Sports Then and Now

First held in 1860 as the National Hunt Chase, the Cheltenham Festival is a top-rated horse racing competition on the United Kingdom calendar with prize money second only to the Grand National.

Often held around St. Patrick’s Day and popular with Irish visitors, the festival features several Grade 1 races and is one of the few times during the year where many of the top British and Irish trained horses compete. The festival also includes one of the two biggest Hunter Chases of the season, the Foxhunters’, which is run on the Friday of the event.

The Cheltenham Festival is especially noted for its atmosphere, most notably the “Cheltenham roar”, which refers to the enormous noise generated by the crowd as the starter raises the tape for the first race of the festival.

The Stayers Hurdle, which was first ran in 1912, is the oldest race in the festival that is currently a championship race. The Gold Cup, established in 1924, was originally a supporting race for the County Hurdle, which was the main event of the first day, but that eventually changed as it became a championship race. The Champion Hurdle started in 1927 and the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1959, were both championship races from the time they were introduced. Read the rest of this entry →

The day ought to have been another cheerful competition, but destiny had its way by adding an additional Grand National event into the books of history. It was in 1956 with a horse named Devon Loch owned by HM Queen Elizabeth. The name of the Rider was Dick Francis and these characters all made up this historical event.

Dick And The Scars Of Devon Loch

Irrespective of having 2 former champions and a forthcoming champion in the steeplechase on this very day, Devon Loch was favored for showing his capability by winning two times that year and being a third runner-up at the Cheltenham that same season. Just as one would have hoped to predict from the horse racing grand national – everything was adding up for a blow at the trophy. There came a boost for his headway when two of the people’s favorites stumbled – leaving just M’as-tu-vu at the forefront and Devon coming sound somewhere in the middle. This horse didn’t encounter any difficulty getting past these obstacles except for when trying to diverge to pass a horse that collapsed before him during the opening circuit. Read the rest of this entry →

Outlander has looked strong in the events leading up to Chetlenham on March 17th.

With the Cheltenham Races drawing closer each day, people are taking strong notice of the various horses set to run. The races always draw a big crowd of course, but it’s also one of the most popular times for placing bets. With the Bet365 Cheltenham non-runner no bet offer, at least you know you’re guaranteed to get a refund if your horse doesn’t end up running.

So, who is looking good this year? One horse that is standing out as an early contender is Outlander.

Could Outlander Take Top Spot?

Of course, nothing is for certain, but with the race taking place on March 17 it makes sense to start looking at favourites. Many are calling Outlander as the main contender in the race, and he is believed to be able to beat both Don Poli and Empire Of Dirt, who just so happen to be his stablemates. Owned by Michael O’Leary, he sees the horse as their “main chance” at winning the cup as well.

It’s making it much easier for race watchers, and Outlander’s owner, to make these bold statements thanks to the fact that Outlander trains in the same yard as the other top contenders – Empire Of Dirt and Don Poli. It’s easy to make comparisons when they are sharing space and training at the same time.

Outlander is also coming off a career-best performance that happened during Christmas as the Lexus Chase when he won. Obviously, that puts him and his team in a very confident position heading into Cheltenham. As for the odds, right now the nine year old horse is sitting at 14-1 odds heading into the Gold Cup race.

Now despite his odds at looking good for Cheltenham, he won’t run at Aintree. Read the rest of this entry →

Creator won a photo finish over Destin to win the 2016 Belmont Stakes.

The hot weather was certainly one of the highlights of the 2016 Belmont Stakes, hosted earlier this year on Saturday June 11 in Elmont, NY. And although it didn’t agree with some of the horses there were many that appeared to enjoy the cooling water showers they received. Spectators enjoyed the sunshine though, as they watched a very exciting finish to the race.

Last year all the excited chatter was around American Pharoah, the horse that went into the race with the prospect of securing the Triple Crown. Of course, the now retired champion went on to be successful in its quest. This year there were a few popular topics before the big race, such as how much would Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist be missed and how much difference would the entry of pace setter Gettysburg make?

Preakness Stakes victor started as favorite

Whether wagering online at My Winners, or taking a chance at the track, most money went on Exaggerator; the horse that was victorious at the Preakness Stakes. This was in the absence of Nyquist, due to a low white blood cell count and a fever. In the early stages of the race it looked as though the confidence in the pre-race favorite was justified but Exaggerator eventually trailed off to finish in an unimpressive eleventh place in a thirteen horse field. This left the way open for others to break through.

The rise of Creator

Steve Asmussen trained Creator did not look that likely to set the course alight following a thirteenth place finish in the Kentucky Derby. The horse missed the Preakness Stakes and was accompanied in this race by another WinStar Frams owned horse, Gettysburg. Many saw the inclusion of Gettysburg in the race as an obvious pace setting ploy by the owners, and it seemed to work. Although the horse itself trailed off it brought several horses along, including Creator. Read the rest of this entry →

Paul Nicholls could have as many as five horses in the field for the Grand Nationals.

Trainers Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls could have almost a quarter of the field between them for this years Grand National at Aintree by the time the official race line up is announced in the coming weeks. Mullins is planning to enter at least a four strong team of horses at the famous race as he bids to become the first Irishman to win Britains Champion Trainer award since Vincent O’Brien in 1954. Meanwhile, Nicholls may have as many as five horses in the race in which he last won four years ago with Neptune Collonges.

Mullins currently trails his counterpart by £140,000 heading into the race s he searches for a second Grand National victory, having won back in 2005 with Hedgehunter. For Mullins, Fairhouse winner Boston Bob could well provide his finest opportunity for victory, and is offered odds of 26/1 by bookmaker Betway. The fact that experienced jockey Ruby Walsh looks set to take to the saddle has seen a major shift in betting patterns, as he bids to win his third Grand National title at the event in just a few weeks time. It may well be Nicholls who heads into the race with the better chance however, as he looks to current second favourite Silvianco Conti to overcome the likes of defending champion Many Clouds, who is 9/1 with Betway to claim glory for the second consecutive year. Opportunities to back a Grand National winner at Betway could well centre on the two famous trainers. Read the rest of this entry →

American Pharoah is the first horse racing Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

After 37 years and many close calls, it might have been fair to believe that horse racing in the 21st Century was not destined for a Triple Crown winner. However, that was before American Pharoah did what 13 previous horses could not since Affirmed in 1978 and added victory at the Belmont Stakes to wins at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

With his wire-to-wire victory, American Pharoah is now the 12th member of an impressive club that began with Sir Barton in 1919 and also includes well known horses including Secretariat, Affirmed, Citation, Whirlaway and War Admiral.

While much has been made of the 37 year drought, perhaps the real number to indicate just how challenging it is to win the Triple Crown is that American Pharoah is just the fourth winner in the last 67 years. In fact, if you set aside the anomaly between 1973 and 1978 when there were three Triple Crown winners in a six year stretch, American Pharoah accomplished what 20 horses had not been able to complete since Citation in 1948.

That both jockey Victor Espinoza (twice) and trainer Bob Baffert (three times) had been in this position previously gave both of them an interesting perspective and understanding of the pressure and extra demands surrounding a run for the Triple Crown.

Of course, the different component of the equation in 2015 was the horse and American Pharoah proved that he was up to the challenge. That he headed right to the front and then stayed there throughout, actually growing his lead over the final quarter mile, illustrated that he was indeed a champion worthy of immortality. Read the rest of this entry →