Sport is made for betting

International Day at Sha Tin in Hong Kong is one of the world's great race days. If you've never been, put it down on your bucket list. When horse racing is the biggest event in town, this place really puts on a great show. All four of the international races will be covered this weekend on the blog, and first off the press is Calum Law with his analysis of the Vase. Follow him via @calumswanlaw . ---------------------------- HONG KONG VASE A race which has been farmed by European trainers, with no domestic winners and only two non euros taking the prize since the race was created in 1994. This year's would on the surface appear to be no different, with the only two local horses, the rank outsiders with the British bookmakers. Red Cadeaux- Lovable globetrotting seven year old who took this race last year. Seems as good as ever if his second in the Melbourne Cup is to be taken at face value and is very likely to run his race. Gets the assistance of Hong Kong stalwart ...

There's only one rehearsal for the Grand National, and it's the Becher Chase over the very same fences, albeit it several months out. In true National style, it's 10/1 the field on Betfair at the moment and the historical trends tell us sweet FA. Making his bow on the blog with the preview is Darren Gartland, @dazgartland . ----------------------------- 2:05 Aintree Betfred Becher Chase For my money there’s no greater sight in National Hunt racing than watching a high class chaser attacking Aintree’s National fences with gusto, enthusiasm and a will to win. Although it’s not the big race itself The Becher Chase has always been a great race in its own right and often provides us with some important clues towards the main event in April. This year’s renewal looks as competitive as ever with a field of 24 going to post. Here I preview the leading protagonists in the hope of pointing you towards the winner…. On His Own (7/1) Heads the market and has to be afforded a...

The anti-wagering media bandwagon has dozens of new members this week, all weighing in an industry they have absolutely no idea about. I'm all for getting the betting industry into the mainstream but it shits me no end when they roll out reports and celebrities who simply don't have a clue what they are talking about and don't bother to check basic facts which key arguments in their story. If this was the financial industry, making errors like this would have them in all sorts of trouble, but the same level of regulation doesn't apply because finance stock markets are supposedly all legitimate and serious, whereas sports betting is just a bit of fun for people who can never win in the long-term... according to the media. This week we have seen the sting by the Telegraph which, on the face of it, looks to be a tremendous piece of investigative work into fixing in English football. But the headlines around it are over-sensationalised yet again. Delroy Facey, a former pla...

A rare venture north for top level NH horses tomorrow with the crown jewel of the North East's winter season - the Fighting Fifth Hurdle. With the ground in decent condition, a strong field has accepted. Recent addition to the list of blog contributors, local racing enthusiast and aspiring journo Daniel Knight, @danielknightt , casts a sagacious eye over the field. You can read more of his work at BritishJumpRacing . ------------------------------- StanJames.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle Grade 1 2 miles Newcastle, Good to Soft Ground but could be just Good, Soft in Places come Saturday. It’s not often big names in National Hunt racing come to Newcastle Racecourse. But the first Grade 1 Hurdle of the season, the Fighting Fifth, always see’s the big stables top hurdlers travel north. Year in year out, the Champion Hurdle contenders grace the turf at Newcastle as one of their 1st stops en-route to the opening day of Cheltenham’s showpiece event. The Fighting Fifth Hurdle is just ab...

The Miracle Mile is the big night in Australian harness racing, north of the Murray anyway. Australasia's fastest pacers on the super fast Menangle Park circuit. Harness expert Ben Krahe, @benkrahe , assesses the form with a bit of history to boot. -------------------------- The Miracle Mile For mine this is the race of the year. Pure speed over a mile where the quickest standardbred in Australia is crowned. All the greats have won it and although this field is probably as good as we’ve seen in the past 10 years I’m not sure the winner will go down in folklore. The race has a rich history with the inaugural winner in 1967 being Robin Dundee. That was when this fabulous race was an invitation only event for six runners around the tight Glebe circuit (the halcyon days - back when they had 40-50k fans to the track). Who can forget possibly the best MM win of all time in 1971 of Mount Eden when it lost 50m or so at the start, or 1976 when the people's horse Paleface Adios won...

Close to my favourite jumps race of the season, the Hennessy at Newbury. Why? Because it's a top class handicap, something I was brought up on in Australia but are rarer than an honest politician in Britain. Where the top horses can prove their greatness by conceding weight to emerging talents and still beat them. Set weights and WFA races bore me when you have the likes of Nicky Henderson moaning about lack of opportunities so he'd rather leave his horses at home rather than run them against each other before Cheltenham or simply consult the BHA's interactive race programming facility to find suitable races. Great publicity for the industry..... The championship features are great in that format, but not all the lead up races as well - we get stuck with the farcical situation of two and four runner pattern races like at Ascot last weekend. [/rantover] Covering this great race for the blog is a long-time contributor, Jack Milner, @jjmsports . He now appears courtesy of Be...

Nice timing for US racing with some Grade 1 action on the pseudo-long weekend where nobody works after Thanksgiving. Regular US racing contributor, the astute Jon da Silva, @creamontop , returns to the blog.... ---------------------------------------------- Clark Handicap 9 Furlong Grade 1 Handicap Churchill Downs You have to love the Septics no sooner do they have a season ending jamboree and then they are throwing two Grade 1s at you four weeks later. One reason this race may have two top classers is that US horses chase Horse of the Year honors (honours my UK chums). Wise Dan by mopping up over a mile on turf and only beaten once off a poor trip against lone speed on a drenched synth track will win anyway mind. Although had Wise Dan been 3rd running a better rating in the Classic (than the Mile he won) he would not - people love the win. Nonetheless there are categories like top three year old and Will Take Charge's handler D. Wayne Lukas has barely seen a horse he did n...

Another disappointingly small field for a feature race at Ascot, but at least there are two high-class hurdlers heading the market. Taking up the challenge is another blog debutant, aspiring young writer Daniel Knight. You can follow him via @DanielKnightt and read more of his work on his site, BritishJumpRacing . -------------------------- Coral Hurdle (Registered As The Ascot Hurdle Race) Grade 2 2 mile 3 1/2 furlongs Ascot, Good to Soft Ground but could be just Good come Saturday. Usually one of the first stepping stones for either the World Hurdle or the Champion Hurdle, the Coral (Ascot) Hurdle is normally full of contenders for both races. This year’s is different. The 2014 Champion Hurdle has some serious depth and the World Hurdle isn’t short on quality either, so will many of the horses lining up on Saturday, be at the start for either race? Probably not. But one might, and she comes from Ireland. Zarkandar: This horse has a real shot at this year’s Coral Hurdle. A...

In the years since Betfair took over the naming rights of the Lancashire Chase, there hasn't been an edition as strong as this. Running his eye over the form and sharing his expertise is a blog debutant, Sam Tribe. You can follow Sam via @samtribe87 , and hopefully read more of his work here again soon... ------------------------- ‘The Mini Gold Cup’ 3 miles 1 furlong, likely going soft The Grade 1 Showcase at Haydock this Saturday most commonly known as the Lancashire Stakes (just don’t tell the sponsors that) has been dubbed ‘The Mini Gold Cup’ due to the presence of some of the best 3 mile chasers around. The race is populated by chasing stars of the future, the past and the present as Trainers strive to get their ‘celebrities’ down the red carpet before the cold snap the tabloids have been promising properly kicks in. Celebs & the red carpet analogy is actually incredibly unfair, as these horses will have to show all of their talent, brute force, hard work and determi...