Leaderboard

Doncaster 1.20 The 2024 turf flat season kicks off with a seven runner renewal of the listed Doncaster Mile. The ground is likely to be pretty sticky here and that may play into the hands of last year’s winner Astral Beau who although having a few pounds to find with a few of these on official ratings has form figures of 3111 on soft or heavy ground and has won first time out for the last two seasons including a 4L victory in this race a year ago. Pam Sly is a more than capable trainer and may have most to fear here from the Roger Varian trained Charyn who kept better company than this last year and is the highest rated of the seven runners. Knight is another who relishes the mud but its the only mare in the race that can beat the boys here under Shane Kelly under her ideal ground conditions. ASTRAL BEAU 1 point win @ 5/1 bet365 Bangor 1.30 A rare visit for the ITV cameras to Bangor-On-Dee for this class 2 2M 3 1/2F handicap hurdle which has attracted eight runners. It may chiefly concern Dan Skelton’s veteran West To The Bridge who’s fallen down to a winning mark, Olly Murphy’s hat trick seeking Pickanumber and last year’s winner Jungle Jack. Preference is for Skelton's West To The Bridge who has the assistance of Tristan Durrell here with main stable jockey Harry Skelton required at Newbury. WEST TO THE BRIDGE 1 point each way @ 5/1 bet365 Doncaster 1.50 The first two year old turf race of the season is the historic Brocklesby Stakes run over the minimum trip of 5F and has attracted a field of fifteen this year. Obviously the market will tell us the ones that are expected to run well but I can pass on a good mark for the Amo Racing newcomer Mystical Elegance trained in Lambourn by Dominic Ffrench Davis. The owners are already off the mark with the first juvenile race of the Irish flat turf season last Monday and the trainer was on the Nick Luck podcast on Thursday stating that the son of Zoustar will love the prevailing ground and is very forward with a good willing attitude. He was the pick from three entries from the yard and without the benefit of any market clues is worth a speculative interest. MYSTICAL ELEGANCE 1 point win 5/2 bet365 Newbury 2.10 A field of nine face the judge for this 2M 3F class 3 novices’ handicap hurdle. Phillip Hoobs & Johnson White’s Into The Park and Nigel Twiston-Davies’s Spirits Bay head the weights and the market and come here both chasing hat tricks although both are up in the weights. As a four year old the Dan Skelton trained Kartoon And Co gets a healthy age allowance of 12lb and off of just 10 stone 2lb here, a weight which is jockey Harry Skelton’s bare minimum (he may well have to put up a pound overweight). He ran well at Sandown a fortnight ago when runner up in a handicap hurdle when well backed and with the extra 3F likely to suit looks the pick although I can’t resist a small each way saver on Nicky Henderson’s only runner of the day in handicap debutant Break My Soul, who’s recent second spot at Warwick has been boosted by the winner placing in graded company since and the third winning a handicap. We all know Henderson’s stable has been under a cloud but his only runner since Cheltenham was a winner at Kempton a week ago. KARTOON AND CO 1 point each way @ 8/1 BetVictor 1/5th 123 BREAK MY SOUL 1/2 point each way @ 16/1 bet365 1/5th 123 Doncaster 2.25 The Lincoln consolation race the Spring Mile Handicap has attracted eighteen runners and is run over the straight mile. Last year’s winner Harswell Duke is back to defend his title with the runner up Titian, third Maysong, seventh Arthur’s Realm and a few others all back as well. Harswell Duke did us a favour that day and can race here off of a 8lb lower mark mainly due to the fact that he lost his form after last year’s win. Although he’s 6lb worse off now I would prefer Julie Camacho’s Titian from last years race to come out best here. The one I want to be with though is the Tony Coyle & Caine Wood trained Thunder Roar with the booking of Jamie Spencer an eye caching one. He obviously adores the mud with form figures on soft or heavy reading 11213 which include a a heavy ground victory of a 7f race here in October. He teed