Our tipster finds himself out of step with the betting market over Itoldyou’s chance in East Sussex todayAs a general rule, the further out of step with the betting market you find yourself, the more wrong you are likely to be, or the more likely you are to be wrong. I hope that doesn’t sound defeatist and of course I believe it’s possible to beat the market, or I wouldn’t be doing this, but the market represents a lot of wisdom and a lot of knowledge and that requires respect. Related: Horse racing tips: Monday 16 January Continue reading...
Followmybuttons could lead us to the winner’s enclosure, provided he keeps clearing the fencesOne of the things I already like about ITV Racing is its enthusiasm for archive footage. Today, to mark the passing of Brian Fletcher, they’ve tweeted footage of his 1974 Scottish National success on Red Rum, which apparently the jockey said was the best win of his career. Continue reading...
Shouldn’t racing’s ruling body be putting measures in place to make racecourse closure less attractive? I had an exchange with racing’s ruling body yesterday which revealed as much about their approach as anything uncovered by the Jim Best story last year. I had gone to the British Horseracing Authority to ask about the Jockey Club’s plans to close one of its tracks (Kempton) and redistribute the fixtures among its other venues, including the very important and prestigious King George VI Chase. Continue reading...
Kempton Park races for the first time on Wednesday since the sudden announcement by the Jockey Club of plans to sell the track off for housing to fund a new all-weather course near its HQ in NewmarketKempton Park races for the first time on Wednesday since the sudden announcement on Tuesday that the Jockey Club, its owner, feels compelled to sell it off for housing to fund a new all-weather track near its HQ in Newmarket. But there will be several hundred more chances for racegoers to visit the historic track, which opened in 1878, before the earliest possible date for its demise in 2021, and the seven races on a floodlit all-weather card are unlikely to tempt too many...
Southwell selection Vivat Rex (2.20) remains unexposed on Fibresand and may prove to have been a very shrewd claim by trainer Conor Dore after his latest startSouthwell and its Fibresand surface are not to everyone’s taste, but I yield to no one in my devotion to the track and its resistance to Tapeta and Polytrack. Not, of course, that there is anything wrong with either, but for as long as Southwell sticks to the sand, there will be horses that love it and, just as important, plenty that don’t.The result, of course, is that many races here have several previous course winners in the field, but those that have spent time racing elsewhere can sometimes be overlooked. Related: Horse racing...