Newmarket Wednesday Preview - Free Bets And Sports News.

Newmarket’s Craven meeting gets under way on Wednesday. It hardly seems like five minutes ago that we were looking forward to Cheltenham and here we are looking for classic clues! It will take something spectacular to trump the performance of Kingman at Newbury last weekend. I tipped him at 14-1 for the Guineas last June and that looks pretty good value now.

The fillies dominate day 1 of the Craven meeting and last year Sky Lantern finished second in the Nell Gwyn here. Although she ran well, few would have expected her to turn out to be such a brilliant filly throughout the rest of the season. It may be optimistic to expect there to be anything of her calibre lining up tomorrow but I’m keen on the chances of the once-raced Folk Melody.

Newmarket Wednesday Preview – Read more here

Scottish National Preview - Free Bets And Sports News.

The Scottish National is always a tricky race to call. It comes so soon after the Aintree Grand National that it is rare for a horse from that event to be able to perform at its best. It also leaves us in the dark as far as running plans are concerned but it seems as though Paul Nicholls intends to run top weight Tidal Bay.

He was unlucky to exit the National last week but went on to make his presence felt when steering Across The Bay out of the race. Nicholls reasons that he has not had a hard race but he still has to concede a lot of weight. Perhaps more significantly, he keeps the weights compressed for everything else in the race including stable companion Sam Winner.

Sam Winner suffered a very severe injury a couple of seasons ago and looked unlikely to race again. It is to his credit that he has come back well enough to … continued

Scottish Champion Hurdle Preview - Free Bets And Sports News.

The National Hunt season still has a few big races remaining, starting with the Scottish National meeting at Ayr this weekend. I’ll be previewing the National separately but the Scottish Champion Hurdle is also featured on the ante-post lists now that it is run as a handicap.

As something of a traditionalist, it seems a shame that both the Welsh and Scottish Champion Hurdle are now handicaps but it was inevitable. So much emphasis is put on Cheltenham these days that they were attracting only three or four runners. The policy seems to be working and there is a decent entry for this weekend’s Grade 2 event.

Surprisingly, Nicky Henderson has elected to run My Tent Or Yours…Continued

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Aintree Day 2 Preview - Free Bets And Sports News.

Aintree Day 2 Preview - Free Bets And Sports News.

Cheltenham form stood up remarkably well on the opening day of the Grand National meeting. Dynaste looked to be set to swoop turning for home but found little under pressure and Silviniaco Conti ground out a deserved success. It is interesting that the bookies are going 14-1 the field for the 2015 Gold Cup. That certainly suggests the absence of a superstar in the chasing ranks.

The second day also revolves largely around Cheltenham form and I’m keeping faith with O’Faolains Boy after his game win in the RSA Chase. The going will be quicker and this tighter track might be a slight concern but I haven’t seen anything to suggest that he won’t handle it. Holywell picked up a valuable Cheltenham handicap and is a difficult opponent while Many Clouds was unlucky to be brought down last time.

This could be a massive week for Rebecca Curtis who is putting the finishing touches to Teaforthree’s Grand National preparations. Presumably he will be travelling to Aintree on the day as he did last year because he hates staying away overnight. Being trained in Wales and a former festival winner for JT McNamara, there is plenty in his history to keep the racing journalists happy if he comes in front on Saturday.

The Melling Chase looks a tricky one this year with easy Cheltenham winner Ballynagour taking on the more consistent Module and Rajdhani Express. Ballynagour won so easily at the festival that … continue

 

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O’Faolains Boy set to give Curtis timely boost | Grand National 2014

O’Faolains Boy set to give Curtis timely boost | Grand National 2014

Rebecca Curtis is dealing extremely well with the pressure of training Grand National favourite Teaforthree and can receive a timely boost when O’Faolains Boy lines up in Friday’s Mildmay Novices’ Chase.

The seven-year-old put up a terrific performance to win the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last month, holding off the persistent challenge of Smad Place to win by a neck. That victory followed his earlier success in the Reynoldstown Chase at Ascot, a race named after the only horse besides Red Rum to win more than one Grand National.

O’Faolains Boy clashes with another Cheltenham winner in Holywell, the mount of Tony McCoy. The promising son of Gold Well won a Grade 3 Handicap Chase to complete a hat-trick over fences. Don Cossack fell and brought down Many Clouds at the fourteenth fence in the RSA Chase and it was too early in the race to say how they might have fared.

The Melling Chase at 3.05 looks wide open this year with Ryanair Chase third Rajdhani Express likely to start favourite. He represents the combination of Nicky Henderson and Sam Waley-Cohen who team up with Long Run in Saturday’s Grand National.
The unpredictable Ballynagour is a strong rival if reproducing the form of his Cheltenham Festival victory while Module was a good third to Sire De Grugy in the Champion Chase. Wishfull Thinking and Boston Bob are others to consider but both may have preferred more give in the ground. Continue…

 

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