Twice in ten days, I have found myself in London town, and again a young person has drunk a Fernet Branca in my presence. It only happened because I thought a chum’s son needed some stiffening, in order to reject a ghastly offer to appear in STD Island or somesuch. Having heard of the drink’s…
SPORT
Ascot Saturday 19th October
Those of you looking for winners today will do well to read today’s beautifully reasoned advice from The Tissue. Personally I have a shocking record when it comes to figuring out winners when the ground is soft at Ascot. I think I get obsessed by the form lines that, with quality horses, tend to be…
Champions Swimming Day
It’s none of my business, but am I wrong in thinking that if five of the eight Champions Day meeting have been run on ground described as Soft (or worse), that it might be the wrong time to have it? Answers on a postcard please, secure in the knowledge that criticism of this initiative from…
Passing the Buck…
Well the suit may be a little threadbare, and the shoes may need some heeling, but the spirit remains undaunted and with the return of the National Hunt season, it’s time to get busy on recouping some of The Tissue’s recent losses. For some, the first day at Cheltenham heralds the beginning of the season….
Saturday Racing 12th Oct
G’Morning All As I hunker down in the Cyclone-proof sub-terranean HQ of Raceweb, you will be delighted to hear that The Pharoah of Galway is also safe in his Japanese hotel room and is currently predicting a score of 0-0 for the Scotland Japan game and that both Mercedes and Red Bull will start on…
Bonjour mes petites
I have returned from abroad; browner, poorer and wiser. I swerved left instead of right at Nice airport, thus avoiding the trap of a Longchamps visit with distinguished friends. This would have dramatically increased two of the above trio of “things you get in France” and given the going in Paris, I think we all…
Ascot and Newmarket Saturday 5th October
ASCOT 14:00 ARECIBO 1pt e/w INTENSE ROMANCE 1pt e/w Dakota Gold has had a fantastic season and I am reluctant to oppose him but I just think he is better at 6f and that his price is too short for a 5f race. The key to my thinking is the Be Friendly Handicap at Haydock…
Southwell Friday 4th
Catapult in the last (given at 10-1) pulled things out of the bag at Chelmsford. Tonight I am again looking for some decently priced bets on the AW but this time at Southwell. I have high hopes that Karl Burke might do very well with his runners tonight. 17:25 NEWSTEAD ABBEY 1pt e/w CHAMPAGNE MONDAYS…
Ascot in soft going
I had a terrible first few days at Royal Ascot. Having researched all the races well in advance I developed a huge reserve of confidence about the wisdom of my selections. Then the rain came and I found myself reluctant to review matters based on the change in conditions – very much the wrong decision….
The Only Way Is Essex
CHELMSFORD 18:30 CALEDONIAN CRUSADE 1pt e/w Not much form to go on in this race but I am following Gleneagles progeny and the Simcock / Spencer combination does extremely well at this track. I got 12-1 last night but he will be shorter come race time. CHELMSFORD 19:30 FELIX THE POET 1pt e/w A front…
Longshots at The Curragh
So we now know that Mum’s Tipple finished the Middle Park Stakes lame in his off fore so his run can safely be struck out. With Siskin being withdrawn after an unfortunate incident in the stalls we didn’t get the big battle between the three market principals and it could be argued that Earthlight had…
Saturday 28th
So King Of Comedy proved himself to be a complete clown. After having to be walked to the start, he dwelt at the off and then ran with his head high. Frankly, it was testament to his athletic ability that he came second. I would have thought that the best way to sort out his…
Friday September 27th
Yesterday the five selections produced a winner, three seconds and a fourth. So very nearly a good day and I was particularly peeved that Paul Mulrennan, on Gale Force Maya, appeared to be caught unaware by Oisin Murphy sneaking up the rails riding Chil Chil – but it was another reminder as to why Murphy…
Newmarket 26th September
A frustrating day yesterday with a 14-1 second and two fourths at 33-1 and 7-1. But that is what happens when you are looking for longer odds. The quality of racing today is better and the form lines more logical. The ever softening ground, however, works in the other direction as many of today’s runners…
Sept 25th
One of my betting systems this year has been to back all progeny of the first-year sire Gleneagles. It has worked very well with a strike rate of over 20% on the turf in the UK and a healthy profit to a level stake. There have also been some tasty e/ws such as Royal Dornach…
Tuesday 24th September
I can’t find anything that is likely to emulate our long price winner from Sunday but I think these three would make a neat e/w patent. Chelmsford 19:30 Alemaralyoum 1pt e/w I have been tracking this horse for a while and was about to give up when he landed e/w money at 33/1 finishing second…
Hamilton Sunday 21st
Some very moderate racing in the UK today but I have three fancies for Hamilton. HAMILTON 14:00 TWENTYSIXTHSTREET 1pt e/w I have backed this longshot at 25/1 this morning and I think anything better than 10-1 is a decent each-way bet. Andrew Hughes has had a lot of success schlepping all the way from Kells…
Saturday’s Racing
A good start to the day by buying the First Half French Score at 11+. Even better, because it is on a Sporting Index promo offer, so it is their money! The NZ game is deeply engaging, more so as I have rashly backed the SA Hotshots (Willie Le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole…
Fancies for Saturday 21st
AYR 14:40 SHOW STEALER 1pt e/w As a hold-up horse she will need some luck in running but, at her best, Rae Guest’s mare is good value. She has the ability, is in good form (3rd in the Portland) and, unlike many of these, will enjoy the ground. AYR 15:15 GRACEFUL MAGIC 1pt e/w AL…
Leopardstown 14th September
I will leave The Tissue to provide some guidance at Doncaster and focus on some very exciting looking races over at LEOPARDSTOWN.
