One of the most iconic sporting
events of the year is upon us – the Grand
National. In horse racing terms it’s the biggest of the lot, with
punters all around the world tuning in for what usually tends to be an
incredible spectacle and a must-watch event, even for onlookers who aren’t
usually into horse racing.
Held at
Aintree racecourse in Liverpool, England, it’s a handicap steeplechase over
6.907 km with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps, with the winner
receiving the most lucrative payout of any horse racing event anywhere in
Europe, bringing home a staggering £1million in 2018.
With
the 172nd edition of the race fast approaching, many punters are planning their
long-term predictions in order to secure their bets and make a more profitable
return in the process. There’s plenty of value to be found in the Grand
National, partly because there are
so many runners and any horse can reign supreme on the day, although that does
make it incredibly hard to predict too.
The ancient
spectacle of horse racing hasn’t essentially changed in the past 3000 years—but
the settings sure have. If you don’t count chariots, the sport of flat racing
has reached its zenith in the modern era. There are full seasons and
championships across the globe, with billions of gambling dollars following the
thunder of hoofs.
A few truly epic
spectator events highlight each season. Each of these race meetings are
international happenings that feature the best horses and jockeys, and each
shines with its own unique flavor. The excitement and drama of these events not
only help keep the love of horses alive in our technological age, these top
competitions are poised to continue exciting the public imagination for many
years to come.
The following 5 top horse racing meetings are listed
according to their annual calendar date:
The Dubai World
Cup
The Dubai World
Cup is the youngest race meeting on our list, and is run annually on the last
Saturday in March. It began in
1996 as the world’s richest horse race and will hit $12 million in
2019. There are eight Thoroughbred races and–unusually–a contest for purebred
Arabians.
The race is
already a favorite of many fans, and has become the biggest sporting and social
event in Dubai. As with many top races, there is a heavy fashion component to
the celebration. The Dubai World Cup is held on the new Meydan Racecourse which
has the world’s first track-side hotel, offering luxury spectating from your
own room.
The history of the Cheltenham Festival dates back more than 150 years.
Cheltenham
hasn’t always been the location for the festival, with both Market Harborough
and Warwick racecourses hosting the event in the 19th century. Since
1911, the permanent home of the festival has been Cheltenham’s Prestbury Park,
although it had been held at Cheltenham on a few occasions prior to this.
The Cheltenham
Festival always sees plenty of closely fought races, and the Cheltenham
odds certainly suggest that this year will be no different. There
are plenty of races to focus on at this year’s event, but what about races
which no longer exist? We’ve taken a look at five of the races that are no
longer run at Cheltenham.
You have to go all the way back to April 2015 to find a race in which Altior was defeated. It was just his 3rd outing, a national hunt flat race at Punchestown, and the 14/1 Altior was well-schooled, finishing 6th in a race that had several prominent horses of today, including Bellshill, Supasundae and Disko.
17 races later and Nicky Henderson’s Altior hasn’t missed a step. It’s a run that has included the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the Arkle and, of course, last year’s Champion Chase. A hat-trick of Grade 1 wins at Cheltenham, achieved with the minimum of fuss.
Legacy can be a strange thing to witness in horse racing, as sometimes we are not fully aware that history is unfolding in front of our very eyes. Altior’s effortless victories perhaps clouds the fact that we are seeing one of the greats in action. Few horses have given him a real battle: the last time a horse finished within 4 lengths of Altior was back in 2015, when Ch’tibello finished just over a length behind in a Grade 3 hurdle.
It’s perhaps unfair to judge Altior’s career over those he has beaten, but it’s natural to lament that he did not come up against, for example, Douvan when he was at his best. On the other hand, the likes of Min and Un De Sceaux – remarkable horses in their own right – have challenged and been swatted aside with ease. Read the rest of this entry →
One of horse racing’s prestigious yearly events is just around the corner which is to be held on the third Saturday of the month of May, Preakness Stakes is hoping to deliver an encore after the exhilarating Kentucky Derby. Whether you are cheering up for the top favorites or you’re gunning for the ace rookie, the Preakness Stakes is surely a great entertainment which provides awesome betting experience.
Of course, this means you’ll be splurging out some money, so the big question here is whether you go home broke, or as a victor who turned his bet into a profit. While one cannot guarantee and hand out the exact winner for the race, the certainty to nudge you in the right directions will surely be helpful in your picking horses.
Studying the Field
Surely you have heard that knowledge is power, right? thus brace yourself and read up some past information that you can gather, because, above anything else, you are going to want to know what you are doing. Part of the information that you could gather is knowing all the prospective horses that could race this year’s horse racing at the Preakness Stakes.
This means that there might be some instance that the horse who won in the Kentucky Derby or some other top contenders will choose to sit out the Kentucky Derby and race with either Preakness or Belmont instead. By knowing this, you can pick out who to bet on earlier and plan out ahead of time.
Additionally, not all horses are the same, thus you should know how horses run on different tracks and how they perform in bad weather conditions and how they have fared against stiff competitions. Knowing these types of information will help you decide how to bet. Also, knowledge about horse pedigree, training, ownership, talent, jockeys, and running style plays a vital role in how and who you should bet on. Read the rest of this entry →
Ahead of the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Wednesday, Native River has been confirmed as a late entry to make up the list of 11 runners.
Last year’s Gold Cup winner joins a tough-looking field, who’ll all be looking to taste success come Boxing Day.
The likes of old rival Might Bite, Waiting Patiently, Politologue and Thistlecrack will all be chomping at the bit to get one over on Native River, thus making it one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the year.
Trainer Colin Tizzard has enjoyed a number of major victories with Native River, including wins at the Worcester Novices Chase, Mildmay Novices Chase, Welsh Grand National, Hennessy Gold Cup, Denman Chase and the Gold Cup.
The eight-year-old has had a strong year and if he could fashion another victory at Kempton – as hard as that’ll be – it’ll put Native River in serious contention for a second successive Gold Cup. Read the rest of this entry →
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.
Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.
Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.
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