up for this with an eye catching third at Southwell a fortnight ago and even though he has to prove he stays a mile looks the bet as long as stall number 1 is not a negative. THUNDER ROAR 1 point each way @ 8/1 bet365 1/5th 12345 Newbury 2.40 Just the seven have declared for this class 2 2M 4F handicap chase where last year’s winner Heltenham heads the market following another win here at the beginning of the month. He’s up 6lb for that win and 13lb in total from last years win. His best form appears to be on testing ground so drying conditions may not suit and I’ll take him on with Kerry Lee’s bottom weight Eaton Collina. He arrives in top form having won two handicaps at Wetherby in February rising 12lb for those success’s under today’s jockey Richard Patrick. He maybe the value bet against the favourite. EATON COLLINA 1 point each way @ 5/1 William Hill 1/5th 123 Doncaster 3.00 Seven line up for this 6F listed Cammidge Trophy. Bar the rank outsider Glorious Angel a case can be made for all with Karl Burke’s Marshman (first time tongue tie) and William Haggas’s Montassib jointly the best horses in the field although neither would want a real mud bath. The same could be said about Charlie Hills’s Orazio and with Baradar dropping down from a mile to 6F it maybe worth taking a swing with the only three year old in the field Adaay in Devon trained by Rod Millman who has his dual purpose stable in fine form currently winning with three of his last 8 runners at time of writing. She was a big improver through last summer and autumn winning four times, all on soft ground, before ending the season finishing 1 3/4L runner up in the listed Bosra Sham Stakes at Newmarket on heavy ground won by a well touted Godolphin filly. She gets not only a 5lb fillies allowance but also a hefty 13lb age allowance and could be the value play on ground she likes under Silvestre De Sousa. Back her each way with the firms paying three places in the seven runner field. ADAAY IN DEVON 1 point each way @ 14/1 William Hill 1/5th 123 Newbury 3.15 A wide open renewal of the EBF mares novices handicap hurdle run over 2M 4 1/2F with seventeen runners going to post. The race has a wide open look about it with many of the mares making their handicap debuts here. An interesting runner is the Dan Skelton trained Lindy Reilly who’s got in here off of a nice low mark following there starts and is worth watching closely. Barbury Castle trainer Alan King took his mare Kay Tara Tara up to Kelso to get qualified for this event 15 days ago on ground that was too soft for her but she ran well in defeat finishing 2 1/4L second to the re-opposing El Elefante and it will be no surprise if on 11lb better terms and on significantly better ground she turned that form around and runs a big race. KAY TARA TARA 1 point each way @ 12/1 888sport 1/5th 12345 Doncaster 3.35 The first big flat turf handicap of the season is the William Hill Lincoln run over the straight mile of Town Moor with a maximum field of twenty two gong to post. The front two in the market Awaal, who ran second in this last year to Migration and Liberty Lane,a course and distance winner at the St Leger meeting both hold decent claims with preference just for the latter who is trained by the in form Karl Burke and could be well drawn in stall 20 if last year’s renewal has anything to do with it especially now he’s been gelded. Both have been well found in the market mind as has last Monday’s Irish Lincoln winner Chazzesmee who if none the worse for that victory can be in the shake up. The most interesting runner to my eyes however is Lattam who’s joined Julie Camacho’s Yorkshire stable having been bought for a cheap looking 50,000 guineas. A winner first time out the last two seasons he loves soft ground and took the Irish equivalent first time out last season when in the care of William Haggas. Ryan Sexton is a good booking and from a draw in the middle means he can go either side if there appears an advantage earlier in the meeting. A tough call and whilst I wouldn’t put anyone off Liberty Lane it’s Lattam that appeals each way with the firms paying extra places. LATTAM 1 point each way @ 10/1 bet365 1/5th 123456

