Paradise Stakes - Quick Look

Ascot hosts a pleasing card of sustained quality on Wednesday and the race highlight in my opinion is the 3.00 - Battersea Dogs & Cats Home Paradise Stakes (Listed Race). A Class 1 race over a mile on a fast drying turf track with eight runners set to take part in proceedings.

Scottish National Is A Nuts N Bolts Affair

The Scottish National this afternoon promises to be a great spectacle as the drying ground makes this race more likely to be a pleasant watch on fair enough ground to a great number of horses. Plenty lined up to take part are mud lovers who now have no advantage at all and will likely only run now to make the handicapper take pity on them and reduce their mark for when the rain returns in the future.

With a Tote Jackpot today scorching to above the £2,000,000 mark I am going to be making this race preview very brief as I want to a few lines in place, ready to put my entry in prior to the first race at Ayr at 1.30pm. To win the windfall you simply need to place the Tote bet and win the first six races on the card at Ayr with your selections. It could not be any easier than that!

The Grand National - Punting Preview

The Grand National has arrived on what is always the most eagerly anticipated racing day of the calendar year. Many punters will be betting based on names, others on colours, whilst some will bet on so many of the field just to shout to all who listen that they bet on the winner, despite sometimes making a loss on the race! Most of us tend to go mad on a day like this and Grandparents even chip in with their minuscule bets which all in all makes the Grand National one of the British treasures in sport - despite the many outside the industry that are continually trying to prevent the race from being run.

Now is the time to put all the safety issues aside and concentrate on finding the winner of what will be a Grand National half a furlong shorter than has been previously run. Could that change the result I wonder?

Aintree Day Two - Fightback Begins

I had a very enjoyable day at the races yesterday despite the lethargy of my racing selections, but we all have those types of days and an appearance by The Saturdays on stage in the Equestrian International Centre at the close of play 'raised' my spirits before I headed back to Liverpool city centre.

Today offers even better quality than yesterday with a ridiculous John Smiths Melling Chase (Grade 1) event featuring one of the best lines ups in recent memory, away from the Cheltenham festival. A race however where only betting in a market without the favourite Sprintre Sacre offers any potential of a return on original investment.

Aintree Racing Preview

Another year and once again another visit to Aintree for their opening day of the Grand National meeting. A thrilling three days full of quality racing and an epic opening on Thursday for all addicts of the sport with no fewer than four Grade 1 contests, two Grade 3 handicaps and an exciting Foxhunter Chase over the great National fences themselves. The only wish is that it does not rain, and on that score the weather forecast appears to be seemingly good.

With all that in mind it is all systems go with only seven winners to find for the day! That should be easy enough......

Saturday Racing (UK Flat)

An epic day ahead with the conclusion of the World Cup Dubai Carnival awaiting us, alongside a fair standard jumps card at Haydock and a re-arranged Doncaster meeting that features the Lincoln. Then there is racing at Musselburgh and if you cannot find a race that interests you today of all days, then you simply do not like racing!

Cheltenham Day Four: Vincent O'Brien Handicap Hurdle

I am taking into consideration the healthy prices of recent winners before ultimately selecting three horses I believe can do better and improve to take a hand in the finish of a very competitive handicap at 2.05pm. Recent history suggests that a horse that has raced at least three times during the course of the season, has an improved chance of gaining a result. Race fitness really is key to unlocking the winner.

This was yet another race last season where I was close, but not quite there, ultimately finishing third and fourth. This season I am aiming to move a couple of places further up the finishing list and am backing the following horses to succeed.