Sportsbook Reviews » Horse Racing

Upper class twit says horse racing needs its own Bernie Ecclestone

Peter Amsel — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:50:41 +0000

A lot of English people tend to get their back up when lectured by a toff, but the Earl of March and Kinrara, who is also the eventual 11th Duke of Richmond (and presumably the Grand Eminosity of FanFuckingTasticShire) may be on to something when he points out that horse racing is in much the same shape as F1 racing was before Bernie Ecclestone took over and bent it to his will. So the question is, who is the outsider that will grab horse racing’s reins and whip this nag into shape? Read more.

Punters choice: And now the end is near…

Tim Richards — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:00:55 +0000

Rien ne va plus

Well here it is. The end. The end of days. I suspect you have all become rich and are now living glamorous and extravagant lifestyles thanks to my supreme tipping knowledge. Unfortunately, I got caught sleeping with Calvin’s sister and the penalty is death. This will be my last column before I stand in front of a post and face down the ten guns belonging to Calvin’s private army. There is a chance I might be offered a blindfold, so it might not be that bad.

I’ve had a good few weeks culminating in almost playing a round of golf with Ian Poulter. I say almost, when in fact I mean he was at the same golf club as I was. But we almost became best friends. Well, I say almost – we would have if we had talked to each other. Or if he had even looked at me. But these non-dom golfers can be so aloof. Anyway, I backed the winner of The Open. Yep, I did! At 490 on Betfair, I feel somewhat special inside. As if I alone know what is going to happen in the world every week. I am the predictor.

A good couple of weeks, like I said, had a few minor horse racing winners – but I also got very drunk and smoked loads of cigarettes in the process. Something I feel should be more appreciated by us humans. When you think about it, it’s only us and beagles that can smoke plus maybe the occasional chimp. I think we should be more grateful for these privileges. I’ll talk about drugs in the afterlife.

If you have a look at some of the winners we’ve had over the months: some decent prices at Cheltenham, Royal Ascot, the Champions League, the World Cup and numerous golf tournaments it has really helped buck the current economic trends. Remember Peddlars Cross at 12/1 and Rite of Passage at 25s? Ah they just don’t tip like that anymore. The top goalscorer winner double on Villa and Spain wasn’t as great as it should have been based on the dead-heat – but a winner is a winner.

So fair readers, I offer you my heartfelt goodbyes based on the reasoning that you will all feel so lonely from now on. But do not despair, Calvin will have a harem of replacement pen smiths queuing up to jump in my grave (or my ashes plot). I’m sure they won’t be able to tip like me, but then again I am legend (or was that Will Smith?).

I was thinking of running you through my diary over the last two weeks, but it really has been so alcohol fuelled that I can’t remember a thing about it. I do remember shooting a 71 around the Duke’s Course at Woburn Abbey though. At least I think it was a 71, but annoyingly nobody was keeping score – we will never know.

Right I’m off to drink, bet, dribble and generally live a normal existence. Enjoy the rest of your days and remember the ante-post tips below could change your life. They might not, but they could…

Ante-post portfolio:

Football
Darren Bent – Premier League top goalscorer 18/1
Gabby Agbonlahor – Premier League top goalscorer 66/1
Dirk Kuyt – Premier League top goalscorer 80/1
Middlesbrough – The Championship 9/1
Liverpool – the FA Cup 11/1

Horse Racing
Kieron Fallon – Jockey Championship 7/2
Strawberrydaiquiri – Nassau Stakes 10/1
Palace Moon – Stewards Cup 9/1
Premio Loco – Sussex Stakes 8/1

John Messara slams disinterested bookmakers

Dan Taylor — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:42:38 +0000

Arrowfield chairman John Messara, one of the most influential voices in Australian racing, has launched a scathing broadside against the global betting industry. Thing is, who’s listening? Read more.

Cheltenham ditches death fence

Ed Drake — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:55:21 +0000

When it comes to moving with the times horseracing isn’t exactly the first sport that springs to mind, but Cheltenham deserves great credit for deciding to get rid of its death fence.