Wals Bucks 3:55 Hexham (5/4). Bit out paced at Sandown last time, steps up in trip and dropped a couple of pounds in this easier looking race, well backed already and an obvious chance if the step up in trip helps. 1pt in 5/4 (bet365) Disappointing, ran ok but just not good enough. P/L; -4.4pts.

Falmouth Boy ran with credit on their handicap debut and any form of improvement here could see them get of the mark at the second time of asking in this sphere. The drop back in trip is likely to suit as they faded late on last time and the form from that race hasnt worked out too badly. They are off a slight break but if ready to go they will be bang there. 0.5pts E/W @8/1 (3 places)

AW selection Lingfield 3.12 TRIBAL WISDOM

Wayfinder N/R Lilting Verse 3 15 Neb/ 1/40th of a pt ew 22/1 - 5th Expressionless 2 25 2 25/ 1/40th of a pt ew 18/1 P/L + 176.15 pt

😂 that is 3 days in a row now, that when we select our 2 choices for Daily Nap, the alternative comes in 👍 Lingfield 1.42 Gogo Yubari @ 9/1 EW WON ( yes we do 2 EW singles and EW double ) Newb 2.30 Deeper Blue 9/1 EW 2ND Newb 3.00 Ballybentragh 6/4 Huffin an a Puffin 16/1 EW WON Ling 3.45 Alafdhal 12/1 EW 3RD The Daily Nap in comp is at Newbury 4.08 Coquelicot @14/1 EW 🤞.......... 😨 wrong pick again!!!!!

tigarbytheyail 2.00

I think Elina Avanesyan has a very good shot at beating Ons Javeur. Jabuer right off form losing in straight sets to Volynets, Tsurenko and Haddad Maia. In between she won a couple of matches against Starodubtseva, Bronzettie and Krueger, but she was an overwhelming favorite for all 3 of those. Avanesyan demolished Andreeva. It was a proper spanking after being iced 2nd set (6-0 3-6 6-1) 1st set was literally 18 minutes. Andreeva then went for a bathroom break of 6 minutes which is a joke (impossible to be tired after 18 minutes of tennis). Avanesyan then squashed her in the 3rd (6-1). Avanesyan is very good. Physically fit and strong, and mentally tough, with confidence and a level of calmness. For me Jabeur looks the opposite. Unfit and at odds with her game, having lost 1st match in Qatar and Indian Wells. Taking the straight win for Avanesyan here but may even go whole hog and go for 2-0 in sets which is 4.5 I don't think Murray beats Etcheverry. Etcheverry beat him convincingly at the Aussie open, and Murray just does not have the physical capacity to play the grinding game, like he did in the past. He used to be the "Grinder" and now he is the "Grindee". OK, he beat Berrettini but Berrettini served poorly (64% 1st serve in). I watched Berrettini at the Aussie open v Kevin Anderson a few years back and he made 15 first serves in a row, so he is some way from his best. If his 1st serve is off, he struggles ... when it's on he gets endless freebee's. Murray should be figuring out how to shorten matches, volley and be more aggressive. The older he gets, the more his physical ability diminishes. Quicker matches helps him, and grinding 3 setters don't. But he refuses to try andything different, and the old way will not deliver any more.

As a young man i did speed figures for two year olds on the flat(there was no all weather racing back then) and had some success,and certainly a lot better knowledge of the form book. However, while i started with enthusiasm,i soon found the workload a bit of a chore,particularly when the losing runs hit.What finally put me off then(as still happens now),was the constant moving of the rails making distances longer or shorter than the officially stated.Thus (to my eyes at least), made the ratings at best unreliable. Interesting to see him mentioned here, and as an author i think Nick Mordin had few peers,indeed his book "Betting For a Living" was in my opinion the best book on horse racing betting that i have ever read.His book on speed ratings however lagged behind Andy Beyer's work "Beyer On Speed"(again only in my opinion). One must remember that Nick Mordin's phoneline (as there was back then) was regularly listed as one of the most unprofitable Horse Racing service around, costing his devoted followers dear-clearly the man could talk the talk,but couldn't really walk the walk-well not when the money was down anyway. Nick was last heard of having retired from Journalism to go and live in South Africa,a big loss to us all, as he had many thought provoking and innovative ideas...

