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.
There's been a bit of a shakeup in the ante post market for the upcoming King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes as betting choice St Nicholas Abbey has seen himself on the drift with several bookmakers. He had been trading as the outright favourite for quite some time but rocketed from 2/1 to 4/1 at one point earlier today with a number of bookmakers continuing to list him near 3/1 or 11/4.
This effectively puts St Nicholas Abbey at the same price as Sea Moon and Nathaniel. St Nick's odds on the exchange have also headed up towards 5.0 and hit a high of 11.0 at one point.
Speaking to the media, pilot Joseph O'Brien declared that "he's been doing a lot of his best racing lately on left-handed tracks but...
There are more than a few high-quality Group level races set to unfold across Europe this weekend and one of the best looks to be the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. Easily one of the best 1m4f races on the planet, a competitive field of 37 has been whittled down to a slim 12 runners and there are several contenders in the reckoning for the outright favourites position. Punters can expect more than a few swings in the wagering as we get closer to the off.
An interesting subplot to this one is that we have a pair of Galileo colts facing off against a pair of Montjeu colts. One of those Montjeu's is the talented St Nicholas Abbey and he's...
Those looking for a spoiler in the second race will do well to back Alhebayeb, who comes in with some momentum and didn't look bad in defeat last time out. Watch for a late drift on his overall price shortly before the off.
The third race at Newmarket is the Goldsmiths Handicap and we're going a testing 1m2f over the good to soft stuff which will likely be a bit softer at this point. Godolphin boast a pair of entries here in this three-year-old restricted race. Mickael Barzalona gets Greek War and that pair won well on debut the last time...
We've got one of the first key fixtures of the July Meeting set to run on Thursday and some high-quality action is going to unfold over the seven race card. Several Group level contests will be up for grabs while a few flights of juveniles take to the track – many of whom for the very first time.
The going has recently been reassigned a status of good to soft, soft in places as the July course was able to avoid the majority of the deluge that the rest of Britain has been feeling over the past several weeks. Approximately 3mm of rain fell today though the...
Initial declarations have been made for the 2012 Darley July Cup and, though we can still expect a few withdrawals up until the final stage on Wednesday, we have a very fascinating race developing with so many top yards being represented – oftentimes by multiple runners. It remains a very tricky puzzle to solve at this point and some of the main clues might be drawn from the two entries who were supplemented in as their trainers obviously think they are worth the money.
The final declarations have taken place for tomorrow's 2012 Coral Eclipse at Sandown. Headlines were made around the racing world yesterday when New Zealand-bred wonderhorse So You Think was officially retired after being found to be lame in his stall Thursday morning. The horse will now be shuttled to Australia for the upcoming breeding season.
Coolmore were obviously hoping for more from So You Think as the year continued to unfold but he will obviously make a very interesting addition to their breeding shed.
Godolphin's Farhh is now the significant favourite for the 2012 Coral Eclipse and many will wonder whether...
A fascinating cadre of contenders are set to contest the 2012 Coral Eclipse at Sandown this Saturday as one of the summer's biggest Group 1 encounters should provide some solid entertainment and more than a few enticing betting opportunities.
The race assembles a very interesting field with the Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso set for a run here alongside one of last year's breakout three-year-old's in Nathaniel. Another one is the globetrotting son of Scot Daddy – the illustrious Daddy Long Legs who will be looking to build on his UAE Derby win. Subsequently pulled up in the Kentucky Derby, he was in the mix towards the finish in the Irish 2000...
The Group 2 feature at Haydock on Saturday sees a number of talented fillies and mares going 1m3f and punters have a very open betting race at this point in the week with a few days still to go before final declarations. The ante post odds have shown a bit of movement and you can expect that to pick up pace significantly as we get closer to Wednesday.
At the time of this writing, Her Majesty's four-year-old filly Set To Music is headlining the competition with a 4/1 price tag. The bay daughter of Danehill Dancer was a gift to The Queen from the Aga Khan. One of the most significant references one could ask for, even just from taking a look at the ante post...
The 4:55 is a 1m2f32y contest for class 4 contenders and there is nearly 50 entries at this point so you may want to wait for things to cool off a bit. One to keep your eye on is Brian Ellison's Red Inca, who spent the winter season going over hurdles and is now switched back to the flat and looks a good shout back on the flat here.
The 3:20 contest at Newmarket is the widely-anticipated John Smith's Northumberland Plate, a Heritage Handicap staying contest going 2m19y. There is something like 45 entries still in the mix for this race so expect a few very interesting swings in the wagering as we get closer to the off for this one. The Betchworth Kid returns for his third outing of the year for Alan King's yard and you can expect him to improve on his last outing when he finished third, seven lengths behind on a seasonal debut.
