Racing

The 2011 Cheltenham Festival

Posted by admin on Nov 10, 2010 in Racing | 0 comments

There’s no sound to compare to the thunder of hooves tearing up the turf past the main stand at Cheltenham during festival week. The 2011 Cheltenham festival marks the centenary of the National Hunt and there are sure to be some excited punters clutching their betting slips as their horse charges up the final furlong in one of the big races such as the Gold Cup or the Queen Mother Champion chase.

The 26 races that make up the week-long racing festival pits some of the best British and Irish horses head to head with each other – but be wary of backing the favourites. You can visit www.cheltenhambetting.org for racing tips to get down during the top attraction in the horse racing calendar.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is held on the Friday, is probably the best known race in the programme and second only to the Grand National in terms of popularity.

In the last ten years the Gold Cup has been won by the favourite on five occasions. Kauto Star to the honours in 2007 at 5/4 and again in 2009 at 7/4, Kicking King was the 4/1 favourite winner in 2005 while Best Mate, who completed a stunning hat-trick of victories, was 13/8 in 2003 and 8/11 in 2004. Ever popular Desert Orchid was the 5/2 favourite winner back in 1989 while last year’s winner, Imperial Commander, came in a 7/1, the longest odds since Best Mate’s 7/1 first win in 2002. The bookies were left stunned in 1990 when rank outsider Norton’s Coin romped home at 100/1, but long-shot winners are rare.

Mr Mulligan took the race at 20/1 in 1997 and the following year Cool Dawn’s jockey was punching the air in delight as he galloped past the post at 25/1.
The Gold Cup is run over three and a quarter miles at high speed and 15 of the 16 last winning horses were aged between 7 and 9 while 10 of the last 12 winners had been placed at the festival before.

Another key point to look for in backing a winner at the Gold Cup is that 20 of the last 22 winners finished in the running (first four) in their previous race, so it is worth studying the form.

Murphy’s Law of Horse Racing

Posted by admin on Nov 8, 2009 in Gambling, Racing | 1 comment

We have all heard this law over the years, “if anything can go wrong it will go wrong.” It was a US Air Force Captain Ed Murphy who coined that statement and some feel he could have been referring to a horse race. You can spend a lot of time studying the jockeys, the form and comparing weights before you pick your choice of horse. You place your bet and sit back waiting for the race and just when you think you have it made, Murhpy’s Law shows us.
Many things can go wrong during a horse race. Horses are creatures of temperment and some have trouble just getting into the starting position. The jockeys have their hands full keeping their ride in place waiting for the bell. There have been horses that just refuse to race which creates many last minute bets if he decides to co-operate.
But it is not just the horse that can have problems as jockeys too can have bad days. A horse can be disqualified for something that the jockey did like when the famous Willie Shoemaker showed in 1957. He thought a track side post was the finishing post and as he stood in his stirrups as a sign of being the winner, he was passed by Iron Liege who was the real winner.