Navajo Indy ensured it was a profitable day on Saturday. Sam Brown found things happening too quickly on the fast ground and Kinondo Kwetu just missed the place in fifth. On Sunday the focus switches to Fairyhouse in Ireland for their Hatton’s Grace and Royal Bond meeting. Last year, we managed to find Street Value at 25s in the Porterstown, hopefully we can land another biggie today. 12.00 – Mares’ Handicap Chase (140 = 11st 12lb) The ground was officially described as yielding on Saturday but the times suggested that the chase course was a shade quicker than the hurdles course. Conditions m ..read more

We have already backed Churchstonewarrior for the Troytown, read why here. I also have one for the Greatwood tomorrow. Each way singles and an e/w double advised. 3.30 Cheltenham – Greatwood Handicap Hurdle (Premier) All the talk in the lead up to this race has been about Dysart Enos. I have heard some pundits say she is the best handicapped horse in training, which might well be true, but as regular readers of the blog will know, I am not a fan of backing horses on their handicap debuts. This mare has had just three starts over hurdles and they came in novice hurdles. In those races, probabl ..read more

This Sunday at Navan we have one of the first major staying handicap chases of the season. The Troytown Chase is a race that Gordon Elliott likes to target and he has won it six times since 2014. Last year he had four of the first five finishers, including the 20/1 winner, Coko Beach. This year, Elliott is responsible for twelve of the remaining 25 entries and all the talk has been about American Mike, who has been put in as the 5/1 ante-post favourite. A Grade 2 novice chase winner over C&D on heavy in February, his best form is on testing ground and he won’t be getting those conditions ..read more

The race that stops a nation and also the race I can never seem to get right. I think I have managed one place in the last five years but God loves a trier, as the saying goes, se we’ll do just that and try again. The one that will have to carry the double penalty of the Stevos’ shilling this year is the former Andrew Balding inmate, Saint George. Now trained Down Under by Ciaron Maher, this 4yo grey son of Roaring Lion was good enough to place second in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase last year when trained by Balding. He found just Gregory too good by 0.5l and that horse hasn’t been beaten far in ..read more

After a torrid couple of weeks on the flat, I am glad to have some jumping action to get stuck into this weekend. First of all, Famed Again was far too keen early on at the Curragh on Tuesday. My hope was that she might settle better in the hood but she didn’t and there’s also a chance that the run may have come to soon after her big run at Naas. I still think she’ll win plenty of races. The one I am interested in at Cheltenham on Friday goes in the amateur riders’ handicap at 3.35. I am hoping that Wick Green, trained by Ben Pauling, has been aimed this race. The 11yo son of Sagamix was a fi ..read more

It was a bad day for us on Saturday at Ascot. Sweet William landed the e/w NB place money but apart from that, it was a day to forget. It is rare that I tip up horses in midweek on this blog but I am making an exception this week. There is a Group 3 race for 2yo fillies at the Curragh tomorrow and a couple look a touch overpriced to my eye. First of all, Tamam Desert looks big at 22/1. After shaping with huge potential on her debut at Leopardstown, she confirmed that promise by winning at the Galway Festival. She still looked pretty green that day but she ran on well to just get up in that 7f ..read more

At the time of writing, it looks like soft ground is a certainty for Champions Day on Saturday. We have already backed Moss Tucker e/w at 66/1 for the Sprint, you can read why here. Obviously, he’ll be one of the selections for our soft ground e/w lucky 15, find out who else is getting the nod below. 2.35 – Champions Fillies And Mares Stakes The one that interests me at a big price here is the exceptionally well bred filly Doha. Trained by Ralph Beckett, whose horses are in red hot form, this 4yo daughter of Sea The Stars is out of Treve, a two time Arc winner that handled soft ground. She ha ..read more

Last weekend, most of my selections got stuck in the mud at Newmarket and York. Conditions look like being equally as gruelling at Ascot for Champions Day and if it comes up soft or heavy, Moss Tucker can make his presence felt in the Sprint. We have done well in this race in the past. Donjuan Triumphant won for us at 33s, Brando was beaten a nose at 80s and we also had Run To Freedom in 2022 when he finished second at 150/1. Moss Tucker is currently chalked up at 66/1 but he is capable of making a mockery of those odds if he gets his favoured underhoof conditions. It looks like this son of E ..read more

Flying Finn was our only winner on Saturday but she was a nice price at 20/1. Santa Savana really should have placed but got hampered at an inopportune moment. However, it was downhill after that. Unfortunately, Paddy The Squire ended up drawn on the wrong side. It would have been interesting to see how Navagio fared from stall 13, I’d imagine connections regret the decision to go to Haydock. I like one at the Curragh tomorrow at decent odds, you can see who I fancy below. 4.25 – Irish Cesarewitch Handicap (Premier) With rain forecast tomorrow, the ground could be pretty testing by the time o ..read more

Thank god for good old Commanche Falls. To be fair, Seven Questions ran a cracking race, as did Star Anthem. However, Li Ban wasn’t held up as I hoped and unsurprisingly faded late. It was a tough weekend of punting but at least we managed to avoid the dreaded blank with the NAP. This weekend there is a quality Saturday card at Newmarket. The race I have my eye on for a little ante-post flutter is the Cambridgeshire Handicap and in the hope that the rain forecast for later this week materialises, I am throwing a few quid e/w at a 100/1 poke. Back in March, Navagio had his first start for Jame ..read more