18 Horses to Keep an Eye Out for During April's UK Horse Racing
April is the month when the turf Flat season starts to hit full stride and for many punters the fixture that lights the blue touch paper is the Craven meeting at Newmarket in the middle of the month. Before sampling the breezy delights of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course, however, there’s the small matter of the ever-expanding Grand National meeting at Aintree that begins with a cracking card on April 6. In recent years Aintree’s prestigious three-day meeting has begun to rival Cheltenham’s somewhat bloated four-day fixture for thrills and spills, and there’s little doubt that the highlight of the Merseyside racing calendar offers three days of top-class racing culminating in the running of the world’s most famous race on the final day. As racecourses go, Cheltenham and Aintree are chalk and cheese: where the former is twisty and undulating with a punishing uphill finish, the latter is long and flat and essentially sharp in nature, and given the two contrasting course configurations it takes a good horse to win a race at the Cheltenham Festival and then do the same at Aintree. Exactly a year ago at Aintree that’s exactly what Fota Island managed to do when adding the John Smith’s Red Rum Handicap Chase to the Grand Annual Chase that he had won in such superb fashion at Cheltenham just over two and a half week’s previously. Not surprisingly there will be plenty of horses from this year’s Grand Annual that will be seeking compensation on Merseyside including Andreas, an early casualty in the Grand Annual when a well backed favourite and Green Tango, who made strong late headway in the same race despite seeming unsuited to Cheltenham. Aintree’s flatter track should suit. In the Betfair Bowl Chase on the opening day, Cheltenham also-rans boast a healthy record and Gold Cup failures Monkerhostin and Beef Or Salmon could well be among those bidding to banish the blues of a poor Festival run, while the versatile Impek, a runner-up in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, may compete and is already a winner over slightly shorter on this sharp course earlier in the season. In the big juvenile event, the John Smith’s Anniversary 4-Y-O Hurdle, several key players from Cheltenham’s Triumph Hurdle seem likely to figure including Fair Along, the Triumph Hurdle runner-up, who has already won a race over course and distance, along with Afsoun, who was under the weather in the Triumph, and rates a strong fancy. On the second day - April 7 - the big race is the John Smith’s Melling Chase, and since its inception in 1989 this race’s roll-call of winners has featured the top chasers in training, who have successfully stepped up in trip after excelling at their specialist distance of two miles. Remittance Man, Viking Flagship, Katabatic, Martha’s Son and Moscow Flyer are just a handful of past two-mile champions who have added this valuable prize after being crowned two-mile champions with a victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Newmill, this year’s shock Queen Mother hero, won’t be running at Aintree but Kauto Star and Dempsey may line-up for this prize. The former, who was a warm favourite for the Queen Mother, fell early in that race bringing down the well supported Dempsey. If they have recovered from their tumbles, they should go close, while Irish raider and course winner Fota Island will be a likely contender too. The unique Grand National fences come into play for the John Smith’s and Spar Topham Chase on the second day, and sound-jumping and well-seasoned campaigners do well in this hurly-burly contest, while in the John Smith’s Mildmay Chase it pays to look for a fresh horse that hasn’t endured the rigours of running in Cheltenham’s Royal & SunAlliance Chase, a race that tends to spoil their chances at Aintree. Grand National day features the big race itself that stands alone as the major betting race of the year. The 2006 contest is dominated by Clan Royal, a runner-up in 2004 and last year’s easy winner, Hedgehunter. Since the course was modernised in the early nineties and the fences made easier and the landing sides raised, the classy and better horses have come to fore and dominated the event. Indeed, the National now has the look of just another long-distance steeplechase but one with plenty of history attached. All eyes will be upon the fillies in the Shadwell Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes on the second day of Newmarket’s Craven meeting on April 19, but sadly in recent years this race has supplied few serious pointers towards the 1,000 Guineas, while further Classic clues may be on offer in the Craven Stakes for colts on April 20, the meeting’s final day. In 2004 the Barry Hills-trained Haafhd became the first colt since Tirol in 1990 to complete the Craven-2,000 Guineas double. The search for Classic pointers switches to Newbury on April 22 when the Lane End Greenham Stakes takes place over 7f. In recent seasons Turtle Island, Celtic Swing and Victory Note have all landed Classics after scoring here and backers should pay this race plenty of respect in the colts’ Classic reckoning. The Spring Cup Handicap at Newbury on April 22 is another race worth a second glance. Horses that have run well in the William Hill Lincoln during the previous month have an excellent record here, and any that come from Redcar following a prominent showing in the first big Flat handicap will surely warrant close consideration. At Ayr on the same day there’s the Scottish Grand National to whet the appetite. One thing’s for sure and