Sport is made for betting

It's the big race, the race that every racing expert dreads because the once-a-year punter in your office or family will base their entire judgment on your punting ability on the hardest race of the year. I hate getting splinters so I've had a crack just in case you hadn't found one of the 275 other GN previews out there this weekend. Best of luck, and if I find you the winner, payment in craft beer gratefully accepted ;) ============================Randox Health Grand National £500,000, Grade 3 Handicap Chase, 4m2f74yds 30 fences, Going at time of writing Heavy, Soft in Places. Aintree, Saturday 14/4, 1715 local, 0215 AESTThunder and Roses - Irish National winner in 2015, relishes the wet conditions, nothing much to show of his form recently. Hasn't finished his last three runs and was unseated in the race last year. Jockey did ride the Iriah National winner over Easter but that's as much as I can find. Save your money. Blaklion - fourth last year as 8/1 favourite…

After an impressive debut last week with his first 100 Unit column, Matt Baird is back for a look at Day 2 of The Championships.

=============================


As we return to Randwick for Day 2 of The Championships an air of inevitability and excitement comes with it. The great mare Winx heads to the feature race of the day, The Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2000m. The race has seen a significant increase in prizemoney over recent years as the Australian Turf Club attempts to make this the jewel in The Championships crown. Winx looks to join the immortal Black Caviar in winning 25 in a row here and although she isn’t much of a betting proposition she unites all racing fans.
Looking to build off last week’s +31.4 units(based on NSW Tote returns), we head to Randwick in front after a very tough Day 1. With four Group 1 races on the card and the culmination of The Provincial Championship series we have a meeting every bit as exciting as Day 1. Sensational Sydney weather should see us race o…

Day 1 of The Championships at Randwick delivers four cracking Group 1s but it's the juvenile contest, the Sires Produce, that has taken the fancy of Joshua Reed this week. Read more of his work at @joshuareed22.
----------------------------------
Inglis Sires Produce G1, 1400m, AU$1,000,000 Randwick, Saturday April 7 1430 local, 0530 BST
The Group One Inglis Sires Produce for 2018 features a decent field of 15, which gives the two year  olds a chance to show their talents over the 1400m. Some of these runners are coming through the hotly contested Golden Slipper. 
Golden Slipper-placed Oohood is looking to come and break her maiden status here and will get every chance but faces stiff competition in fellow Golden Slipper competitors Long Leaf and Seabrook. One of Godolphin’s stars in Encryption looks to make his mark over the 1400m and tough runners Not A Single Cent, Tchaikovsky, Ringerdingding and Adana look to surprise their opposition with an ambush attack.

Before we plunge into the…

Something different for the blog this week, new contributor Matt Baird starts a new article analysing how to spend a 100 unit punting bank over the course of a day. First target, Day 1 of The Championships.
You can follow Matt on @Mattyb1819.
============================
The Sydney Autumn carnival takes us to Randwick on Saturday for Doncaster Day and what a cracking day we have ahead of ourselves here. We find ourselves with a dry deck and the rail in the true, as such I am expecting a significant advantage to runners on the speed here. In recent years Randwick has had rain-affected conditions for The Championships so it will be good to see what impact a fantastic forecast has off the track as well. These two days are really building in their importance to the racing landscape in this country and the prizemoney on offer continues to grow.
Like most grand final race days, you do get a lot of exposed form coming into today with runners having had multiple runs into their preparations. In …

Arrogate did it last year, controversially winning Horse of the Year for a performance that was the last time he won a race. An obscene amount of money for a surface almost exclusive to one continent, this year's edition has attracted a couple of European turf horses as well.
Tasked with previewing the world's richest non-buy-in-invitational race is regular international racing aficionado Luke Humphreys, @WorldRacingLuke.

======================== Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup G1, 2000m, 1m2f, $USD10,000,000, Dirt
Race 9 Meydan, 1750 BST, 2050 Local Time’ (PRICES LISTED ARE BEST AVAILABLE FRIDAY MORNING)


1 Awardee (66/1): Fifth here 12 months ago ten and a half lengths behind Arrogate. Didn’t have much luck in the Japanese trial for this at G1 level last time, unlikely to be good enough however.
2 North America (8/1): Won the principal trial race for this at G1 level over the C&D three weaks ago easily. This is much tougher and I don’t like tipping local form throughout the Car…