arsenalfh

All reports from the Sporting Life;
 
Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle (Tuesday March 15)
Charbel makes every yard (Musselburgh, Feb 7) Huntingdon breeze for Buveur (Huntingdon, Jan 29) It'safreebee takes Supreme Trial (Haydock, Jan 23) Min makes mincemeat of Moscow Flyer rivals (Punchestown, Jan 9) Yorkhill too good in Tolworth (Sandown, Jan 2) Supasundae handed Supreme test, (Leopardstown, Dec 27) Altior blitzes Kempton field (Kempton, Dec 26) Yanworth takes trial in style (Ascot, Dec 18) Min Makes impressive debut (Punchestown, Dec 10) Bachasson cut for Supreme, despite defeat (Fairyhouse, Nov 29) Buveur D'Air looks smart prospect (Newbury, Nov 27) Altior gets better of Maputo (Cheltenham, Nov 15) Arkle Chase (Tuesday March 15)
Vaniteux in the driving seat (Doncaster, Jan 30) Douvan delicious at Leopardstown (Leopardstown, Jan 24) Simples for Serge (Wetherby, Jan 16) Too easy for L'Ami Serge (Plumpton, Jan 3) No issue for odds-on Shaneshill (Naas, Jan 3) Moore's Mad change of heart (Kempton, Dec 27) Douvan posts easy victory (Leopardstown, Dec 26) Vaniteux shines in Starlight (Kempton, Nov 23) Douvan delivers on fences debut (Navan, Nov 22) Garde La Victoire extends unbeaten run (Cheltenham, Nov 15) Champion Hurdle (Tuesday March 15)
 
