April 2023

Hi all,

Inside today’s main piece you can read my thoughts the final day of the 2022-23 jumps season.  Plus, there’s a preview of this afternoons action at the Curragh. However, I begin with a quick look Ripon on Saturday.

Hi all,

Inside today’s main piece I look forward to the best of Saturday’s action at Sandown and Punchestown.

Hi all,

It’s a case of quality action on the flat and over jumps today. At Sandown we have the Group 2 bet365 Mile (3.00), the Group 3 bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes (2:25) and there could be classic clues on offer in the Group 3 bet365 Classic Trial (3.35).

It’s day four of the Punchestown Festival and we have two Group 1’s. The Paddy Power Champion Hurdle (5:25) and the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle (6:00). It’s the final day of Perth’s three day BetVictor Festival with the feature race being the BetVictor Highland National Handicap Chase (2:05).  

The ITV Racing cameras are covering four races from Sandown and two from Perth on a six race programme this afternoon.

Inside today's main piece I look ahead to the best of Friday's action.

Hi all,

Inside today’s main piece I look at the best of the action at the Punchestown Festival.

All eyes on the track will be on day three of the Punchestown Festival. There are two Grade 1’s on an eight race card. The first of them is the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle (5:25) and the second one is the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase (6:35).  There are four handicaps on today’s card. That makes the day more interesting from a betting perspective than the previous two days for me.

The big racing news story this side of the Irish Sea is likely to be off the track as the British government’s gambling review white paper is expected to be published this morning. This is a start of a long road though. It will give us some idea as to the governments thoughts, but it will be months before we have any clarity as to where the sport stands regarding important issues such as affordability checks.