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Saturday 19 May 2012

Tuesday 1 May 2012

2:20 Pontefract

A tip for the 2nd May.

Michael Dods has started the season in fine form with recent two-year-old winner Lucies Diamond prevailing at Ripon. Mash Potato - a bay gelding by Whipper - is worth a second glance on his debut. A £16,000 yearling, this April foal is a half-brother to Group-winning Philario. This looks a fair maiden but a tissue price of 16/1 makes a fair each way bet from a stable which has commented they have some talented juveniles.

Thursday 16 February 2012

No Dods-on Shots for this Canny Trainer

Racing clichés. You either love or hate them: Horses for courses. Always back the outsider of three. What about the old chestnut, backing the top weight in a nursery? Whether these proverbs contain a grain of truth is a matter for debate. However, who would your money be on if you to wanted to back a big priced winner on debut?

High Class Equine, who specialise in two-year-old horse racing, have one trainer who might just have the answer. The likelihood of most horses winning at speculative odds on debut is remote. While fashionable stables are held in high regard, their juveniles rarely prevail at fancy odds. By contrast, smaller stables may have umpteen runners at fantastic odds. But, in truth, you are more likely to be struck by a meteorite from Mars than see them win. However, take a look at today's racing results and the chances are a speculative-priced two-year-old has prevailed. But what is the secret to finding such winners?

It may be as simple as following a given horse trainer.

One handler worth keeping on side is Michael Dods. Training just outside Darlington, Denton Hall Stables has been a home to many a talented horses over the years. What’s more, their juveniles are capable of winning at speculative odds on debut. In fact, from studying their runners over the last few seasons it could be argued many outsiders have run bigger races than their more fancied horses. In recent years, Dods’ juveniles have been winning at fancy odds. I still have fond memories of Magic Echo winning at 66/1. Now it would be foolish to imagine every horse trained by Dods will win at those fancy odds. However, his juveniles often enjoy testing conditions, and that combined with travelling to one of the trainer’s favourite racecourse can make for an interesting wager.

The next time you see one of his speculative-priced two-year-olds making its debut at Newcastle, in soft/heavy ground, you won’t go far wrong having a canny each way bet.

This outsider could well prove a winner tip.

Friday 27 January 2012

2012 Presidential Election - Republican Nominee

I've been keeping a keen eye on the Republican primaries, in part because US politics is infinitely more dramatic and interesting compared to here in the UK. Mitt Romney performed well in last night's debate compared to Newt Gingrich and as such is now firm favourite to win Florida. However, there's still a long way to go and there's an outside danger than if Romney fails to completely shake off the competition those within the party will begin to worry. If that situation comes about there's a chance that someone like Mitch Daniels or Jeb Bush could be pushed forward as an alternative. It wouldn't matter that they didn't have any delegates because delegates are not binding. As such if the party loses faith in a candidates ability to seal the deal they may start looking elsewhere. With these two alternatives at odds of 200-1 +, it's worth keeping them in mind. Your best bet would be to wait until we've seen the results from the Caucus' on 3rd and 7th of February. It could be the Romney has effectively sealed the deal by then. If not though, and his momentum looks to be once again stalling, it could be time to go for a longshot.