angeleyz

well i'm keeping my fingers well and truly crossed that tomorrows racing survives this current onslaught of bad weather and in particular i'm hoping sandowns chase card beats the elements. although there are some really interesting races throughout the day, the 1.15 at the esher track is my main focus of attention. saroque appears to have been installed the favourite for this 2m4f nice handicap chase at around 3/1, at least that is what he currently is. trained by venetia williams, this 7-year-old made a bright start over fences when finishing second to cruising bye over 2m5f at ffos las. it was no real surprise to see him win next time out, when beating glen countess at newbury but i would have to say i didn't think he really improved much in winning that day. based on that performance,...

bit of a weather watch today which is a real shame as there are a few races at catterick today that i was planning on getting involved in. at the moment the ground is soft but very heavy rain is forecast this afternoon, to such an extent that the ground could quickly become very heavy. but as the conditions are currently dry, then here are my thoughts. the 2.10 is a novices handicap chase over 2m and with just 5 runners set to go to post, it's a pretty tight betting market at the moment. two horses really stand out to me here. firstly, fitandproperjob trained by anthony middleton comes here on the back of a easy 10 length win at leicester 10 days ago. that was a race where i layed the runner up who actually ran much better than i anticipated. by my calculations, that was probably a career...

there are often occasions when i see horses that i would like to lay but are just too big in the win market. when this occurs, i have three options. leave the race alone, consider laying more than one runner to reduce my liability or to lay in the place market. the main problem i find with laying in the place market is that often, liquidity is not that great, especially at small meetings in the early part of the week, but it can still be quite profitable. the 3.50 at ayr today is a 2m4f handicap hurdle and knight valiant is currently around 10/1 in the win market. however if you look at the place market on here, you will find that barbera butterworth's 11-year-old is trading at around 2/1 for a place. at first glance he appears to be in reasonable form and is slowly coming down the...

well today was a bit of a let down with final delivery being pulled out, but hopefully a big day in store saturday with some terrific racing at cheltenham. im keeping my fingers crossed that the expected overnight rain does not amount to a great deal, and conditions stay exactly as they are now, with the going forecast to be soft. the first race i am interested in is the 1.50 which is a grade 3 handicap chase over 2m5f. here i have absolutely no hesitation in taking on the favourite double ross, who has been installed generally around 3/1. personally i have already layed at around 7/2 and would be prepared to lay at up to 4/1 though i am hoping to get fully matched at under that price, and i am looking to win £1000 from the lay. trained by nigel twiston-davies, he appears to be ...

there are not many worse things when it comes to betting than watching a horse you had backed heading towards the line in front, only to be collared in the shadow of the post, or laying a horse that for most of the race looked held, only for it to stay on gamely and snatch victory on the line. one thing that is worse is when both things happen in the same race. for many people it can prove too much and i have seen many cases where punters lose their composure and, as in poker, go on tilt. it's easily done, i should know as i have been there myself in my early days of betting. i found that the best thing to do when a result goes against you is to just turn everything off, go and get some fresh air and have a coffee or something. take the dog for a walk maybe. watching the replay of todays...

when i first started laying horses, there were a lot of websites around that would provide information on different approaches to laying. one thing i can remember from one website in particular was their views on laying horses ridden by ap mccoy. at that time their view was that the horse would generally go off much shorter than it really should, simply because he was riding it. i'm not sure if that theory still applies, but i have seen occasions where that is the only explaination i could think of. originally i thought today might be a good example of this. in the 2.20 warwick, ap rides time to think for seamus mullins and when looking at the odds last night, he was put in around 9/4 fav. my initial impression was that i didn't think the horse has really done enough to be that low in...

well what a day i chose to put up 'taking on the gambling yards'. there i was wondering if i was doing the right thing laying compton from stuart williams yard, whilst in the background it seems one of the biggest betting coup's in years has been landed. my own view of this is that whilst some see it bad for the sport, i have to hold my hands up and say fair play to those involved. i should imagine that this has been a well executed plan that i'm sure has been underway for quite sometime. it's interesting that all connections of the horses involved seem to be denying any knowledge of the coup and so far, legendary punter and former trainer barney curley who this appears to revolve around, has declined to comment. as for my own race, well having watched the replay again, i do think that...

it's no secret that the stuart williams yard have landed some right touches over the years and when talking with other layers about gambling stables, i got the impression many of them were always very cautious about laying them as favourites. personally, if i can find enough reasons to lay a horse, i dont really care who trains them. the 3.35 at lingfield sees the stuart williams trained compton installed this evening at around 13/8 favourite. the yard appear in good form at the moment and have a decent strike rate at the track and as compton appeared to win quite cosily last time out when beating intomist by just over 2 lengths over course and distance, then i can see why he is likely to attract support. although compton may still be well handicapped on old form, i do think there...

well at odds of around 7/2, i would be prepared to take a chance that it is not. now 14 years young, jim old's runner will probably go to post as favourite for this amateur and conditional riders event over 2m4f. the positives for this one are that on old form he is well handicapped, now back on the same mark as his last win which came at folkestone back in 2012. he also has shown a liking for this track in the past and one of his five victories under rules came here back in 2007. the only other real positive is that he did show a glimmer of his former self last time out over course and distance when finishing second to carli king. however, it was only a glimmer as carli king won that very decisively and half the field failed to complete that day. as slight an improvement as that was...