Annie enters Champion frame (Punchestown, Feb 17) Sempre victory always likely (Gowran, Feb 13) Faugheen awesome in Irish Champion (Leopardstown, Jan 24) The New One makes hay in the mud (Haydock, Jan 23) Faugheen bounces back in Christmas (Kempton, Dec 26) Old Guard is International superstar (Cheltenham, Dec 12) Fire burns bright in Hatton's Grace (Fairyhouse, Nov 29) Irving battles to win Price Rush Hurdle (Haydock, Nov 21) Old Guard wins Greatwood Hurdle (Cheltenham, Nov 15) Nichols Canyon beats Faugheen (Punchestown, Nov 15) Neptune Novices' Hurdle (Wednesday March 16)
Bleu sinks Deloitte hotpots (Leopardstown, Feb 6) King blown away by Yanworth (Cheltenham, Jan 30) Hobson's choice for Walsh? (Warwick, Jan 16) Bellshill lands the odds for Mullins (Naas, Jan 3) Champers is toast of Cheltenham (Cheltenham, Jan 1) Long Dog has his day (Leopardstown, Dec 27) Bellshill eases to Navan win (Navan, Dec 13) North Hill Harvey draws clear (Cheltenham Dec 11) Long Dog lands Royal Bond (Fairyhouse, November 29) Shantou Village lands Neptune trial (Cheltenham, Nov 13) RSA Chase (Wednesday March 16)
Victory for Vyta Du Roc (Ascot, Feb 20) Jumping proves Hercules' Achilles heel (Navan, Feb 14) Out Sam enters RSA picture (Newbury, Feb 13) Blaklion grounds it out (Wetherby, Feb 6) Herculean effort at Warwick (Warwick, Jan 16) Francs too strong for Pont (Naas, Jan 16) Seeyouatmidnight stars on New Year's Day (Cheltenham, Jan 1) Outlander denies stablemate (Limerick, Dec 27) Lizzie Kelly makes history with Tea For Two (Kempton, Dec 26) More Of That eases to win (Cheltenham, Dec 12) Blaklion makes amends (Cheltenham, Dec 11) Pont Alexandre returns with a win (Punchestown, Dec 6) Heroes new RSA fav after Drinmore win (Fairyhouse, Nov 29) Vicente beats Un Temps Pour Tout (Cheltenham, Nov 14) More Of That shows Steel (Cheltenham, Nov 13) Champion Chase (Wednesday March 16)
Gamble landed in Game Spirit (Newbury, Feb 13) Un De Sceaux sinks Sire (Ascot, Jan 23) Sprinter digs deep in Desert (Kempton, Dec 27) Sceaux falls as Flemenstar shines (Leopardstown, Dec 27) Super Sire back in the Tingle groove (Sandown, Dec 5) Sprinter triumphs in Shloer Chase (Cheltenham, Nov 15) JLT Novices' Chase (Thursday March 17)
Serge fails in Kingmaker prep (Warwick, Feb 13) Bristol De Mai jumps them Scilly (Sandown, Feb 6) Outlander shines in Flogas (Leopardstown, Feb 6) Bristol cruises to victory (Haydock, Jan 23) Incredible vic-tory for Killultagh (Leopardstown, Jan 17) Zabana makes a flying start (Leopardstown, Dec 28) Three Musketeers bounces back (Newbury, Nov 27) Winning fences debut for Monksland (Gowran Park, Nov 21) Ryanair Chase (Thursday March 17)
Smashing effort in Red Mills Chase (Gowran, Feb 13) Al and Smad not up to task (Kempton, Dec 26)  Ferof saunters home in Peterborough (Huntingdon, Dec 6) Vautour wins Stella Artois 1965 Chase (Ascot, Nov 21) World Hurdle (Thursday March 17)
Falcon swoops in Boyne Hurdle (Navan, Feb 14) Track no issue for 'crack (Cheltenham, Jan 30) Vroum Vroum Mag hoses up (Ascot, Jan 23) Obeaux calls the tune in Galmoy (Gowran Park, Jan 21) Camping storms into World Hurdle frame (Cheltenham, Jan 1) Prince Of Scars claims Christmas (Leopardstown, Dec 28) Thistlecrack wins Long Walk Hurdle (Ascot, Dec 19) Thistle cracks World Hurdle hero (Newbury, Nov 28) Triumph Hurdle (Friday March 18)
Frodon bursts Kap bubble (Haydock, Feb 20) Tommy takes the Triumph (Musselburgh, Feb 7) Footpad springs surprise (Leopardstown, Feb 6) Connetable ends chance of Peace (Sandown, Feb 6) Fehily is fine Flos rider (Cheltenham, Jan 30) Rock solid run from Gibralfaro (Ascot, Jan 23) Finale delight for Adrien (Chepstow, Jan 9) Budge beats Pillard to spoils (Sandown, Jan 2) Gibralfaro downs Duke (Kempton, Dec 27) Gorbatov beats Let's Dance (Leopardstown, Dec 27) Apple's Jade strikes knockout blow (Kempton, Dec 26) Sceau Royal beats old rivals (Cheltenham, Dec 12) Bargain-buy Rashaan lands Fairyhouse win (Fairyhouse, Nov 29) Wolf Of Windlesham holds off rivals (Cheltenham, Nov 14) Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle (Friday March 18)
Harry delivers knock out blow (Exeter, Feb 14) Seven lands Scottish Trial (Musselburgh (Feb 7) Hill scales new heights (Doncaster, Jan 30) Unowhatimeanharry lands trial (Cheltenham, Dec 12) Ruby Walsh impressed with Yorkhill (Punchestown, December 6) Brilliant Barters enjoys Challow cruise (Newbury, Dec 29) Cheltenham Gold Cup (Friday March 18)
Lough denies Road riches (Leopardstown, Feb 6) Djakadam falls, Smad Place wins (Cheltenham, Jan 30) Don back in the groove (Thurles, January 14) Lexus delight for Mullins and Don (Leopardstown, Dec 28) Cue Card tees up £1 million bonus (Kempton, Dec 26) Djakadam slams John Durkan field (Punchestown, Dec 6) Don Poli stars on Aintree return (Aintree, Dec 5) Smad smashes Hennessy rivals (Newbury, Nov 28) Vautour wins Stella Artois 1965 Chase (Ascot, Nov 21) Cue Card triumphs in Betfair Chase (Haydock, Nov 21)  

I personally rearly watch C4 racing anymore.  In the days of big mac, derek thompson and especially john francome, the coverage was both entertaining and informative.  If john francome put up a tip you would take notice as it would more often than not make the frame and they wouldnt be short price favourites either.  Since these guys were replaced I have found c4's coverage very boring.  The raport that was in abundance with the old presenters just isn't there anymore.  I also find it very annoying that the results section has been ditched.  You are watching a racing programme but never get any racing results. Can anyone tell me of any other televised sport where this happens

Great stuff. 3 winners and Sporting utterly dominant.
Guimaraes also put up a good fight against Benfica and on another day may have got something from the game.

