Friday, March 11, 2011
Sports World |
- Sir Brian heading south to Aintree
- Baird out of World Championship
- Cheltenham Festival Day One – Did You Know?
- The Grand National – Winner Trends
| Sir Brian heading south to Aintree Posted: 11 Mar 2011 08:57 AM PST Scottish trainer Lucinda Russell is enjoying a fine season with her Silver By Nature looking a serious contender for honours in the forthcoming John Smith's Grand National on April 9, but the staying chaser will have company in the horsebox south from Kinross following the news that recent impressive Kelso scorer Bold Sir Brian will also be in action at the Aintree Festival, writes Elliot Slater. A horse who has always been considered an exciting long term prospect, Bold Sir Brian has measured up to expectations rather sooner than connections had anticipated much to the delight of those giving horse racing tips. The winner of a bumper at Ayr on his racecourse bow in December 2009, the Brian Boru gelding ran well to be second under his penalty in a Kelso bumper three months later. After being roughed off for the rest of the season the five-year-old returned to the fray to make his novice hurdles debut at Wetherby in November, running well for a long way and shaping as if the run would do him good in finishing fourth to Palace Jester. It's always easy with hindsight, but maybe the hint should have been taken when the always down-to-earth Russell entered Bold Sir Brian in the Grade 2 Totepool Premier Kelso Hurdle last weekend, a huge step up in class for a horse with just one hurdles run to his name. Both UK and Irish horse racing tips didn't mention the horse, sent off at odds of 20/1 under regular rider Peter Buchanan, the five-year-old made steady ground from the rear of the field and was produced to challenge the useful Desert Cry going to the last, before showing a ready change of gear to come away to score by nearly four-lengths. There was no fluke at all about his Kelso win and Russell is now prepared to take on the best around and bid for the Grade 2 John Smith's Mersey Novices Hurdle on Grand National day, the race won last year by star performer Peddlers Cross. It will be a surprise if Bold Sir Brian doesn't give a very good account of himself.  |
| Baird out of World Championship Posted: 11 Mar 2011 07:24 AM PST Sam Baird saw his chance to qualify for next month's World Championship snuffed out by Mike Dunn in Thursday's scintillating action. Baird had been on a strong run of form going into this qualifying game, having won five of his previous matches but he came unstuck against the Redcar player. Dunn's success means he will now face Mark King in the final qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship. Baird ended the first session 5-4 up, with breaks of 77, 125 and 74 contributing to his dominant position. However, Dunn was not to be deterred and won the next three frames to give himself a 7-5 lead. The match changed direction more often than a pendulum as Baird struck back, overturning Dunn's 8-7 lead by winning the next two frames to give himself a 9-8 advantage. However, Dunn won the next frame with a score of 87 to take the match into a deciding frame - and this went down to the wire and the snooker betting odds suggested things could have gone either way. Baird scored 32 but Dunn's following breaks of 27 and 36 appeared to be enough for him to prevail. He was leading by 32 points on the brown but Baird scored snookers on the blue and the pink to give himself a glimmer of hope. Baird potted the pink but Dunn sunk the black to claim victory by the narrowest of margins. In Thursday's other games, Michael Holt came back from being 7-3 in arrears to beat James McBain by ten frames to eight whilst Jamie Burnett turned an 8-5 deficit around to beat James Wattana 10-8. Jimmy White's conqueror Liu Chuang beat Tom Ford 10-8 whilst David Gilbert and Robert Milkins also tasted success. The 16 qualifiers from this tournament will play in the prestigious World Snooker Championship which is held at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre from April 16 to May 2. John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are the two favourites to lift the crown.  |
| Cheltenham Festival Day One – Did You Know? Posted: 11 Mar 2011 06:21 AM PST There are seven races on Day One of the Festival, here are some facts on the races that you may not know and are sure to be on interest to anyone placing Cheltenham 2011 bets. Stan James Supreme Novices Hurdle The 1993 winner, Montelado, holds a unique position in the history of The Festival at Cheltenham. He is the only horse to have won consecutive Festival races, landing the Weatherbys Champion Bumper in 1992, the last race of that year's meeting, and returning to win the Supreme Novices' Hurdle in 1993, the first race 12 months later. Those planning to bet on Cheltenham racing may want to bear this in mind. Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase Arkle never actually ran in the race that was named after him, but it has proved a tremendous pointer to the Champion Chase, which augurs well for the chance of the 2010 winner Sizing Europe in the 2011 version of the Champion Chase. The Stewart Family Spinal Research Handicap Chase Over the years this race has proved a good trial for the Grand National with five winners going on to do the double. Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy There have been as many as 13 multiple winners in the history of the race including five horses who have won the race on three occasions. Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase The fences on the Cross Country course are made of "living" materials growing trees, shrubs and bushes, which are regularly trimmed for racing. David Nicholson Mares Hurdle This race is named after the legendary Cotswolds trainer who became the first person to train three winners in a day for over 50 years when Putty Road (Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle), Viking Flagship (Queen Mother Champion Chase) and Kadi (Byrne Group Plate) all triumphed on March 15, 1995. Centenary Novices Handicap Chase All six winners had won no more than once over fences, suggesting the handicapper had yet to get the bottom of the horse's true ability.  |
| The Grand National – Winner Trends Posted: 11 Mar 2011 04:04 AM PST With the exceptional challenge that the race presents it's no surprise that many punters, regular and once a year alike view the Grand National spectacular as difficult to solve as the lottery but some exceptionally strong trends have developed over the years which can be a useful aid to winner finding. Indeed, for reasons of weight, age, official rating and previous National experience, well over two-thirds of the field can normally be discounted when searching for the winner. Let's take a look at some of the stronger statistical trends that surround the "Great Race". The age of a horse is probably one if the easiest facts to look up and those aged seven and under are going to struggle – you have to go back to the 1940 running to find the last successful horse aged seven and a further 28 years beyond that to find the last six-year-old who was victorious in this race. At the other end of the age scale those in their teenage years are always going to struggle – in fact no teenager has won for 89 years and we have not had one of that age in the frame since 1969. You would think that stamina would be a prime requisite for a Grand National runner but year after year punters get sucked into thinking that horses that have never won over 3 miles are magically going to stay the 4M 4F of the National. Every single winner of the National since Gay Trip in 1970 had previously won over three miles or further over fences, so the claim that two-and-a-half milers make perfect Grand National contenders is misleading. Those two simple statistics can quite often rule out plenty of the runners in the field – but if you add a few more simple trends then you can quite quickly cut down a complex looking field to a few strong candidates. Other areas that you should consider are ones of experience – all of the last ten winners have had at least a double figure number of starts over fences. The advent of in-play betting has also made the Grand National puzzle easier to solve. The Grand National is now a far classier race than it was and it should also pay to examine your selections ability to be operate in this class - of the last ten winners all had demonstrated their class to win this race by previously landing a Listed or Graded (Class A or 1) race. There are more detailed and complex statistics surrounding the National but just applying those above should give you more chance of finding the winner.  |
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