Little-known Irish trainer Sean Doyle can make a name for himself by landing one of jump racing’s major prizesThe name of the Wexford-based trainer Sean Doyle is not one that means much to most punters but that could change on Saturday when he saddles the well-backed Crosshue Boy (3.35) in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr. Now nine, this horse made a big impression when landing a novice handicap on this card last year and he looks a great bet to follow up at 11-1 in the main event.Crosshue Boy was a regular winner last season under a claiming amateur, including at Ayr, where he beat Dingo Dollar. The runner-up is a few pounds better off but the winner looked...
The jockey tested positive one day in autumn last year but made no attempt to claim it was a one-off and has stated a convincing commitment to changing his lifeThe usual form, when a jockey tests positive for a metabolite of cocaine, is: “Moment of madness, won’t happen again,” and, however sincerely meant, the words lose their impact through familiarity. Thursday’s case involving Kieran Shoemark was entirely different. I came away very impressed by the 23-year-old, who has clearly had a very self-destructive streak at one time but stated a convincing commitment to changing his life.Shoemark tested positive one day in autumn last year but made no attempt to claim it was a one-off. He told a disciplinary panel of...
Nate The Great will be given a chance to earn his place in the Epsom Classic for trainer who set up with three horses in 2016Archie Watson, fastest rising of all young Flat trainers, has a possible Derby contender in his string. I learned this at a media morning yesterday at his Saxon Gate stables in Upper Lambourn, formerly used by Fulke Walwyn and an early base for Mick Channon in the days of Piccolo.When Watson started up there in 2016, he initially had just three horses that he’d bought on spec. Four wins that year became 56 the next and 105 last year, when his prize money total broke the £1m mark. Now he has more than 100 horses...
Officials are pretty much obliged to give the Irish horse a concession and a chance at a historic third straight winWhat an interesting plot twist in the Tiger Roll story, courtesy of the Irish Times this morning. While Michael O’Leary said several times at the weekend that he didn’t particularly want to run his little star in another Grand National, the owner’s brother, Eddie, has now suggested that what really matters is how Tiger Roll is handicapped and he could run after all if sufficiently well treated.“They say they condense the weights to encourage the good horses to run,” Eddie O’Leary is quoted as saying. “If the National isn’t well condensed, Tiger Roll won’t run. If they want him –...
Around half of the people who bet on the biggest betting race of the year are getting short-changed and the British Horseracing Authority need to help sort this outThe creaky old starting price mechanism should be under fresh scrutiny following Saturday’s Grand National, when the SP over-round (which shows the notional profit margin built into the collective odds) came to 163%. That is only slightly less than the 165% of 2015 that provoked fears of once-a-year punters being ripped off and led to a lengthy review, which waved away those fears in a complacent-sounding report.And so, what a surprise, here we are again with identical concerns and no official body inclined to do anything about them. Sophisticated punters, such as...