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Bouquet Booth (Flower Alley) doesn't really jump off the page and has been beat by a number of the runners here in her past few contests. She is a blue-collar type and fought her way out of Hoosier Park. Needs a big jump in her Beyer efforts if she expects to factor though – she looks to be outmatched and isn't quite the longshot at 20/1 that Her Smile looks to be.
Daisy Devine (Kafwain) comes ooff the Fair Grounds circuit and is unraced in the past seven weeks. She has been working pretty well at Churchill and you can expect her to try to deploy a front-running trip. Being in the 9 stall might complicate things a bit for her but she might be able to put together a good run and her experience running in the slop in Louisiana will...
We are less than 24 hours away from the big preview day for the Kentucky Derby with Kentucky Oaks day – the day for the ladies to strut their stuff. We'll be taking a quick look at the field for the 2011 edition of the Kentucky Oaks – a Grade 1 contest going 1m1f on the dirt at Churchill.
Joyful Victory (Tapit) really turned a corner when getting moved over to jockey Mike Smith. She's run a monster 2011 with two emphatic stakes victories setting her up nicely for this one. She'll be the chalk at 5/2 and it will be interesting to see if she can hold onto her status once the betting gets going. Note the sharp 5f work over a sloppy Churchill...
Nehro (Mineshaft) is too short-priced for a maiden-winner. He is in big danger of being overbet.
Soldat (War Front) sitting right next to Uncle Mo could be a very big factor in both of their fortunes. They will both be forced to the lead coming in from that far out. What happens if these two set the early pace?
Master of Hounds (Kingmambo) is excellent value at 30/1. He has a lot of positive angles in his favour. He is probably the biggest mystery but a big pari-mutuel price makes him worth a gamble. Ran second in the UAE Derby and that might have been a better race as it involved four-year-olds.
Dialed In (Mineshaft) will hit the board if he avoids traffic trouble, I'm certain of that....
There are some quality contenders in the mix for this one and not many of them enter into this one off a win except for Voler La Vedette and Quevega, who gets Ruby Walsh and could be the main story in the contest. Fresh off another dramatic score in the David Nicholson Mares Hurdle, one of the best females on the National Hunt should be a force to be reckoned with in this one. A course and distance winner, she looks in cracking form and returns to defend her title in this race from last year.
Oscar Dan Dan deserves some respect for a place wager in this one and he put in another workmanlike performance in the Keelings Irish Strawberry Hurdle a week or two ago to finish third. I don't see a win in his...
There are a number of extremely exciting contests kicking off on Day Three of the 2011 Punchestown Festival and we'll be taking a snapshot of each race and attempting to decipher just how things might shape up. The day's feature is the World Hurdle where a who's-who of the Irish hurdling scene look set to clash.
Wednesday's Punchestown action saw a dramatic feature contest unfold as Kauto Star simply did not look his best and was pulled up by Ruby Walsh after having looked relatively fluent early on. Roberto Goldback looked to have sealed the deal before falling at the last fence, though it should be noted that both jockey and horse were reported to be in good order – impressive after such a spectacular fall. 20/1 winner Follow The Plan wound up taking top...
Kauto Star gets the chance to make a major statement tomorrow as he looks set to contest a race that really appears to be shaping up for him in the latest iteration of the Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup. This Grade 1 3m1f race features eight contenders set to challenge the multiple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner but the majority of them are trading at lengthy prices and this looks a very competitive one for the place market.
At the moment, Kauto Star is the clear betting choice with a listing of around 11/8 with most major bookmakers. He was well-beaten in this year's Gold Cup after a solid performance where he was upstaged by the emerging Long Run. Kauto had gotten his campaign off to a solid start at Down Royal but took a tough beat in the long-delayed King George VI Chase....
Even a day before the actual announcement of the 2011 Kentucky Derby field and morning line, there is still plenty of drama unfolding as another was withdrawn and a mysterious Irish raider landed in Louisville after acquitting himself well on his Middle Eastern foray. While the criticism of this Kentucky Derby field seems to be quite widespread, there exists the possibility that a really good race could actually emerge from a field that is probably drawing criticism because it's a bit tricky to handicap more than anything else.
There's been a bit of movement in the European betting markets recently though much of it hasn't really involved the two favourites – Dialed In (Mineshaft) and Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) who has seen the gloss come off since his loss in...
The post positions and morning line for the 2011 Kentucky oaks were revealed on Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs and the race is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ones in years considering the amount of talent on display.
The defection of the very respectable R Heat Lightning (Trippi) has opened things up for a handful of headline fillies and we'll be taking a look at each of them here. The Todd Pletcher-trained winner of a pair of Grade 2 contests, the Gulfstream Oaks and the Devona Dale, had been widely expected to go off as the significant favourite for this one.
Joyful Victory (Tapit) has been made the 5/2 morning line favourite for the Kentucky Oaks but her position has been complicated by drawing the rail in stall #1. She had shown promise at two...
Sizing Europe was a real feather in my cap at the Cheltenham Festival when he bossed the Champion Chase to deliver at a tasty 10/1. He set up a number of punters with a nice bankroll for the final few days and he'll be looking to get the better of Big Zeb again in this one. There isn't a huge amount between the two of them but bookmakers seem convinced that he looks the more dangerous of the pair. At the moment, early betting has Sizing around a 7/4 listing while Big Zeb trades at around 2/1 or even 9/4. It will be...
The final major festival of the 2010/11 Jumps Racing season is set to unfold at Punchestown with a literal who's-who of prominent chasers and hurdlers set to contest several major races. The opening day's action is anchored by three Grade 1 contests with four other exciting races serving as buffers between each graded contest.
We'll be taking a look at each of the races on the opening day of the Punchestown Festival over the next two posts. Let's dive in and try to get a better idea of just how things are expected to shape up.
3:40 KILDARE HUNT CLUB FR. SEAN BREEN MEMORIAL CHASE (FOR THE LADIES PERPETUAL CUP)
Thirteen contenders are set to line up in this one and it's one of the more open contests on the day. There is no...