Sporting-Porto
Assuming christmas and new year didn't mess sporting players minds and body, I think this will be a easy win for sporting, since despite Porto first place, they performances had been somewhat inconsistent that range from appaling to decent and looks worsening over time, they only win because the later teams they faced are very poor. Sporting is very solid team and seems even improving each day they play. The last game they lost against U.Madeira they were just very unlucky. Clear value on sporting. My bets (divide stake unit for all):
EH Sporting -1, at 5.00
Sporting to win, at 2.5
Sporting to win HT, at 3.25
Guimaraes - Benfica
Benfica has been with inconsistent performances, and odds are good for Guimaraes possibility to win here.
Guimaraes to win, at 6.75
Setubal-Braga
Setubal is the sensation team of the liga, they are playing good football and with above average performaces. Braga is good team, but odds for Setubal winning are too high.
Setubal to win, at 4.00

Lizzie Kelly becomes the first woman rider to sore a grade one win in the UK.......
But don't be tempted by RSA quotes.........that horse is useless going left handed
So far it's run 14 times under rules.......8 times RH, 6 times LH
right-hand tracks - 11111211
left-hand tracks -  2, 2, 3, PU, 6, 7

Just posting this reply to move the thread in front of the 3 pages of spam threads really. Leopardstown is heavy. I live up here & have never seen heavier & more consistent rain in my life. I know they have decent drainage up there now but this really was a deluge. The cloud is back in on the mountain now & the rain is starting up again though it's only drizzle but is due to stay for the day. I'm heading up shortly & will be backing any horses with form on heavy ground. Best of luck to all. Cheers.
 
Edit: Rain getting heavier now too. I'm looking for outsiders that like it heavy so with that in mind Baroque Style (Leop 1:50) who has a 2nd on heavy ground (Robbie Power was on board that day) & jockey Luke Dempsey claims 3. Also solidifies my punt on Grotesque (Leop 3:25) who won on heavy ground back in March.

Coto only 5th but Capelita was impressive winning 6L on the bridle. Another fantastic looking purchase by Appleby and connections.

South 230 
Cross fire  98.44
Coto   98.41
Best trip 98.35 
 
Trappy race ..cross fire has the best form overall and conditions to suit ....im slightly surprised to see him fav but just shows bookies fear him too ...coto has decent ew chances and looks the most likely to benefit should the fav fail to fire ....
Cross fire  3 pts win 7/2 pp
Coto  1 pts win 7/1 bet365

Many times when I see a horse unseat the jockey I often think "AP would have stayed on that.".
I agree, STD had no need to apologise. STD is a 100% genuine good-guy.

Was Sam Twiston Davies right to come out and apologise over Hawkhurst today or should he have just got on with it.
It cost me a nice treble but thats racing.
Paul Nicholls said "You do not need to apologise to anyone, these things happen and you know he is 'quirky' at home. Move on."
In my opinion STD could do nothing about it.

Free Eagle was disappointing but Esoterique just missed out on the places and Dariyan ran well to finish third. He got outpaced for a bit down the back and when he was making his challenge had to check left costing momentum yet only finished a length and a half behind Flintshire without Soumillon asking too much of him in the final furlong. He saw the track for the first time in April and looks like the typical French type to improve again at 4. He's a horse to follow next year I think.

He had a setback and the yard are "hoping to get him back later in the season for some of the big spring festivals".

