Breeders' Cup 2025 in beautiful Del Mar, sunny California (obligatory adjectives) whizzed by over the weekend, a back-loaded two-day event featuring 14 Championship races, nine of them on the Saturday, and loads of international interest. What follows is a combination of my race thoughts, betting outcomes and lessons learned from one of the toughest wagering […]
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose, writes Tony Stafford. Save an accent or two – if cedillas and circumflex accents can be found on my keyboard, they’ve escaped me so far – but you get my drift. And I’m not going to lead off with Futurity win number 12 and an eighth British […]
It wasn’t just at Coolmore Australia or the parent company’s headquarters in Co Tipperary that news of Wootton Bassett’s demise brought abject misery and frustration just as last week’s offering here hit the laptops, writes Tony Stafford. For the Laundry Cottage Stud Farm, in Hertfordshire, 35 miles up the A1 from Central London, it ended […]
I'm back, with my annual kickball preview that is as deserving of being digital chip paper as anything penned on these virtual pages. I sort of know a bit about racing, though it may not radiate from every stanza scribbled or every suggestion sunk; my grasp of the football form book is more tenuous - […]
This week we enjoy the 2025 renewal of the prestigious Qatar 'Glorious' Goodwood Festival on the rolling Sussex Downs. To finish in front at a festival meeting contested on such a quintessentially quirky track requires more than traditional 'which is the best horse' form study. Preparations for those serious about the week begin with homework […]
As well as the Qatar 'Glorious' Goodwood festival, this same week witnesses Galway's seven-day bonanza at which there is almost literally a race for every horse. The programme covers the full gamut from two year old maidens to exposed handicap chasers. Here, we'll focus our attention on the flat handicaps ahead of the 2025 renewal […]
This week, as part of our Royal Ascot content, I'm making a suggested placepot permutation each day. Today is the final day of four where I'll offer my thoughts; tomorrow, you should now understand the process enough to 'fly solo'. So how's it been going? It started well on Tuesday: although the perm only caught […]
On we go, to the fourth day of Royal Ascot and the final day of our full preview coverage. Win, lose or draw, I hope you've enjoyed the contributions of our assembled panel. Victor Value, aka John Burke, and Gavin Priestley would very much appreciate you checking out their pages (through the banner images in […]
This week, as part of our Royal Ascot content, I'm making a suggested placepot permutation each day. It started well on Tuesday: although the perm only caught 2% of the dividend, that was enough to return £58.11 from a £24.96 stake, including 5% Tix bonus. That's a profit of £33.15. It got better yesterday: a […]
Into 'hump day', better known as Gold Cup day, or Ladies' Day - or even Thursday, or Day 3 - we go. The marathon Group 1 is the feature and, with the weather set fair it will be riding quick, so let's get straight to it. 2.30 THE NORFOLK STAKES (CLASS 1) (Group 2) Presented […]
This week, as part of our Royal Ascot content, I'm making a suggested placepot permutation each day. It started well on Tuesday: although the perm only caught 2% of the dividend, that was enough to return £58.11 from a £24.96 stake, including 5% Tix bonus. That's a profit of £33.15. Let's get to Wednesday, Day […]
It's Day Two, Wednesday, at the Royal Ascot jamboree and we're blessed once more with a magnificent seven races headlined by the Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes for older horses over a mile and quarter. As with each weekday of the Royal meeting, I'm sharing preview responsibilities with a collective of talented and shrewd […]
This week, as part of our Royal Ascot content, I'll be making a suggested placepot permutation each day. I'll be using the ABCX approach, outlined here, and some online software called Tix which I built in conjunction with Nige, the guy who coded most of the original geegeez.co.uk racecards and form tools. [It is excellent […]
Royal Ascot 2025: Day One Preview, Trends, Tips And so to the most international race meeting in the British calendar, Royal Ascot. The 2025 edition looks as star-studded as ever and continues to bask in its royal patronage, one of the features of the opening day named in honour of our current reigning monarch. For […]
