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.
After earning plaudits all around as the eight length victory in the Grade 3 Fixed Brush handicap, the five-year-old star will be taking arguably the biggest jump in class you can get in the hurdles circuit – facing off against the talented Big Buck's.
Having gotten the better of 20 rivals on the day by such a hefty margin has prompted David Pipe to enter him in the Grade 1 Lough Derg Long Walk Hurdle on Saturday. Pipe is really just using the same plan from last year when Grands Crus won the Long Walk and then went on to spend the rest of the year tangling with Big Buck's, although he was unable to get the better...
It came with an abrupt suddenness after recent reports of quality workouts and an entry in the Lexus Chase. Denman, Gold Cup winner and star steeplechaser for the Paul Nicholls yard, has been retired due to a small injury in his near fore tendon. Nicholls announced it this morning on his blog and also confirmed that Denman would remain in his box next to Kauto Star for the remaining of the jumps campaign.
Winner of a multitude of trophies and cups, this impressive physical specimen was widely respected for his ability to carry large amounts of weight over a variety of testing conditions. Denman amassed a large fanbase and was...
A less than impressive chasing debut for Menorah has seen his connections take the very interesting step of entering him in a high class hurdles contest as they look to get him back to basics to start putting cash in the kitty. Sent off as the slim 8/13 favourite, the six-year-old son of King's Theatre unseated his rider two out after tracking the leaders in three-horse contest.
Having scored in this fixture last year by a stellar 4.5 lengths, Menorah fans will be able to lock in a good price on the Philip Hobbs-trained gelding. Punters will find him trading around 4/1 with most major bookmakers and he looks one of...
It appears as though an all-Kauto forecast bet is untenable at this point after upstart juvenile Kauto Stone withdrew from the 2011 King George at the latest declaration point. Wishfull Thinking was also amongst the withdrawals for the Boxing day Showpiece that has anchored one of the biggest cards on the National Hunt Calendar.
Long Run continues to hold onto his position as the outright betting favourite for this one and his price is hovering just above odds-on with most major bookmakers. He's listed anywhere from 5/4 to 6/4 with a few 11/8's along the way....
While it may not have the most straightforward name in jumps racing, the Spinal Research The Atlantic 4 Gold Cup (Handicap Chase) Grade 3 is set to kick off this Saturday and it's easily one of the day's showpieces for up-and-coming chasers looking to make a statement over 2m5f.
The ante post market going into this one looks like we're setting up for a three-way rematch of the 2011 Paddy Power Gold Cup with a trio of talented contenders looking to push on from their last massive clash. Divers, the third place finisher in the Gold Cup is stepping up to...
A starkly different betting market now exists for the 2011 Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown with second-favourite Tataniano withdrawn due to injury. The move from the Paul Nicholls yard has prompted a dramatic reshuffling of the odds that has seen leading fancy Sizing Europe beat down to 11/8 while the mysterious Kauto Stone continues to take money.
A tear in his tendon has ruled Tataniano out for the season.
Kauto Stone is obviously going to be receiving attention based on the name, connections and race record (all so similar to the living legend) but the really interesting part is that the punters are taking the bait....
While Kauto Star was able to earn all the plaudits after rolling back the years to defeat the Betfair Chase crowd, Long Run's connections will be out looking for revenge in the 2011 King George on Boxing Day. Anybody who follows jumps racing will remember that last year's King George marked the decline of Kauto Star when Long Run was able to get the best of him. The six-year-old chaser was then able to topple the living legend again in the seasonal showpiece the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Another big weekend of jumps racing action is upon us almost already and one of the key contests is going to be Saturday's Markel Insurace Henry VIII Novice's Chase at Sandown. Al Ferof is the key name coming into this one and he'll be looking for his fifth score on the bounce this time out with an eye firmly fixed on the festival season again this year.
Switching over from hurdles to fences hasn't shaken up the talented six-year-old one bit as he got his chasing career off to a dream start with a seven length victory over a field of seven at Cheltenham...
A talented field sets up for the 2011 Tingle Creek Chase as the Down Royal showpiece has attracted a number of fantastic jumpers. The reigning champion chaser in the UK, Sizing Europe is quite likely to run here and he'll be experiencing a drop back in distance for this one. The distance switch was likely prompted by Sizing being mugged near the line by late-running Quito De La Roque when it looked like he had the race in his back pocket.
It could be written off as fitness issues at the start of the season but the change to less than 3m distances shows that maybe connections think the nine-year-old son of Pistolet Bleu...
The 3:10 at Newbury is the day's feature – the Hennessy Gold Cup Chase. This is a big race with plenty of exciting contenders and there's a number of different directions this one could go in.
The betting favourite has been Aiteen Thirtythree for quite a while and Paul Nicholls has a tremendous record in this race. Stablemate Neptune Collonges enters carring a massive weight penalty – especially one for a horse that doesn't really win very often.
Aiteen Thirtythree finished second to Somersby in his first outing this year and didn't...