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're getting closer by the day to one of the most anticipated sprint races of the season as Haydock prepares for the 2012 Sprint Cup this Saturday. After stringing together some very impressive performances in August, well-bred Australian mare Ortensia will be going into this one as the distinct betting choice, following a pair of scores over Spirit Quartz at Goodwood and York, respectively. She's already amassed a fairly impressive line-up of victories this year – a fact punctuated by her score in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan.
Ron The Greek asserted himself early in the season this year when he captured the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby over the same course and distance we'll see contested in the Classic though against a bit lesser competition like Gladding, Twice The Appeal and Thirtyfirststreet. He then shipped cross-country to Oaklawn and finished a game second to Alternation at Grade 2 level. Then he headed out Wise Dan to bring down the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.
The bookmakers have released the first edition of the odds for the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic – the de facto championship of North American racing. It's an extremely interesting line-up and the odds are totally indicative that this is a truly wide-open race. A pair of three-year-olds are punching above their weight for completely contrasting reasons and remain among the leading fancies for this prestigious $5,000,000 race.
The Richard Fahey-trained Mayson is the next best-priced contender and punters will find him hovering around 7/1 in the ante post market. He has been freshened for nearly a month and a half, with his last effort being a sensational five-length score in the Group 1 Darley July Cup.
Unraced at Haydock, all three of his victories this year have come at Newmarket.
Hoof It, Society Rock and Strong Suit are all in the mix as well – usually priced within the 8/1 – 11/1 range depending on whom you're betting with. All of them are plausible winners, but...
Following a dramatic victory in last week's Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, Ortensia has been installed as the firm favourite for the upcoming Sprint Cup at Haydock. As the fall begins approaching, many of the final preps are underway before the Champions Day fixture and Ortensia will be looking to make this three wins on the bounce.
It's been an impressive year for the Australian mare and it's been a pretty darn good year for Australian mares – particularly ones that are campaigned at short distances.
The bookmakers have her sitting around 3/1 and that price is certain to get hit prior to the off next week as...
Camelot continues to cling to his 1/3 odds as the date draws nearer by the day for his attempt to become the latest horse to win the British Triple Crown. Coming on the heels of some genuinely outstanding performances, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt is likely to go off at a significantly shorter price on the day unless there are some serious concerns about the going.
A competitive cadre of three-year-old contenders are lining up to take him on and there are some seriously good-looking horses with excellent records firmly pointed towards the race. None of them have been able to match Camelot at this point and his ability...
Willing Foe lines up for Godolphin and carries a very reasonable 14/1 price. Dettori is booked for the mount and they have been knocking on the door for a while. He has only had a single run this year, a handicap contest at Ascot, and he only tends to win when sent off as the betting favourite.
Crackentop lines up for the Tim Easterby yard and he's shown some real verve at York this year - winning a race at York back in June when carrying a massive 10-13. This was, however, a race for lady amateur riders. David Allen...
The 2012 York Ebor is set to run on Saturday and it's setting up to be another fantastic iteration of Europe's biggest handicap race. This one usually has a prohibitive make-or-break favourite but this time around we have several interesting single-digit contestants. The 1m6f race always separates the men from the boys and we've got a full selection of 20 very accomplished runners.
Another twenty strong handicap is up next and there is a huge margin between the top and bottom weight with Godolphin's Sandagiyr at 9-10 while bottom weight Strictly Silver carries a mere 7-12. Postscript looks like he knows a thing or two about hitting the board and should be part of the reckoning here. William Haggas and Paul Hanagan team up for a run with Kahruman, who is a three-year-old son of Mr Greeley.
Godolphin also saddle Invisible Man for this one and he gets Dettori - a clear indication that he's the preferred entry. He's not won for a while but should be worth a look...
We had an impressive strike rate in the opening day of the York Ebor meeting and we've got plenty of action and excitement in store for our next day on Thursday. Frankel was able to defy all of the superlatives and he has firmly etched himself into racing folklore by stepping up in trip with just as much verve and aplomb as you could ever ask from a horse.
His flourish in the final 2f was something to behold and you get the feeling that nobody will ever forget watching that race, as Frankel made seasoned Group 1 winners (and the defending Breeders' Cup Turf Champion) look totally ordinary.