I really can't believe how Chelsea are such a short a price tomorrow. Cesc and Matic have gone missing, they don't have a striker and they have one of the worst defensive records in the league. Mourinho's record in his 3rd season as manager is poor and it looks as if he has no idea how to turn things around. At Porto and Inter he was gone before his 3rd season but in his first stint at Chelsea things went wrong and he was sacked, same at Real Madrid after a poor third season by their standards and the same looks to be happening again.
Porto will be kicking themselves as they really should be top of the group and qualified at this stage but for some silly goals conceded against Kiev. They're the best side in the group and need a win at Stamford Bridge. Although their record in England is poor the matches are hardly comparable as they're facing a side who is struggling above the relegation zone this time, not a side at the top of the league. This will be Porto's 3rd game in a week but they've rotated most of their team and will no doubt have had this game in their mind for a long time.
One of my criticisms of Porto under Lopetegui is how rigid they have been in attack. Against deep defences they often rely on a piece of magic from their wide players because there is little movement in between the opposition lines or in behind making the centre of the pitch extremely packed. Because they need a win hopefully we'll see more movement in and around Aboubakar and more runs from midfield especially from Andre Andre who knows how to find the net and if they play like that I can't see how Chelsea stop them from scoring. Porto are also strong at the back and they'll be delighted looking at Chelsea's options up front at the moment.
At the prices I can't see how you make a case for Chelsea.
Porto @ 10/3 BetVictor

Who can still qualify?
This uefa.com article shows the permutations:
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2310794.html

I thought it was a terrible decision although I knew it was the one they would make
Special Tiara was very hard done by.........if I'd had money on him I'd be incredibly pee'd off
That bump surely cost him more than a length but it was the momentum.......he was the one who was going strongest and was catching 'SdG'...........to my mind it was a certainty that he would have gone past and won the race without the interference
 
 
 

I know it's dumb
Similarly either last week or the week before we had two consecutive days where ATR had 3 meetings then 4 meetings and RUK had no meetings at all for 2 days
Surely it wouldn't be impossible to jiggle the midweek fixtures so that both channels had at least one meeting a day

The points weren’t solely about getting on- the value has been smashed up the night before and limited amounts of cash have formed markets – so in theory Bookmakers should have more confidence to lay bets -but they don’t! Punters aren’t stupid when they feel any sort of value has been sucked out of the game they will walk away – The In running markets are still thriving on other sports, but punters still have issues with exchange charges if they are very successful.
This is ultimately leading to less liquidity (Especially on Horse Racing bread & butter markets) – many would argue it’s totally over saturated anyway and it should be culled. Less Racing means less jockeys –less trainers etc etc ! You could write a book on the problems within this industry and one of the biggest problems is they all pull in different directions, so the reality of getting anything sorted out for the people who are the life blood of sport seems extremely unlikely. .

Great stuff Richard!
Was on for a 5 grand each way treble in the next if Irish Cavalier held on though.  
Thought he was the winner trading at almost 1/2 in running and I hope he held onto 5th.

Hayley Turner retired today officially from race riding with one last winner. She got her mount up on the the line in a thrilling finish in the penultimate race of the International Jockey Challange at Turffontein: http://www.sportingpost.co.za/2015/11/delpech-is-victor-ludorum/
Will post a reply of the race if I find it - well done Haley! 

big race thoughts and form ....
just finished rating current declarations ....risky to bet at this stage as usually only 20 go to post and currently 28 runners but some decent prices on offer so ill chance it before the value evaporates 
annacotty    99.21
boondooma  99.17
sound investment  99.12
kings palace     99.12
 
always a tough race to call and throws up shock results but some decent value in the top two here ...both lightly raced fast improvers ...just the type that does well in this ...boondooma is vying for favourite around the 8/1 mark and that looks very fair ......annacotty ran a fabulous race at chelt and returns here just 3 lbs higher so has to have outstanding chances if reproducing that .....20/1 just looks amazing value and looks overpriced .....nice value bets in an open race .....just hope they both run 
annacotty  5 pts win 20/1 corals 
boondoona   5 pts win 8/1 corals 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Arsenal will be happy with a draw. Would Bayern too? (Both clubs might fancy their chance against Zagreb and Olympiakos in their last two games). If both sides are focussed on not losing then it could be a low-scoring game.

19. PRINCE OF PENZANCE
Trainer: Darren Weir. Jockey: Michelle Payne. Barrier: 1. Odds: $81
Every year, there are always a couple of Melbourne Cup horses which couldn’t win the race with a 100m headstart and a jetpack on their rear fetlocks. Prince of Penzance has a good trainer, jockey and barrier. But if you draw him in your office sweep, your best bet is to swap tickets sneakily with the office drunk. Either that or quit your job.
 