St Leger Day
As many of you racing historians will know, it was not uncommon in days gone by for a horse to run in several races over the length of a meeting, and indeed that some races might have heats or be run as “best of three”. Thus, today of all days, one should bear in mind…
Donny: Day something
A light lunch with 16 chums at Le Columbier in Chelsea, a light tea somewhere else, dinner at Chelsea Arts Club. breakfast at Le Colbert…. truly an epic epicurean trail around central London, with barely a pause for breath. Thankfully, The Pharaoh of Galway stepped into the breach caused by my abstinence, absinthe, absence and…
Friday the Thirteenth at Doncaster!
Readers of Raceweb enjoyed a bumper day yesterday with The Tissue picking five out of seven winners at Doncaster. The legend of Longcot started off with a 170-1 treble courtesy of Graceful Magic, Endbihaar and King’s Lynn. There followed the two blots on the copy book in the fourth and fifth. Many of us would share…
Donny Day 2
I was reminded of late, about the dreadful old Saturday magazines that contained vast numbers of advertisements for chest expanders, which would ensure that never again would one have sand kicked in one’s face down on the beach. One would be exhorted to try so-and-so’s unrivalled pools selection model that guaranteed a result every 100…
Donny, Leger and a proper chap
There are few races that don’t have some history attached to them. A fatal accident, a crowd gone awry, a fortune lost, another gained. The St. Leger, not least because of its age, is one such race. Currently, I’m reading Chris McGrath’s Mr Darley’s Arabian: High Life, Low Life, Sporting Life: A History of Racing…
TV Racing and a jolly day at Ascot
I am indeed fortunate that I have been invited to a day’s racing at Ascot on Saturday and I am much looking forward to some exciting racing, both there and on TV. It is a small window of R&R after a hectic week, which has seen the opening of The Lost Boy, a great new…
Haydock and Salisbury
HAYDOCK 14:50 GRAND BAZAAR 2pts win CALEDONIAN CRUSADE 1pt e/w There is nothing particularly rare about a John Gosden trained horse, ridden by Frankie Dettori being favourite for a big race. Grand Bazaar meets this criteria, is beautifully bred and has a Derby entry – so all stacks up that he is the likely winner….
Tuesday September 3rd
Today’s selections: 14:45 Goodwood LADY LYNETTA 2pts win The entries in the two-year old races at Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire meeting are a good guide to the view of trainers on their young charges. Richard Hughes is doing well with two-year olds this year and over the last ten weeks has a strike-rate of 14.29% and is…
Saturday’s Racing Tips
Well, Friday wasn’t a train crash by any means. A 10-1 Irish Cambridgeshire winner in JASSAAR. My first choice CURRENT OPTION was 2nd. Two other horses I mentioned filled the next two spots – and yes Jessica Harrington’s ONLYHUMAN performed as you would expect a Raceweb tip to behave and came plum last. Still and…
Irish Cambridgeshire
A brief lull in the day and, as I haven’t been called up by The Sealed Knot Society to defend Parliament, my mind has inevitably turned to The Irish Question. Elsewhere, The Pharoah of Galway, (one day I shall reveal how he was given that name by a man whose long-dogs were the talk of…
A view from the track
Exchequer 17:45 Thirsk A bit of a longshot but possibly very good value at his current 33-1. He’s value at 20s and a shortening of the price would provide further encouragement, as this Yorkshire stable likes a gamble and comes up with some brilliant excuses when the Stewards politely enquire about sudden improvements in form….
