JUST five may have turned up for the Betfair Chase last Saturday but the Hennessy Gold Cup promises to be something completely different. Seventeen go to post for the £200,000 contest, one of the oldest and greatest races of the season on Saturday. It is the major highlight of the three-day bet365 Festival at Newbury, …[Read More]
by DAVID DONALDSON. WHEN the weights for the first £1million Grand National were published earlier this month, the ever-popular Tidal Bay received a handicap mark 7lb below his official rating. Based on the 13-year-old’s most recent runs, Tidal Bay has a good chance of success at Aintree this April and is now carrying less relative …[Read More]
PAUL Nicholls is enjoying a marvellous season but if Big Buck’s makes a winning reappearance in the Cleeve Hurdle during Cheltenham Trials Day on Saturday then it will go down as one of his finest – if not THE finest – training performance of his career. Despite his long absence, Big Buck’s is odds-on, which …[Read More]
HAPPY New Year! After some wonderful festive racing, the weather gods have finally begun to have their way. Saturday’s Tolworth card at Sandown has already gone and there are nagging doubts over several other weekend cards. Quality is sparse but hopefully Wincanton and Newcastle will survive the elements on Saturday. Paul Nicholls is enjoying the …[Read More]
THE Grand National always throws up a good tale. And if Monbeg Dude manages to win on April 5 there will be plenty of angles to go at. There were emotional scenes at Cheltenham last weekend when Tom Scudamore drove Monbeg Dude, trained by his brother Michael, to victory over Theatre Guide. The eight-year-old, winner …[Read More]
BALDER SUCCES is a nervy individual but a very talented horse. It didn’t really happen for him last season after a promising start and the fact he was hampered and knocked over by the loose Grandouet in the Champion Hurdle kind of summed up his season. But he has always looked like a chaser and …[Read More]
KEMPTON’S frequent all-weather cards can be fairly informative when it comes to pinpointing future juvenile winners. One colt who caught the eye the other day was Paul Cole’s TIOGA PASS. He raced handily and stayed on at the one pace over a mile to be fifth to Psychometry. He wasn’t given a hard time and …[Read More]
THE top trainers have been busy opening their doors to the media this week with the Cheltenham Festival less than three weeks away. I can never quite work out if the likes of Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls (left) and David Pipe actually enjoy waxing lyrical about their equine superstars. Ultimately, their main obligation is to …[Read More]
Horse Racing Chat has been named among the Top 10 horse racing blogs in the UK. 
