Horse Talk with Simon Jackson: Top horse-racing tips and the latest news. NATIONAL Hunt racing returns to the fore as Cheltenham host their first race meeting of the season with The Showcase meeting on Friday and Saturday. The Showcase is the first fixture at Cheltenham since The Festival™ in March which was successfully concluded just…
By Simon Jackson. Huntingdon Racecourse has announced that they are offering free entry for online bookers to their Community Family Fun Day race meeting on Sunday March 1. The Cambridgeshire racecourse is offering a maximum of four tickets per booking to the fixture on St David’s Day at the track located on the outskirts of the…
By Simon Jackson. The Paul Nicholls-trained Zarkandar has been put in as co-favourite at 12-1 with the sponsors for the £250,000 Betfred Cesarewitch at Newmarket on October 11. Zarkandar, a half-brother to 2008 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Zarkava, heads the betting alongside Pallasator and Quick Jack for the two and a quarter mile…
By Simon Jackson Jim Culloty won the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times as a jockey and added another as a trainer when he saddled Lord Windermere to win the feature race of the week. Culloty bagged a successive hat-trick of Gold Cups in emphatic style on Best Mate in 2002, 2003 and 2004. But there…
By Simon Jackson The ground conditions continue to quicken at Cheltenham on the eve of the 2014 Festival where the going is currently good to soft on all courses and expected to dry out more. Cheltenham is set to race on the Old Course for the first two days of the meeting on Tuesday and…
By Simon Jackson The British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) has found no evidence that horses trained by Philip Fenton were administered anabolic steroids, clearing the way for Last Instalment to line up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Confirmation that 7-1 shot Last Instalment would line-up in the Gold Cup was delayed when the BHA instigated…
By Simon Jackson Captain Cee Bee has been supplemented for the Stan James Champion Hurdle to leave a maximum field of 12 runners for the feature race on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival. Connections of the JP McManus-owned 13-year-old opted to pay the £20,000 supplementary entry fee following an impressive third place to…
By Simon Jackson Sandown officials are confident that racing will go ahead on Saturday where the feature race of the day offers a £100,000 bonus if the winner can also score at next week’s Cheltenham Festival. The ultra-consistent Regal Encore heads the betting for the showpiece race, the Grade 3 William Hill Imperial Cup Handicap…
By Simon Jackson Jonjo O’Neill has high hopes of continuing a great season when he saddles Taquin Du Seuil in the Grade 1 JLT Novices’ Chase on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival. The former dual champion jumps jockey, whose riding career was possibly highlighted by the victory on Dawn Run in the 1986…
By Simon Jackson Nigel Twiston-Davies believes that The New One’s ability to finish fast could pay dividends in the Stan James Champion Hurdle on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival. The Gloucester trainer referred to his stable star’s “phenomenal turn of foot” as part of an upbeat report on the six-year-old who heads the…
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