Takeit Easy hasn't been seen since last may when finishing a good 3rd in a premier handicap. They have gone well fresh in the past and booking of good 5lb claimer Alice Stevens can see them go well again in an easier race than that day! Takeit Easy 0.5pts E/W @16/1 (4 places) 15:33 Newbury

unavailable 1.45 ew

Eddie temple 1.12

4th. Returns £90. March. + £71.69.

I've just done VETIVER 20/1eway bet365 ( 4 places ) It'll only be her 8th start with 3 wins over 7-8.5f on good to soft / soft & heavy , Balding / Probert good combo & she was 3rd in Group 3 fillies & mares over 7f here in September staying on , she's also already won a Listed , has had a 174 day break but won 1st time out last season & was placed on her debut run & i thought 20's was over priced ( probably be 50's now I've taken early price ) Slightly worried that @richard-westwoodhas picked Dutch Decoy as I used to have an eyelash in him but gave up on him when Johnston Snr would just run him on all weather but Johnston Jnr is doing a cracking job with him on turf .

I'm just backing Johan and Dutch decoy 10pts Ew both 12/1 and 25/1 ....blues I'm thinking probably wants better ground really hence dropped

I am OK to carry on

ESPAÑOL - TENERIFE Español-0.5 at 2.00 in BET365 (3/5 stake) El Espanyol sacked Ramis 12 days ago and appointed Dominguez, coach of the Espanyol B, as first team manager His first game was a difficult victory against Zaragoza Tomorrow they host a disappointing Tenerife, who seem to have returned to a couple of bad results after a good run. The home team has the best squad in the competition and at home is a favorite against any team Great odds for local victory

VILLAREAL B - LEGANES Leganes+0 at 1.75 (2/5 stake) in BET365 Villareal B has only won 1 match in 2024, it has entered the relegation zone and it gives the impression that it will end up relegated Leganes is being a very solid team and has practically been in direct promotion positions all season

Hungary to beat Turkey 11/8 New Zealand to beat Egypt 13/2 Singles

Got the goals, shame about the scorers! Diaz for Colombia v Spain at 9/2 looks ok.

Netherlands to beat Scotland 1/2 Albania to beat Chile 10/1 Singles

Wow, did not see that coming. Sorry if you got on. Going to be the 1st to withdraw from this group. All best going forward guys 👍

Bayern Munich II v Augsburg II over 0.5 goals @ 1.03.

I haven't had the chance to keep up to date with the Snooker in the last month but looking to get back into it after the weekend. I did hear that he lost to Vafaei though. I just think Ronnie hasn't got the determination tbh. If that talent was in another person then maybe they would have achieved so much more.

I don't know how you do it. I struggle to pick 4 on a Saturday.😆

I see you've gone for a 33 percent increase in bets today Lee. Best of luck.💰💰

E. Arango to beat L. Fernandez - 4.8 Betfair Fernandez has lost 4 of her last 5 matches, only beating the horrendously bad Pera recently. She retired in San Diego, on her vlog she was having trouble with her shoulder in Dubai I think it was so that could be the issue with her recent form because shoulders are important in tennis and if it's hurting, you can't play your game. Arango on the other hand came through qualifying here with three underdog wins and can move well getting lots of balls back. If Leylah is mostly fit she should come through but I think 1.25 is a bit short so going for Arango at this price.

This is also Sloane's home tournament so to speak, so she has the advantage there. Against Kerber it's more her style of play that causes Kerber problems. Kerber feeds off of pace and counter punches, redirecting fast balls to move her opponent around, but Sloane hits with more top spin and this prevents Kerber from generating pace off the ball as it comes to her. She's always had trouble against top spin hitters and Sloane made it 6-2 I think in the h2h for that reason.