Funny game at times!

The growth of the betting history has affected racing. It's easy to have an opinion on a football match but much harder to pick the winner of the big Saturday handicap for example as robertob alluded to before. No longer does your average punter have to go and follow pricewise to have a bet but just assemble a quick football or rugby acca.
That's not entirely C4's fault but their coverage is awful. There are a few trainers like John Gosden who make interesting points but no one really wants to hear the usual repetitive rubbish from jockeys and trainers every week. No one wants to hear the panel go on about how tough the handicap is and who their selection would be if they had a bet while Tanya reports the each-way money for a horse clipped into 7s from 8s despite drifting on the exchanges. Not only is it extremely repetitive for the people interested in the racing but any casual punter who wants to have a bet is probably going to be pushed over to Saturday football.
Cramming all the good racing into Saturdays is hardly the way to go as the sport is never going to overshadow the Premier League. The BHA should be looking at putting some of the big Saturday flat meetings later in the day to avoid the main football action and some decent racing during the week and on Sundays too. The Irish Champion works well on Saturday evening and the 1000 Guineas works on a Sunday so there's no reason why the schedule should be so focused on Saturday afternoons. Isn't the evening meeting at Sandown early in the flat season extremely popular as well?
Interestingly the big festivals at Aintree, Cheltenham, Punchestown and the Christmas Festival at Leopardstown seem more popular than ever so it's not as if racing is completely on the decline despite dropping viewing figures. Is jumps on the up despite issues in the lower ranks?
Another thing is these ridiculous bookie restrictions. It's understandable that bookmakers are businesses and need to make a profit but not being able to get a tenner on an evens shot is quite frankly a disgrace. I logged onto my Boyles account a couple of weeks back to place a bet on the RWC but couldn't get 10 euro on Uruguay to beat the handicap against Fiji. A multi million euro company couldn't lay a small stakes punter like me 10 quid at evens. I later got an email saying I was restricted despite placing just twenty one 10 euro bets with them. If people are getting restricted that easily how can people maintain interest in betting which is crucial to the success of horse racing?

The growth of the betting history has affected racing. It's easy to have an opinion on a football match but much harder to pick the winner of the big Saturday handicap for example as robertob alluded to before. No longer does your average punter have to go and follow pricewise to have a bet but just assemble a quick football or rugby acca.
That's not entirely C4's fault but their coverage is awful. There are a few trainers like John Gosden who make interesting points but no one really wants to hear the usual repetitive rubbish from jockeys and trainers every week. No one wants to hear the panel go on about how tough the handicap is and who their selection would be if they had a bet while Tanya reports the each-way money for a horse clipped into 7s from 8s despite drifting on the exchanges. Not only is it extremely repetitive for the people interested in the racing but any casual punter who wants to have a bet is probably going to be pushed over to Saturday football.
Cramming all the good racing into Saturdays is hardly the way to go as the sport is never going to overshadow the Premier League. The BHA should be looking at putting some of the big Saturday flat meetings later in the day to avoid the main football action and some decent racing during the week and on Sundays too. The Irish Champion works well on Saturday evening and the 1000 Guineas works on a Sunday so there's no reason why the schedule should be so focused on Saturday afternoons. Isn't the evening meeting at Sandown early in the flat season extremely popular as well?
Interestingly the big festivals at Aintree, Cheltenham, Punchestown and the Christmas Festival at Leopardstown seem more popular than ever so it's not as if racing is completely on the decline despite dropping viewing figures. Is jumps on the up despite issues in the lower ranks?
Another thing is these ridiculous bookie restrictions. It's understandable that bookmakers are businesses and need to make a profit but not being able to get a tenner on an evens shot is quite frankly a disgrace. I logged onto my Boyles account a couple of weeks back to place a bet on the RWC but couldn't get 10 euro on Uruguay to beat the handicap against Fiji. A multi million euro company couldn't lay a small stakes punter like me 10 quid at evens. I later got an email saying I was restricted despite placing just twenty one 10 euro bets with them. If people are getting restricted that easily how can people maintain interest in betting which is crucial to the success of horse racing?