Sport is made for betting

The Ebor Meeting, one of the great festivals in British racing, begins tomorrow at York. Huge track, nice and flat, runs in the correct direction, is far cheaper and less pompous than Royal Ascot, bar staff actually know how to pour beer and is part of the beautiful city of York, rather than miles out of town. Do yourself a favour if you've never been! Preview by a former colleague and friend of many years, Kiaran O'Brien. He's also the author of Edge Your Bets , a suspense novel about the greyhound industry. ------------------------------------- PERSSE TO SHOW WILLING ATTY-TUDE IN VOLTIGEUR Great Voltigeur Stakes Group 2 for 3yo, 1m4f, £150k 1500 local, 0000 AEST. The cliché that horses are not machines was never better illustrated than when Atty Persse trailed in a distant last in the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket last month. The race post-mortem found no apparent reason for why the hugely impressive Royal Ascot winner had been beaten so comprehensively and so ...

Another baking hot day at Royal Ascot, (crikey it was toasty out there yesterday!), and another six winners to find. Might not be quite as star-studded today, that just means some of these races are downright impossible to solve. Unless of course, you call on the expertise of PRO HORSE, @prohorse_tips -------------------- Wednesday 21st June Jersey Stakes Although plenty was expected of Dream Castle on racecourse debut at Doncaster earlier this year, one could not fail to be impressed with the manner of his facile victory. I felt he was equally impressive in defeat on his second start, when runner-up to Barney Roy in the Greenham. While it’s understandable many were impressed by Barney Roy that day, it’s worth remembering that Dream Castle was cantering all over him that day and traded 1.04 in-running before being run down late on – his keenness in the early stages taking their toll. Everything about the performance screamed Jersey Stakes and my confidence of the race’s...

Final leg of the Triple Crown and we will see three different winners in 2017. So no superstars from this crop but then again, Arrogate proved to be the best horse in the world from last year's US crop of three year olds, and he had barely started his career by this time in 2016. With the preview, it's international racing aficionado, Luke Humphreys, @WorldRacingLuke . ----------------------- Belmont Stakes Group 1, US$1,500,000, 1m4f Belmont Park 1837 local, 2337 BST, 0837 AEST ODDS LISTED ARE BEST AVAILABLE AT TIME OF WRITING (FRIDAY AFTERNOON) 1 Twisted Tom (20/1): Winner of all three runs this season, most recently over 9f at Laurel Park in a feature conditions race, the Federico Tesio Stakes. Dodged Preakness for this but big class rise. 2 Tapwrit (8/1): G2 Tampa Bay Downs Derby winner by 4¼ Lengths in March. Subsequently beaten a long way by Irap in the G2 Blue Grass Stakes over 9f at Keeneland. Fighting sixth in G1 Kentucky Derby, will appreciate rise in d...

'English' Derby one day, French 'Derby' the next. Off to Chantilly tomorrow for the French version, run on a perfectly flat racecourse over a slightly shorter course. Is it a better race? Usually not, but this year with Wings Of Eagles likely to have moderate stud value, who knows what might happen here? Taking on the task of dissecting the form is French racing fan, Luke Humphreys, @WorldRacingLuke . --------------------------- QIPCO Prix du Jockey Club Group 1, €1,500,000, 1m2f110y Chantilly 1615 local, 1515 BST, 0015 AEST 1. Brametot (15/8): Has the potential to be anything on his two runs this year. Terrific first-up in the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau as a trial for the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and then won that G1 in terrific style holding Le Brivido in the closing stages after settling well back. Draws the inside here which isn’t great or horrible, can miss the start, as he did first-up in the G3 but still winning easily. Will put his cards on the table fo...

