing a close second to Grumeti in the Matalan 4-Y-O hurdle at Aintree.
He has been there-or-thereabouts for the past several races and has been competing at around this level so it's not a bad wager all the way. It will be interesting to see where the late money breaks in the build-up to this massive clash.
36 runners are set to contest one of the biggest and deepest handicaps you'll find anywhere on the planet as the 2012 Cesarewitch is set to run at Newmarket this Saturday over its usual 2m2f distance. With the going listed at Good To Soft and the inevitable cavalry charge set to go again, this is always a race that separates the men from the boys on the Heritage Handicap circuit.
Undefeated Dansili colt Ashdan is part of what could be a double entry here from Juddmonte. He has only been out twice and has won both contests - with William Buick in the irons. His last score was in a conditions stakes contest and it's a fair jump up in class to go from that level to the Dewhurst but he certainly has the connections to get the job done. Can he tangle with Group 1 winners and keep things moving forward? Time will tell, but the yard has indicated that he could be the main choice here as Buick looks likely to stay with the mount.