2.12 lingfield little white dove 22/1 £10 e/w bet365

Day 85 +£94

Have not posted for a while. I think the Stephems Cirstea match is really 50-50. Stephens won at Indian wells but Cirstea beat her at the Qatar Open 6-2 6-3. I thought Kerber was quite poor in her match with Stephens. Slow on the court and quite a way from top level fitness ... hitting everything at one pace, with a really poor 2nd serve. Made Stephens look way better than she is. I would be interesting to Know when Cirstea got into the West Coast (how many days before match), but she has probably been in Miami for at least a week getting ready. I expect much more from her this time. Her year has really been defined by a terrible start losing 1st round at Brisbane, Adelaide and the Aussie. Cirstea is based in Dubai, and may just be a poor traveller. Australia quite a long flisght - poor results. USA West Coast the same.

👏 👍

Missed out on Singapore Open so only bets on Valspar Tried 1st rnd leader on I'm and m w Lee Speith and finau wins Dad has went harman, young, taylornand mcnealy.

Blues Emperor 3 35 Don/ 1/40th of a pt ew 20/1 Navagio 3 35 Don/ 1/40th of a pt ew 40/1 - 3rd

Spring mile Titian. 8.7 58 58. 13/2 Arthur's realm. 8.5 28 30 12/1 Magic memories. 8.5. 41 37 14/1 These three are clear of rest ....on class ratings you can see Titian is stand out but it's an open race and draw plays a part so I'll try 5pt wins all 3

It was a rather quiet week in the Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League this round due to the FA Cup Quarter-Finals leaving us with a limited Premier League schedule. There were no doubt lots of managers who either forgot to make the necessary changes to their squad or were unable to use a free hit so scores were lower than usual. Current leader @skyblues88 stretched his Show Me the Mane's side's lead at the top to 9 points despite only managing to earn 16 points as a team this week. Fortunately for Jay, none of the chasing pack managed to capitalise on this low-scoring week. It means we're left with a closely contested top end of the table heading into the international break. Only 9 rounds of action remain and this season could not be more finely-poised. Manager of the Week saw an unsurprisingly low score this week. However, the 41 points achieved by Carl Joiner's star of kings side was a solid effort given the average points total for the week was just 12 points and the highest score in the world was 78 points. It's the third time Joiner's taken home the Manager of the Week award which suggests his 43rd position in the table doesn't fairly reflect his managerial prowess. At the other end of the table, we saw a competitive battle for the lowest score and I believe history has been made. It's the first time we've actually had a 0 points score in this league. Not a huge shock given the few fixtures taking place and the fact some managers have clearly resigned themselves to failure this season! @HERE is undoubtedly one of the great competition participants across the Punters Lounge forum but in this particular competition, they are falling short. Their Upstarts team was solid in their own right but their lack of involvement in the fixtures this past weekend ruined Russell's hopes of getting any points. Come on, Russell, you're better than this! You'll end up being given the surname Kindelan if you carry on like this! As mentioned above, it's the international break now. So the deadline for the next round of matches is 11am UK time on Saturday 30th March. Plenty of time to over-think and let the paranoia set in!

Drop it back to 3 days because as proven this year there are just not enough horses and that will get worse with time. An analysis of doubly or more entered horses in races will tell any right minded person which graded races to drop there seems to be too many options for each horse. Even the handicaps had fewer entries this year.

Osasuna - Real Madrid 2 @ 1.55 Montpellier - PSG 2 @ 1.53 Dundee - Rangers 2 @ 1.33 Treble £ 31.93

Burnley (3.20) £10

West Ham/ Aston Villa (x) 3.80 10 points please

Toulouse Over 2.5 1.85 Dortmund Over 2.5 1.44 Sevilla Over 2.5 1.91 £10 Treble