The recently retired Nigel Twiston-Davies trained hurdler The New One won Saturday’s Haydock Champion Hurdle Trial four years on the spin 2015-18 inc and the Grade 2 contest will be named in his honour this weekend. Nicky Henderson looks likely to saddle last month’s Cheltenham International Hurdle winner Brain Power (5/2 with BetVictor) at the weekend as he bids to cement his place in the Champion Hurdle field for which he is priced at 14/1 with BetVictor. Henderson has no fewer than six of the 27 entries for the opening day feature which were published yesterday. Three similar flat right-hand tracks stage jump racing this afternoon and we start at Market Rasen where I hope to see Garretstown (12.30) land the opener for Olly Murphy and Aidan Coleman. The selection won his sole bumper on […]

I was very impressed with the win of Aircraft Carrier at Wolverhampton on Monday evening when our selection landed a gamble (5s into 7/4) and was cut from 14/1 to 10/1 with BetVictor for the Marathon on All-Weather Final’s Day (April 19th) at Lingfield Park. The French won the corresponding race last year with Funny Kid (8/1 with BetVictor for a repeat) but marginal preference at this stage is for another Gallic raider Amade (7/1 with BetVictor) who impressed me enormously when scoring at Kempton earlier in the month. Believe it or not but there is rain – albeit not much – forecast for Newbury this afternoon although conditions are likely to be no worse than good for today’s six-race card. Ar Mest (1.10) has been raised 6lbs for his recent Leicester win, but will […]

Gordon Elliot may well have found the key to Sunday’s Moscow Flyer Novice hurdle winner Felix Desjy, who looked a different proposition when making all in Punchestown’s Grade 2 contest. The Gigginstown-owned novice had been frustrating so far this term, but a change of tactics saw him in a different light It is not easy to make all in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, but Felix Desjy was cut from 33/1 to 16s with BetVictor for the Festival curtain-raiser – it will be interesting to see if he can back this performance up given he is unlikely to get a soft lead next time. There is a rare runner over jumps for Middleham trainer Mark Johnston at Newcastle this afternoon when the horse who gave the trainer his record equalling 4,193rd winner […]

by David Cormack There are fewer issues more divisive or contentious in racing than the use of the whip on racehorses. The topic has had, and continues to have, a polarising effect and, despite fairly recent and significant changes relating to its use, it remains a topic that some see as threatening the very future of the sport. On the one hand people who support its use would argue that racing horses without the whip would change the nature of the sport in a variety of ways that would lead to a diminishing of its appeal as both a general entertainment and betting medium. On the other hand, those who would like to see its use limited further or eliminated altogether would argue that continued use of the whip leads to an increasingly negative perception […]

The booking of crack Irish amateur jockey Derek O’Connor for Ok Corral at Warwick in their listed Chase suggested the JP McManus owned novice chaser was going to target the 4m NH Chase at the Festival in March. That still appears to be the case after his fluent win from Secret Investor and he was cut from 7/1 to 3/1 with BetVictor in the aftermath of the race although if something happened to Nicky Henderson’s Santini I wonder if there would be a change of heart.  Top Notch beat a below par Charbel – not convinced he was given a great ride by Nico de Boinville – at Kempton and was cut to 10/1 for the Ryanair Chase with BetVictor from 20/1. Top Notch has finished 2nd, 5th and 2nd at the Festival in the […]

Brighton vs Liverpool Liverpool have lost their last two but that won’t be a concern to Jurgen Klopp given he fielded a much-changed side in their 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the FA Cup. Secretly the German will surely be quite pleased not to have the distraction of another cup competition while they fight for a first league title in nearly 30 years Before that they performed well when losing to Manchester City in a game that could have swung either way and I fully expect them to bounce back with a win today. Brighton have an excellent record at the Amex Stadium, though, and they aren’t about to roll over and allow Liverpool an easy three points. Chris Hughton’s side can find encouragement from their visitor’s problems in central defence where last week’s injury […]