UK Horse Racing Tips

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With winter setting in and 2016 drawing to a close the Flat Season is almost over for another year. In 2016, the Flat Season runs from 2 April until Saturday 5 November where the season ends at the November Handicap.

The 2015 British Champion title was won by Brazilian-born Silvestre de Sousa, but it looks like he won’t be getting his hands on the trophy for a second year in a row.

With less than a fortnight left of the Flat Season we take a look at the most-successful jockeys in 2016 so far:

Jim Crowley

With 181 wins this season and an incredible 376 places in his 979 rides, Jim Crowley is currently leading the way The Stobart Flat Jockeys Championship. Crowley won his first British Champion Title earlier this year as part of an amazing season is he having.

Born near the famous Ascot racecourse itself, Jim Crowley began his career as an amateur flat racing jockey before switching to National Hunt Racing. He rode close to 300 winners in National Hunt before making the switch back to Flat Racing professionally, riding for his sister-in-law Amanda Perrett.

Jim Crowley’s wins so far this season include the sporting odds of 12/1 winner at Cheltenham earlier this month, riding Omeros.

Silvestre de Sousa

The 2015 British Champion Title winner with 132 runs is some 17 wins back this year on Jim Crowley. Silvestre de Sousa has an impressive 164 wins so far in 2016 with a strike rate of 17.6% and a Place rate of 37.1% – both narrowly behind the soon-to-be 2016 champion.

Born in São Francisco do Maranhão, Brazil, de Sousa joined Irish trainer Dermot Weld at the age of 22, before moving to England to work with Yorkshire-based trainer David Nicholls. His breakthrough came in 2007 before he reached his maiden century of winners in 2010,

Silvestre de Sousa’s most-notable win in 2016 may have been riding 14/1 Foie Gras at Cheltenham in October.

Luke Morris

Branded “Britain’s Busiest Jockey”, the Oxfordshire-born Luke Morris has already racked up an incredible 1,197 runs and 147 wins in 2016. In 2012, he racked up more than a mind-blowing 1,500 rides, truly earning the title. However, a strike rate of only 12.3% puts him 37 wins behind Jim Crowley.

Earlier this month Luke Morris rode Marsha to a 16/1 win at Chantilly.

Adam Kirby

27-year-old Adam Kirby comfortably sits in fourth place – some 18 wins ahead of Joe Fanning and 17 behind Luke Morris as we head into the final days of the 2016 season.

Kirby has registered came in at a brilliant 130 wins and 262 places in his 769 rides so far this season. That gives him a better strike rate than the two jockeys directly above him, but still not match to Jim Crowley’s 18.5% success rate.

The opening day of Royal Ascot 2016 is a moment Kirby will never forget. His partner went into labour at 2am, finishing less than an hour before the start of the first race!

With summer officially over and the evenings getting darker earlier, you’d be forgiven for thinking there’s very little horse racing to look forward to before the New Year celebrations in a few months time. But don’t fear, whilst there are still days left in the year, there is still time to take more money from the bookmakers pockets in time to treat your loved ones at Christmas. Here’s a rundown of the big meetings left in 2016.

Later in October, Ascot will host some of the most sought after titles at the British Champions Day. Amongst the trophies up for grabs on Saturday 15th October is the Champions Sprint Stakes. Currently there are currently two favourites with odds of 4/1 to win the title at online bookmakers Betway. The Coolmore Nunthorpe winner Mecca’s Angel is one of those, but recently many experts have doubted the horse’s ability to win a number of upcoming races. The joint favourite Quiet Reflection has almost the opposite story, as a huge number of pundits have suddenly backed the horse for great things after winning the Sprint Cup at Haydock Park in September. Behind those two are another three strong horses that all share odds of 7/1 at Betway – Limato, The Tin Man and Twilight Son. With a lot of uncertainty over the favourites, this looks like an ideal race to take a risk on an outsider. But if you don’t fancy braving the British weather this autumn and winter, you can get great odds on online betting on today’s races at Betway.com.

Also in October, Newmarket will host the Dewhurst Stakes. The current favourite is the suitably named Churchill, who has constantly won four races in the last four months. In June he won at Ascot, in July he won at Leopardstown and in both August and September he has won at Curragh. It seems whatever course and even whatever jockey rides him, you can be quite confident at getting a small return with odds of 8/13 at Betway. If you’re looking for a bigger reward, then second favourite South Seas has also won his last three races. He could easily win you a nice return with odds of 5/1 also at online bookmakers Betway.

But the biggest day of racing to look forward to this winter is of course Boxing Day. Amongst the races across the country on the day after Christmas Day is the King George VI Chase at Kempton. The current favourite by some distance at betting website Betway is currently Vautour. The seven year old came second in the race last year, and currently has odds of 7/2. Behind him is the horse that beat him last year Cue Card, but the previous winner has odds of just 5/1 for this year’s race. The popular horse has won just once since last Boxing Day, and performed badly at his last outing at Punchestown finishing just forth.

