SHAPESHIFTER

[b]SELECTIONS FOR GOLD CUP DAY[/b] I found myself caught between that world again as someone that invests in a horses performance and one who is enthralled with the quality of the horses and the performances by the jockeys. With the exception of Super Duty who lived up to expectations, be it 2nd at the line, as each of my selections have faded from contention I found myself cheering on the finish. I made a couple of mistakes on my day. First, I got caught up in the Reve De Sivola -v- Oscar Whiskey aspect of the World Hurdle. Part of my approach is to sit down and compare horses that I feel are the principles (and not necessary at the top of the betting) then once that is done, I then compare that once selection to the entire field. What this leads to is I've created a ...

Like Tuesday, yesterday started with a perfect read on the race, The New One winning and the each play following in second. In one race, the loss on day one recovered and from a financial point of view, Cheltenham started over again. Leading into Cheltenham, I had watched the Twiston-Davies runners closely. As a jockey, Sam has a style when taking on certain distances. He has the measures of the horses early on and is able to judge their 'tanks'. He also comes across as a jockey who researches his competition. His abilities to partner a horse came together on The New One. His approach also landed each way returns with Master Of The Sea working his way into fourth after a crowded race, my win bet Pendra not wanting to gear up and going completely flat when McCoy positioned him...

[b]4 RACES FOR DAY TWO AT CHELTENHAM[/b] Cheltenham started on a winning note for me with Champagne Fever winning the delayed start. The horse went off just shy of 5/1 on betfair after support brought it in from the 9/1 that was on offer until the plunge. After that, no real success and as each of my selection faded from contention, I found myself quickly changing modes to cheer on some of fantastic racing. It was great seeing horses in such fantastic condition. As well, as I poured another cup of coffee late last night to review the times, all the horses in the finishes showed incredible improvement. As a 'value hunter', you sometimes feel like you aren't part of the big wins. But this game is all about opinions and, as I said yesterday, I'll stick to my tactics and will hopefully...

[b]5 RACES COVERED FOR CHELTENHAM DAY 1 [/b] Over the past six months, races were captured on the hard disc and notes were taken all with the intention of taking a shot at Cheltenham. In the past, I sometimes found myself overwhelmed by the form, the trainers, the headlines. This year, yes, a few articles read but I focused hard on forming my own opinions on the races and hoped that come the day the prices would reflect better value than my expectations. My usual approach is to discuss on the blog my views on sifting through the races on the day and making selections, more dealing with the post-mortem the next day to offer insight. Every person on the forum has their views on today's racing so mine is just one more of many. I'll be staying true to my personal tactics so,...