that’s any horse which has run in the Aintree Grand National must be avoided as such runners have an appalling record in the Scottish equivalent. In 2004 Northern-trained Ryalux recorded a popular success and if the ground turns soft at the West of Scotland track plenty of folks will be rooting for another northern runner in Ossmoses, a strapping grey and stout stayer who all but landed the Midlands National over a similar marathon trip at Uttoxeter last month. Twelve months ago trainer Paul Nicholls failed by a whisker to win this race with Cornish Rebel and the same trainer’s lightly-raced Ladalko has been kept fresh for this valuable prize. The Nicholls yard may also run Desert Quest, the County Hurdle winner, in the Scottish Champion Hurdle while Monet’s Garden, a runner-up in the Arkle Trophy Chase, bids to land a three-mile novices’ event at Ayr. The curtain comes down on April’s busy and varied month with the mixed jumps and Flat card at Sandown on April 29. The Betfred Gold Cup is the jump season’s final big handicap and fancied runners from the Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson stables should be noted. The latter almost landed this prize plus a valuable bonus a year ago with Juveigneur and he could well become a serious candidate again. Paul Nicholls should also be the trainer to watch in the Betfred Celebration Chase, with either Kauto Star or Andreas, two of the stable’s crack team of two-mile chasers, likely to land the honours. On the Flat the Betfred.com Mile Stakes is the highlight, and horses that ran well in Newmarket’s Earl of Sefton Stakes earlier in the month hold a good record in this Group Two contest. Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips Malcolm Heyhoe is GG.com's resident tipster contributing a daily "Best Bets" column and a weekly feature called "The Weekend File". He is also a tipster for the Racing Post Weekender, contributor to The Guardian and has written on racing for Sporting Life, Racing Post, Irish Examiner and The Independent newspaper. |
Other Betting System Articles
Learn Pai Gow Poker Pai Gow Poker can be intimidating to the rank novice but it is relatively simple to play once you understand the basic rules of the game. This article takes a look at some of those rules and will help your understanding of this variation of poker.Pai Gow can be an extremely slow game at times and may frustrate those used to a fast and fra ...Make Money Betting on Horses Are you in love with gambling on horse races? Do you believe that there is money to be made by betting on horses? Make money betting on horses today and begin treating yourself to better and more expensive belongings.Horse racing is a very popular gamblers sport and it seems that the gambling is all a chance, a guess, and some luck. Th ...Texas Holdem Tournament Strategy - Poker Tournament Fundamentals This is the second in the Texas Holdem Strategy Series, focusing on no limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament play and associated strategies. In the first installment, we examined a real-world tournament scenario and how to handle a particular class of difficult players – the "maniacs", aggressive, wild players that are commonly encountered in to ...More Places to Play Poker Games There are many people across the world that want to be able to play poker games. However, there are relatively few people that live within a easily commutable distance from these casinos. With the advancement of technology a lot of things were able to evolve, and the casino industry was one of these things. Now, thanks to the power of the intern ...Success Tips from the Master What are the steps to making your casino one of the most successful? What do the experts say about entertainment, buying power… etc? Here in this report the CEO of Ceasar’s Entertainment gives his biggest tips on how his casino became one of the most successful in the world using the FIVE FORCES MODEL.The first aspect of the Five Forces ...Gambling Equipment 101 The excitement and popularity of the gambling games entices few players to own their own gaming equipments. Mini blackjack tables and poker tables are quite famous among the buyers.The most common and perhaps inexpensive of the gambling equipments is the dice. Dice games are so ancient that their inventor is unknown by the historians. How ...Baccarat – The Royal Game & Great Odds Baccarat, the royal game, was originally played only by the European aristocracy from the 15th century onwards.Still today, there is an air of exclusivity about it and today more and more people are discovering at as online gaming becomes more popular.The players often wear black tie dress, the playing area is set apart from the re ...Effective Casino Marketing Makes All The Difference The gaming industry can really bring prosperity to a community. Creative and consistant casino marketing have really improved the commercial viability and way of life of the American Indian Reservation that I live in. My reservation is one of the oldest reservations that was established in the state, and it also used to be the poorest. Living co ...Bet Large and Win Small in Craps If you decide to use this system you need to have a sizeable bankroll and incredible discipline to walk away when you realise a small win. For the purposes of this article and example buy in of $2,000 is used.The Horn Bet numbers are not always considered the “winning way to play” and the horn bet itself carries a house edge of over 12%. ...Asian Gambling Basics Gambling became popular in China in the last phase of the imperial dynasty i.e. from 1644 to 