Although Cheltenham stages ab excellent card on trials day, the safest short-priced favourite may be in action at Doncaster. MARIA’S BENEFIT was hugely impressive when hacking up by a wide margin at Taunton last time, beating horses trained by Paul … Read More »

There was no real damage done last week, with West Brom’s victory over Brighton more or less covering Newcastle’s failure to account for Swansea. I feel that West Brom will pick up most of the vital points against their fellow-strugglers … Read More »

I was relieved to see William Henry win the Lanzarote under quite a big weight last week. He benefited from James Bowen’s 5lb claim and did very well for a horse reverting to hurdles after an absence of a few … Read More »

Breaking your own rules is often costly when it comes to betting and the FA Cup did me no favours last weekend, Watford’s easy victory against an overburdened Bristol City the only correct call. At least I managed to avoid … Read More »

It was good to see Poppy Kay landing the main bet last week and I hope there will be several more to follow from the Philip Hobbs stable as we move towards the Cheltenham festival. I think the stable is … Read More »

I admit right from the outset that I am not a big fan of betting on the FA Cup, the main problem being the commitment (or lack of it) where some clubs are concerned. Having watched the Southampton v Crystal … Read More »

All being well, Chepstow stages the postponed Coral Welsh National on Saturday. It goes without saying the ground will be very testing and in recent years I’ve often thought that relatively few horses get home over nearly three and three-quarter … Read More »

I am not surprised that a handful of bookmakers have decided to introduce the ‘non-runner, no bet’ concession earlier than usual for the top races at Cheltenham. As if the ante-post market were not dormant enough, any confidence that interested … Read More »

Under normal circumstances I’d be very happy with the draw between Aston Villa and Sheffield United last week and even thought it would be quite high-scoring (it was 2-2) but Southampton’s failure to beat Huddersfield knocked out the profit. The … Read More »

At this stage there is not much point in going into detail where Saturday’s racing is concerned; all we can do is wait and see what the weather does and take it from there. The going will be bottomless if … Read More »

We showed a 26 points’ profit last week, thanks to Everton and Cardiff. The minor punt on Bournemouth against Liverpool was shot to pieces but I don’t regret that. Eddie Howe’s players are better than they showed there and were … Read More »

Although the ill-starred Starchitect would have won the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup but for his fatal injury, it was hard not to feel for Clan Des Obeaux, who worked hard over an inadequate trip and finally hit the front, only … Read More »