The course should always be a tough test for the best racehorses but the offending obstacle, which stands at the foot of the hill on the Old Course, which is when the race begins to come to life, claimed the lives of numerous horses including those who jumped it perfectly.

Nobody likes to see carnage on the course and the Festival promises to be even more exciting for the fact that they plan to move the fence to a less dangerous but strategically intriguing place on the final straight. Read more.

In-running advantage a good reason to attend racetracks?

Peter Amsel — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:49:47 +0000

There’s a scene in the Martin Scorsese-produced 1990 movie The Grifters in which a conman played by the late great J.T. Walsh is explaining to a potential mark how he plans to game the overseas stock market by intercepting its live feed a few seconds before the rest of North American traders see the numbers. Now a UK sportswriter is claiming you can game the in-running betting on horse races by attending the track in person. Is he on to something, or is this just a stealth campaign by cash-strapped racetracks to boost paid attendance? Read more.

Saratoga Track opens for 142nd season

John Blaise — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:00:55 +0000

Horse racing bettors and enthusiasts have been waiting for this day all summer, finally, the Saratoga Race Track opens its doors for its 142nd season of racing. Millions of people are expected to flood the race track in the next two months, and roughly 25,000 people are expected to attend opening day. Read more.

Workforce seeking crown at King George

John Blaise — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:22:30 +0000

Six rivals stand in the way of Workforce becoming the first three year old since Alamshar in 2003, to win the Betfair sponsored King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. Expectations are high for Workforce who dominated at Epsom. Read more.

Horse racing that actually makes money? Go on…

Steven Stradbrooke — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:38:23 +0000

We almost don’t know how to frame this story, because it simply doesn’t jibe with every single other article we write on the dying sport of horse racing, but here goes nothing… Okay, there’s this horse racing organization, see, and it’s making money. In fact, it made more money this year than it did last year. No, we don’t understand it either, except that it’s in Hong Kong, and perhaps merely being in the vicinity of Macau is enough to make you profitable. Read more.

Spaniel with a pheasant in its mouth stolen…

Eric Bianchi — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:20:56 +0000

…along with a dark wooden clock with gold sides and a gold mechanism, two silver trophies, a silver fisherman ornament and a cigarette case, and a bronze hare.

Oh and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The items were stolen from an address in Gloucestershire early this morning, and it’s thought they could be worth as much as £150,000 altogether. They were hoping to persuade sleuth dog Pickles out of retirement, but alas he passed many a moon ago. Just give Goldmember a tinkle he can sniff out gold better than any dog! Read more.

BHA takes ball away with 2011 fixture list delay

Ed Drake — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:29:25 +0000

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has called the bookmakers’ bluff by refusing to announce the fixture list for the 2011 season. In what is racing’s equivalent of taking their ball away, the BHA have decided to react to the continued reluctance of bookmakers and betting exchanges to increase their donations to the horseracing levy, or in the the case of William Hill and Ladbrokes, to actually pay anything into the horseracing levy. Is this the first death knell of UK horseracing? Read more.

Three states, same story: the sorry state of horse racing

Peter Amsel — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 07:07:26 +0000

Three different stories, from three different American states, all singing the same sad song. As this article on the situation in Connecticut notes, when inflation is taken into account, horse racing takes in one-fifth of the money it handled in 1974. In Pennsylvania, the figure has dropped 25% in just the last four years. Even in fabled Virginia, the value of thoroughbred horses has dropped by a third in just the last decade. Seriously, horse racing is in deep (horse) shit.

Betfair kick up a stink at levy plans

Eric Bianchi — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:00:32 +0000

Betfair has thrown a right tantrum, and I’m not surprised, upon hearing new plans to raise capital by the British Horse Race Levy Board. The board has launched a consultation into whether or not users of betting exchanges, which Betfair is one of, should be made to make contributions to the levy. Users of these betting exchanges are essentially acting as bookmakers, according to the board, and may have to pay in line with this. As a user of a betting exchange, wouldn’t it be nice for the board to also provide us all with a real betting shop in which to conduct business, instead of having to do it all online? That would encourage interest in the sport…Oh! You were trying to save money, not lose it. Read more.