The annual stallion maker race on the goat track takes place tomorrow, in front of the 'peasants' on Poundland Hill and the toffs in top hats in the Queen's Stand. And that level of class divide seems to appear in the field for the blue riband event, with 14 of the 19 runners coming from just three stables, Rekindling owned by Australian squillionaire Lloyd Williams, Eminent owned by Kiwi breeding tycoon Sir Peter Vela, Permian owned by Sheikh Hamdan, and apologies to H.Balasuriya who owns Salouen, I've no idea whether he's a billionaire or just a bloke with a couple of decent horses with Sylvester Kirk! That of course leaves the publicity-seeking nutjob that owns Diore Lia, or more correctly, the nutjob married to the owner of the rank outsider (**apparently it's his sister as this cretin was banned from racing in Ireland for 15 years for not paying his training fees! And now the donkey has been scratched anywa.) As for raising funds for charity, it's faili...

A bit of harness action this weekend with the world famous Elitloppet at Solvalla, Stockholm. It's a format which would shock thoroughbred fans, with heats and finals being run on the same day - these horses are tough! For more details on the race and its unique history, via the Elitloppet website . Stepping up to preview this time-honoured event is an international harness racing aficionado who had the pleasure of being there last year, Luke Humphrey, @WorldRacingLuke . --------------------------------- Elitloppet Saturday - Solvalla R1 (Swedish Cup Heat 1): 5(BEST BET)-1-2-3 R2 (Swedish Cup Heat 2): 2-4-6-3 R3 (Swedish Cup Heat 3) 1-2-6-4 R4: 6-8-10-11 R5: 3-6-7-9 R6: 6-11-3-1 R7 (G2 Swedish Cup Final, Field dependent on Heats): R8: 3-11-9-8 R9: 11-12-10-9 R10: 11-6-8-2 R11: 5-8-1-9 R12 (G2 Harper Hanovers): 14-13-15-2 R13: 6-9-10-8 Most of the races on the card in my opinion are incredibly tough especially Race 10 and also Races 8, 9 and 11. Best Bet of the ...

I've tried my best with the 2yo race reviews but I'm afraid... Just can't keep up! Will try to preview as many of the 2yo pattern races as I can though. Normal service with guest-written feature previews and the odd rant (yes, haven't done one in a while) to resume.

Round two of the US Triple Crown tonight, so we'll either have the latest reincarnation of Pegasus if Always Dreaming wins, or a dud crop if his quest for TC glory goes awry. And one thing Pimlico Racecourse is famous for is one almighty party of the infield where the vast majority of them would be blissfully unaware a $1.5m horse race is being run, let alone it's importance. Anyhow, enough moaning about Trumpland, it's onto the preview, with regular US racing guru Jon da Silva, @creamontop . ------------------------- The Preakness Stakes Grade 1, US$1,500,000, 1m 3/16s (1900m for the sensible) Pimlico Race 13. 1848 local, 2348 BST One thing with the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands is that the winner does not stand on his laurels and 2 weeks later gets to go again. Often the horse follows up but they are beaten enough that at Evens or less one feels one can take on this year's winner. Indeed to call the Kentucky Derby a satisfactory race to base such a ...

Tidying up one that slipped through the net... Chelmsford 1810 May 2 Filles Novice Auction Stakes 5f, Class 5, 1m1.51s (slow by 3.51s) Standard Blessed to Empress . Feb 1, 17k gns. First foal of dam, a sister to Listed winner Bounty Box. Jumped OK, worked to the lead, kept going. Whip not pulled but ridden fairly hard H&H. Three Little Birds . Mar 22, 11k gns vendor buyback as yearling. Sat midfield, pulled out top of the straight and pushed right to the line to claim second in final stride. (8/1 into 5/1) Princess Lyla . Apr 10, £3k 2yo sale. Half-sister to two winners but family is pretty limited. Settled directly behind the leader on the rail. Switched off her back at the furlong, never closer and then nabbed on the line, pushed back to third. Dorcas . Feb 27, £8500 yearling, dam won at two. Sat outside the leader, couldn't match her, then under pressure approaching furlong and soon weakened. Asheena . Sixth between Bengali Boys on debut Apr 19. Settled near the ta...