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.
Tha'ir lines up for Godolphin and gets Frankie Dettori for this race. The son of New Approach was a beaten favourite last time out and is unraced at Doncaster. Prior to that he had Silvestre De Sousa in the irons and the switch back to Dettori for this one indicates nothing but confidence. The undefeated pair of Toronado and Unsinkable both come into this one with two wins to their credit but Toronado is getting much more play with an 11/4 compared to Unsinkable's 11/1 price.
The big day is finally upon us and everybody is anxiously awaiting Camelot's big to reach thoroughbred racing immortality by becoming the first colt to win the British Triple Crown since the legendary Nijinsky back in 1970. The feature contest runs in the middle of the card at 3:40 when the top three-year-old stayers in Europe will go 1m6f132y over going that continues to be listed as good.
There is over £311,000 up for grabs to the winner and, though everybody is expecting Camelot to win the race, there are absolutely no guarantees about how he'll cope with the additional two furlongs – particularly...
The Weatherby's Insurance £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes is the next race on the card and this one will be hotly-contested so you can expect some serious swings in the wagering in the build-up to the race. Aidan O'Brien saddles Parliament Square for this one and he goes off as the 9-5 top weight. He's got an RPR of 121 and that places him a fair bit ahead of most of the others with the exception of Richard Fahey's Flyman and Kevin Ryan's Hototo.
Many coming into this race have only been on track a few times some enter directly off a maiden score. Flyman will attract some attention as he's won twice in a row and looks solid enough considering the...
There is some seriously high-quality racing action to unfold at Doncaster over the next few days as the build-up to the 2012 St Leger, and the possibility of a rare British Triple Crown, continues to build up plenty of momentum. Thursday's card at Doncaster is punctuated by two group level clashes and a high-priced 2YO stakes.
The 1:15 is a nursery handicap with 20 runners going 6f. The going for the day is currently rated as good and, with a minimum of rain in the forecast, the cloudy conditions overhead shouldn't really offer up any genuine advantages to a particular sort of running style.
Near the top of the weights we have Jamesbo's Girl, who...
Michelangelo is a talented, though lightly-raced, son of Galileo who was last seen at Goodwood in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes. He's trading at around 10/1 and needs to show some improvement in this race. He's likely competing for the place bet here.
Guarantee is an interesting sort who emerges off the handicap circuit to tackle Group level company for the first time. He showed his 1m6f acumen last time out with William Haggas in the irons at York in the Melrose Stakes. As he continues to move forward, he could be a bigger and bigger factor here. He's likely dangerous if he can move forward substantially against more talented company....
The date with destiny for Camelot is drawing closer by the day as the 2012 St Leger is nearly upon us. As Aidan O'Brien's charge prepares to tackle the final leg of the British Triple Crown, his ante post price continues to hold at an extremely short 1/3 with a number of major bookmakers. Some have him floating at 2/5 while others price him closer to 4/11.
It is impossible to find a price of 1/2 though there is a chance of a drift on race-day, though that would take some specifically adverse conditions underfoot as Camelot has shown the ability to handle several different types of ground.
The Irish Champion Stakes is almost upon us and it will prove to be a decisive point in the season for at least one contender as it carries an automatic berth in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita and a guaranteed entry worth $150,000. That comes on top of the 750,000 Euros up for grabs here as well.
Nathaniel is still clinging to his spot as the outright betting favourite but there has been some serious steam for Snow Fairy who is not far off the favourites position. It really looks to be a battle between two very fresh and very lightly-raced horses this year as Nathaniel makes just his third start of 2012 while Snow Fairy lines up for the second time...
A trip to the California sunshine is in the cards for the winner of this 2YO contest going 1m at Leopardstown. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Trial Stakes is going to produce one of the hot contenders for this year's world championship race at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Several top yards have their choice runners lined up for this one and many of them might be ready to roll with some late decisions as a few co-entries dot the card.
The well-regarded Afonso De Sousa managed to finish third to Dundonnell at York in a Group 3 encounter shortly after breaking his maiden at Leopardstown by a smashing nine lengths, albeit at a 6f distance.
There's some high-quality racing kicking off this Saturday with a number of Group level races set to unfold across the UK, Ireland and continental Europe.
The action gets started early on as Haydock Park plays host to a listed race at 1:45 and, over the next four hours, we're set to be treated to ten exciting contests, many of which will factor into the ultimate equation for the big races coming up at the end of the flat season in October/November. The big Group level contests finish up at 5:45 with the Irish Champion Stakes looking ready to produce another enthralling iteration.
Nathaniel comes into the 2012 Irish Champion Stakes just nosing ahead of the well-respected Snow Fairy in regards to the position of outright favourite. Several bookmakers have taken John Gosden's charge into a slim 5/4 price tag. With the momentum continuing to build ahead of Saturday's big race (on a day with many important races as is), punters shouldn't be shocked to see Nathaniel as odds-on by the time they enter the gate.
