Morning all - excitement is building and its wet alright so we will definitely be starting on soft ground. I am only 8 miles from the course and its been raining since I ve been up at 8am... My bets for Cheltenham today:
1.30pm - Al Dancer 4/1. Used the Skybet offer - £20 win which comes back if it doesn't quite happen. Was going to do Tokay Dokey each way but now a non-runner so I will just stick with the one.
2.50pm - Singlefarmpayment 16/1 each way 5 places
3.30pm - Laurina 7/2
4.10pm Benie Des Dieux 11/10
4.50pm Riders on the Storm 8/1 each way 6 places
Going to sit out the Arkle and last race. Good luck all and enjoy the day..![]()
Top tip there forgot about it with all the excitementAlso one away from Cheltenham - 7.45 Wolverhampton Pass The Vino 6/1 - 3 runs in Ireland, now been gelded and moved to Paul D'Arcy who does very well with these types.
Jump racingApples jade
Anyone who fell for her winning those egg and spoon races racing from the 3 pole against 3 milers, dont quit the day job. Shame the champ robbed of his 3rd title by a stupid mistake, that's jump racing, even kauto star fell.
The 4 Miler was a sham yesterday. Even the decent jockeys were falling. 3 hit with big bans for keeping horses in the race when they plainly should have been pulled up. Do we need this race? The best amateurs like the Codfather and Patrick and Lisa O’Neil and Biddick etc will get rides throughout the week. The ones who don’t have a place in a professional arena won’t. Isn’t that right anyway?
The 4 Miler was a sham yesterday. Even the decent jockeys were falling. 3 hit with big bans for keeping horses in the race when they plainly should have been pulled up. Do we need this race? The best amateurs like the Codfather and Patrick and Lisa O’Neil and Biddick etc will get rides throughout the week. The ones who don’t have a place in a professional arena won’t. Isn’t that right anyway?
We do need this race, but what they need to decide is whether we should be letting horses of such mixed ability into it. Perhaps what they need to do is as they’ve done with the national, have requirements of horses having to run a certain amount of times and over long trips prior to the race.
I don’t have a problem with the race at all, not sure I agree with the punishment of jockeys either, the stewards have been very harsh in my book.
Surely it belongs in a different type of meeting , along with that cross country thing , a few hunter chases over long distance , maybe an arab race and a donkey derby , a jamboree , but not at the pinnacle of nh racing .
Yes they’ve padded out the meeting to extract more profit , but another case of less is more here , quality over quantity every time .
Maybe a mixture of your suggestion Nass and enforcing some kind of experience restrictions on the jockeys.
I don’t see why we need inexperienced jockeys riding. The classier acts always fight out the finish as it is.
Also one away from Cheltenham - 7.45 Wolverhampton Pass The Vino 6/1 - 3 runs in Ireland, now been gelded and moved to Paul D'Arcy who does very well with these types.