York, The Ebor, Day 4 and Saturday Racing
1:50 York Sky Bet And Symphony Group Strensall Stakes (Group 3) Cl1 (3yo+) 1m1f ITV 6 runners ZAAKI 2:05 Goodwood Ladbrokes Celebration Mile Stakes (Group 2) Cl1 (3yo+) 1m ITV 6 runners DUKE OF HAZZARD 2:25 York Sky Bet Melrose Handicap (Heritage Handicap) Cl2 (3yo 0-105) 1m6f ITV 12 runners TRENDS 14/14 OR 80-96 13/14…
York Day 3
I had lunch yesterday in Farnham with Peter O’Tool, The Oracle of Galway, who seemed terribly pleased to inform me, thirty seconds before the off, that Mums Tipple could not be beaten. An 11-length victory confirmed his summary pretty well. POT had also bought Magical on the spread, and his York was all light. In…
York Ebor Meeting Day 2
Excruciating pain from watching Frankie in the first, come 5th at 20/1 in a bunch finish, the first five covered by no more than 1¼l and well done the BHA handicapping team. I had the next winner on the shortlist and swerved it; the Voltigeur we didn’t bet, thank the Lord, as I would have…
York Ebor meeting Day 1
One of our brethren contacted me to say he was struggling to [a] send me an email and [b] understand my apparent support for Patrick Deenan’s definition of modern liberalism. I think I have repaired one of them, but I am also aware that I might have strayed from the path of simplicity, (aka tipping,…
Saturday 17th August TV Racing Tips
What Ho A generally quiet week behind me, but with many flurries on the political front. I have launched a petition, which might, inshallah, gain some traction. It simply asks that MPs who cross the floor or who lose their party’s whip because they have been bounders, rotters, cads, crooks, scoundrels or charlatans, face an…
Saturday’s Tips 10th Aug
The Shergar Cup provided me with a great deal of work, having handled the PR for Bluesq.com back in the day. We first dug them out of the disaster that was the first event at Goodwood, when ti was administrated by the great sports agency IMG. Had it been a Golf or Tennis event, they…
Midweek Tips – PMA
A Positive Mental Attitude is what is required as we try to recover from Goodwood, which was by no menas all bad, but actually lleft me physically drained. I spent yesterday with an eye-guy who confirmed that surgery is needed, if I am to avoid picking the wrong numbers off racecards when predicting £250+ winning…
Goodwood Day 5
The entire Raceweb team has returned to the bosom of the Chateau d’If, and while Sidlesham, Bosham. Dell Quay, Lavant and Glorious Goodwood, have many siren calls, the weary traveller is always pleased to sleep in his own bed, bathe in his own marble bath and to have some eggs and bacon once more in…
Goodwood Day 4
1:50: BEYOND REASON was a decent G2 juvenile winner and she patent;y needed the run at Sandown for her seasonal debut. She meets all the trends and 25/1 is way too big, IF she has retained an interest. JUBILOSO has been trickier to place I suspect than Stouty first thought. A C3 AWT at Chelmsford, followed…
Goodwood Day 3
1:50: Historically, you can always dump a few runners in this race by avoiding, fillies, claimers and headgear… much like life .ALMANIA caught my eye at Ascot, but for me I;m going to have a go at THE TRADER, e/w who meets all the trends.. SINJAARI is high on my ratings.The King George V was…
Goodwood Day 2
Sorry folks, Trying to get the monty to you away from my desk is quite tricky, so forgive the lack of explanatory notes. 1:50: MANCINI or LIL ROCKERFELLER
Goodwood Day 1
No time for idle chit chat and fascinating insights into a delicious Courgette Salad, I recently had. (Oh alright if I have the time, I’ll post it up somewhere) 13:50 Unibet Handicap (4yo+, Class 2, 1m 1f 197y, 18 runners) The trends for this race are pretty strong, and I have narrowed it down to…
Goodwood coming,
The ability to catch a small steamer from Windsor Town station to the riverside racecourse, is a charming and must-do start to a pleasant evening at the course. Taking a boat to go racing however, isn’t the only quirk at Windsor, This still time-trapped track, has various idiosyncracies that allow one to make improved predictions…
Lies, damn lies and The Tissue
So near and yet so far. The poor old Tissue, gave one of our travelling bretheren a sensible forecast, but didn’t back it himself; highlighted just one trainer with some 10% of the runners in a field of 30 odd, and who produced a magnificent first and third – but suggested the loser! Overall he…
Saturday’s Tips
Having been to the theatre again last night, back to The Bodleian, to see The Globe’s “Comedy of Errors” touring production, I was wide awake at 11:30 pm on what was still a dry night. I did the form for today, retired and awoke to find course inspections changing everything. Curses! Not only has this…
Scarred and demoralised
Sorry about Saturday. I wish I could say we came close, but we were undone by the heat, horses, tipster, jockeys, distance, weather, lack of lump wood charcoal and a very rickety email system that only appears to work intermittently. In brief, we suggested: FOX CHAIRMAN who won at Newbury at 8/13. I did say…
Racing Tips for Saturday
I am sadly unable to go to Newbury and see Tom Jones post-racing today. I just feel as though TJ’s voice is now better-heard in some New Orleans blues bar, sitting at a table with a beer, Katherine Hepburn and Jools Holland, rather than surrounded by Doris’ Hen Night and some leery lads, in the…
Well Done Henrietta
It is a recognised fact in the QI Book of Who Knew that tipping your horse is the kiss of death. What is less well-known is that tipping your wife’s horse – which then loses – results ultimately in the kiss of death but only after the administration of the exquisitely painful, Death By A…
Moving swiftly on, or not in some cases
Perhaps the least said about yesterday the better. EXCITING DAYS needs further, different ground, retraining, cutting and then sold to Turkey. BARTHOLOMEW J suffered from a race in which pace was at a premium. He started to make a move 4f out, but he wasn’t picking up in what turned out to be a tight-packed…