American trainer Wesley Ward has confirmed his intentions for two of his leading sprinters, with British racegoers set to enjoy a second glimpse of the outstanding filly Lady Aurelia at Newmarket in the autumn.

Lady Aurelia lit up Royal Ascot last month with the manner of her blistering Queen Mary Stakes win.

The daughter of Scat Daddy was making just her second racecourse appearance as she delivered a breathtaking turn of foot to score over five-furlongs underneath Frankie Dettori.

That victory was enough to earn Lady Aurelia early quotes for York’s Nunthorpe Stakes but her trainer suggested she would be unlikely to contest that race against her elders, given that his Acapulco had been turned over by Mecca’s Angel when attempting to do just that last August.

Renowned for his prowess in training prodigious sprinters, Ward has now confirmed that Acapulco will get a second bite at the cherry in the Nunthorpe at York, a race for which he is already prominent in the horse racing betting as he bids to go one better than last year.

While Acapulco heads to the Knavesmire, Lady Aurelia is destined for France before returning to British shores in September for a run at Newmarket.

The Prix Morny at Deauville on 21^st August will see the filly stepping up in trip to 6f, with Lady Aurelia then bound for Flat HQ and the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes over the same trip the following month.

There can be no doubt about it: this filly is perhaps the most exciting horse to emerge on the Flat since the great Frankel.

The official rating of 123 that was awarded by the Racing Post for her sublime effort at Royal Ascot is the highest ever awarded to a two-year-old of either sex over five furlongs.

On paper, that was a stunning performance and it is perhaps only eclipsed by how impressive it looked to the naked eye as Lady Aurelia increased the tempo at the 2f pole having set a keen pace in front.

The sense of excitement to see this filly in action again is already palpable as the racing world ponders whether, quite simply, she is as good as she looked at Ascot.

Just before she pitches up in France, however, Acapulco will return to York.

Also out of Scat Daddy, Acapulco was forced to sit out Royal Ascot with the soft ground going against him. Soft ground too may have been at play when he was collared by Mecca’s Angel at York last August.

Ward will be keeping his fingers crossed for clear skies overhead in Yorkshire in the weeks between now and 19^th August.

The noises emanating from the camp pre-Ascot suggested that Acapulco is now a stronger and more imposing individual than he was last term, his trainer seemingly convinced the horse has trained on well since his winter break.

Both are now at home in Keeneland, where Ward confirmed them to be in great order ahead of their upcoming missions to Europe.

The trainer stated that ‘the flights are booked’ for both Lady Aurelia and Acapulco and so the countdown is on for these two jet-like speedsters to make their next European appearances.

We all think we know how to beat the system but is there a way of making regular profits at online casinos? There are certainly no guarantees but many believe they have the methods to ensure that they win more often than they lose.

Here are two popular strategies that are worth looking at in greater detail.

The Hawks Method

The Hawks System is deployed at the roulette tables and takes on the concept of mathematical probability. The theory is that you place a bet which is close to 50 / 50 – e.g. Red or Black and if it wins you collect but if you were to lose, then you simply double your stake until the right colour drops in, thereby collecting a profit as soon as your bet lands.

It’s the type of strategy that could see you removed from a land based casino but there is some basis behind the concept when you’re playing online, away from the CCTV monitors.

However, there are two issues: firstly, this isn’t an exact 50 / 50 punt and you always have the possibility of the ball landing in the zero pocket. Make sure, therefore, that you don’t try this out on the American Roulette version where there is an extra pocket marked 00!

The second, and perhaps more serious problem is the maximum stake. Let’s say that the game you’re playing has a maximum stake of £300.00, or currency equivalent, and your opening bet is £1.00. If you lose ten bets in a row then you have put down an awful lot of money for no return. For a colour to land ten times consecutively might sound unlikely but try it and it may not be as rare a phenomenon as you might think.

If you want to trial this then one thing you can do is compare various casinos to see who has the higher limits on European Roulette.

Card Counting

The theory behind counting can be applied to many card games but perhaps it is most widely associated with Blackjack. Before setting out on any quest to make money from the online casinos, it should be understood that this is highly complicated and anyone tackling the system should have an acute mathematical and analytical mind.

Many who qualify on that basis will still struggle when the game starts, the cards are dealt and the pressure is truly on.

To understand it in the most basic of terms, players will allocate a number to each card in the pack, noting that tens and picture cards, plus the Aces, are more beneficial to the player rather than the dealer. It requires feats of memory too as you glance around the table to see who has what in their hand and the less Aces and cards valuing ten that there are, the more chance you have of beating the bank.

Card counting is another method to encounter disapproval at physical casinos even though it is harder to prove than the Hawks Method. Online however, you can avoid the live dealers and use a pen and paper if you wish, to tick off the cards that are already out.

As we mentioned at the start of this article, there is no such thing as a sure fire win so by all means consider these and other strategies on the understanding that a profit is not guaranteed.