1912. Canton, Macao, Shanghai and Hong Kong became the famous for their liquor and gambling. These areas inhabited foreigners, usually Americans, who were known to be rough. Moreover, majority of these inhabitants were males. Chinese natives indulged in ...Free Poker Games Free poker games are targeted at those players who want to master a few tricks of the trade. Though free poker games do not offer any extra benefit from the real poker game, the game is an excellent way to improve and master the poker.The advantage of free poker games is that the dealer never takes a break, and if seats are available, the ...Gambling in USA If there’s one country which could give the fullest life to gambling it has to be the United States of America. They say gambling flourishes there. The industry has crossed the figure table and has reached among the top spots. The multifold growth of gambling is probably because of the fun loving attitude of the people and a decent amount of inc ...Internet Gambling Bill In the House of Representatives, there is a bill (H.R. 4777) that was introduced by Representative Bob Goodlatte, of Virginia. The bill, entitled “Internet Gambling Prohibition Act”, was introduced to the House of Representatives on February 16, 2006 and was sent to the Committee on the Judiciary on the same day. The bill is one that, if pas ...Horse Betting Racing System that Uses Form Only to Quickly Pick Out Winners IntroductionThe most basic information supplied at any horseracing meeting in the world will be all the horse’s form. Form is simply the result of the 3 to 4 races the horse ran.For Example: 0X624 JoyjoyThe horse Joyjoy above came fourth at its last race, second at its second last race, sixth at its third last race, had a br ...How To Increase Your Horse Racing Wagering Cash Flow If You have a horse racing system that produces at least 33% Wins Or better than 66% in-the-money finishes, then You can Increase Your Horse Racing Wagering Cash Flow©. And You can realize this by simply betting 4% of Your total bank (Multiply Your Total Bank by 0.04.) on each race that was successfully processed by an effective handicapping pr ...A Horse Racing Certainty - Beware They Don't All Win I have been gambling since around the age of sixteen. I see it as a bit of a hobby and really enjoy playing poker and bragg. I go to the casino as often as I can and also love to go to the horse racing and to the greyhounds. This article is a story about when I lost a lot of money on a horse which was supposed to be a racing certainty.As ...Marked Cards As many master the art of cheating in card games, it has become a common affair in every card game. It is a matter of wonder that there are guides that teach cheating. Many experienced players of cards know by themselves the ways of cheating. They just need to get updated about the changes in trends and also the newer modes of cheating in card g ...Top Gambling Strategies For Black Jack, Roulette, Craps And Texas Hold Em If you are like most gamblers, you play many different casino games. Sure, you probably have your favorite, but you most likely sample other games. Knowing how to play a casino game is only the first step in the winning equation. To have a shot at hitting it big or winning over time, you need to know some tricks to the game. In this article, you ...Poker Chips: The Color Of Money They may not look like one, but they certainly represent money. They may seem like good old plastic chips designed to be used as toys for children, but they really worth millions.That is what poker chips are all about. They may appear synthetic or even look dazzling with the different colors, but the main idea of the item is that they are ...Bookmaking Basics The role of a ‘bookie’, the common name of the person involved in bookmaking, is quite important in the world of gambling. The bookie is responsible for keeping track of all the bets in the game.The bookie can take bets on any professional events – election, races, college sports. Bookmaking has been prohibited been prohibited in the pas ...A Look At Roulette Gambling For the novice gambler, roulette gambling seems like a very difficult task to learn. It is true that learning the strategies used by pros can take years of experience to master, but you can find many sources online that outline the basics of roulette gambling. Just keep in mind that it takes a while to become a master gambler and to pace yoursel ...Keys For Your Selection of Betting Sites Ever since online betting sites have become hot favorites of the millions of luck seekers of the internet world, the selection of reliable and trustworthy sites is becoming a major issue in the field of on line betting. On the spot conventional betting provides the bettors a fairly good knowledge of the betting facilitators and the advantage of ...Join an Internet Poker Room Now and Explore the Rewards Do you know all the fun and excitement that awaits you in an Internet poker room? Many people are unaware of the challenging and stimulating experience that comes with Internet poker. If you enter an Internet poker room, be prepared to never look back. Successful players can win thousands upon thousands of dollars each month from good Interne ...Popular Atlantic City Casinos Atlantic City, the East Coast counterpart of Las Vegas, is the second most popular gambling destination. The majority of its casinos are located along the Boardwalk and in the Marina District. Some of the more popular casinos in Atlantic City include Bally’s Atlantic City, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Caesar’s Atlantic City, the Trump Taj Majal Casin ...
|
