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.
The 2011 Morgiana Hurdle looks to be absolutely all about Hurricane Fly heading into the race and punters are piling on – with a price now being beaten down to 2/5 or 4/9 if you're lucky. Hot on the heels of a triple withdrawal that saw Canaly, Voler La Vedette and Unaccompanied removed from the running.
It's tough to argue against the seven-year-old son of Montjeu being the best contender in the race as he's currently on a six race win streak. He spent nearly the entirety of last season beating up on Solwhit in race after race...
The big action kicking off over timber this weekend is set to be the 2011 Betfair Chase, which should really serve as a recognition that the National Hunt calendar is well and truly underway. We can look forward to plenty of interesting Grade 1 and 2 contests throughout the weekend and the next fortnight also brings forth the tantalizing prospect of the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle.
It goes without saying that Long Run is going to be the new kid on the block that everybody's looking to beat. His brave performance in vanquishing the most storied jumpers on the...
The Fighting Fifth Hurdle is looking like a very sharp contest this year and the story looks to be all about Binocular at this point. While he didn't finish last season particularly well and emerged as a true festival bust in 2011, Nicky Henderson's charge is set for another season over hurdles and he will be looking to make a real statement in this one.
Unraced so far this season, the JP McManus-owned seven-year-old has never won the Fighting Fifth despite two previous tries. In 2009 he attempted the going at Newcastle and finished a disappointing fifth to the talented Go Native (a contender who would be a thorn in...
The 3:30 is a very deep field and this is that race that could go in a multitude of different directions. Kauto Relko will likely some money based just on the name but one to seriously consider is the quality contender Hells Bells who lines up for the Nicky Henderson yard. Brian Toomey is aboard Shifting Gold and there's a lot to like about the five-year-old son of Night Shift.
Dune Shine will attract some attention as well and he looks the progressive type and should benefit from his seasonal debut a few weeks back after a lengthy five month freshening...
Take a second look at both Uncle Junior and Double Dizzy ahead of this one – the latter being the especially appealing one for anybody seeking a tasty each-way selection at 25/1.
Paul Nicholls also saddles Gullible Gordon with Harry Skelton up. The 6/1 price shows that he is ready to pounce on any error made by the favoured selection and he looks a nice addition to a multi-race wager for anybody feeling especially adventurous.
Steps To Freedom looks a solid shout at 5/4 in the 2:55 and will likely make a very short-priced double selection with Garde Champetre. He got started a bit slowly this year with a rough...
The interesting outsider is Quattrocento who is one of the only ones on offer here who boasts a course and distance victory. A rather tough sequence of recent results is likely the cause for the 14/1 price tag but the seven-year-old son of Robin Des Champs gets a really nice weighting over a course he has flourished on.
The 1:45 is the Paddypower.com Mobile Handicap Chase with a solid purse up to whoever takes this one. It's really tough not to like Havingotascoobydo in this type of a race and the 8/1 price tag indicates that plenty of others clearly feel similarly.
There is a seriously exciting card set to unfold Friday at Cheltenham as the Open meeting gets underway with plenty of action spread across six contests. The revised BHA whip rules will also be coming into play on the day and it should be taken into consideration by virtually all punters to handicap for a bit more aggressive riding.
What more should we expect at Cheltenham than aggressive riding?
Regardless, delving into the action punters will find a significant amount of value thanks to some customarily deep fields for every race.
The betting action is really starting to heat up at Down Royal ahead of this weekend's crunch Grade 1 clash – the Jnwine.com Champion Chase. It's going to be a particularly interesting race as several of the contenders here are using this contest as a seasonal debut. In fact, the top two selections in the ante post market are unraced since last year's festival season. This makes things intriguing as you wonder whether punters might favour those longer odds selections with a race or two under their belts.
Despite being in the headlines for his opinions on the new whip rule more than anything else over the past week or two, it appears as though the bookmakers are just as convinced as ever that legendary Irish jock Ruby Walsh will be the top jumps pilot in Ireland again this season. There's a lot to like about Walsh and he missed a large portion of last season due to injury – only to reappear at Cheltenham and spark one of the biggest Irish-dominated days in years.
There is an impressive line-up of top-quality chasers pre-entered for the 2011 Hennessy Gold Cup. As it currently stands you'll 46 different contenders listed for the Newbury fixture next month and some of the genuine stand-outs include the likes of Neptune Collonges and Sir Alex Ferguson's What A Friend.
It appears as though last year's winner Diamond Harry is set to return and defend his Grade 1 title and this has always been a race that sets the tone heading into the Holiday fixtures. Diamond Harry actually went off the National Hunt circuit after this race last year and has been unraced since. He will be using this as a seasonal debut and a way to get...
