Irish Daily Star - Starbets
DOUBLE TROUBLE
THE NEW LION (3.00) and L’HOMME PRESSE (2.25) are fancied to topple a pair of Cheltenham Trials Day hotpots today. Sir Gino is a very short price to win the Grade Two Unibet Hurdle for Nicky Henderson and see off his three rivals. But at 4-9 he offers...
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Boogie wonderland
JUNGLE BOOGIE (2.20) could have punters doing a jig of delight at Ascot today. On a day when odds-on hotpot IL ETAIT TEMPS (3.30) should make short work of his three rivals in the Grade One BETMGM Clarence House Chase, it could pay to look elsewhere...
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TOWN HAUL
MYRETOWN (2.55) can burn off his rivals and continue his rise to the top at Warwick today. The nine-year-old produced a remarkable frontrunning performance to win the Ultima Handicap at the Cheltenham Festival in March. And he is tipped to take the...
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HARD NOC’
NOCTE VOLATUS (3.05) can be crowned king of the oldies at Sandown today in the Unibet Veterans’ Chase Final. Like a fine wine, the 11-year-old trained by Tom Lacey (right) has got better with age and races off a career-high handicap mark in the...
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SAND’ STORM
THE second day of the Christmas Festival at Leopardstown sees the feature €200,000 Paddy Power Chase take centre stage and SANDOR CLEGANE (3.00) can gain a shock victory for trainer Paul Nolan. The eight-year-old is without a win in 975 days but he...
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Strike a ’POSE
IMPOSE TOI (2.25) can continue his surge to the top of the staying ranks in the Howden Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot. The seven-year-old is tipped to deny Crambo a third straight victory in this Grade One heat. Impose Toi made a seamless move into Graded...
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VIN’ AT ALL COSTS
VINCENZO (1.50) can give his trainer Sam Thomas a big Saturday payday by winning the Support The Hunt Family Fund December Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham. The seven-year-old has been knocking on the door for a bigrace victory, having had to...
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Bax to basics
BILL BAXTER (2.40) can make a victorious return to the scene of his greatest triumph at Aintree today. The grey ran his rivals ragged over the Grand National fences to win the Topham in 2023. Sam Twiston-davies (below) rode him that day and gets the...
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TOWN HAUL
MYRETOWN (2.55) can run his rivals ragged in today’s super competitive Coral Gold Cup at Newbury. It takes a pretty special horse to win this race first time out – only four have done it in the past 16 years. And two of those were Cheltenham Gold Cup...
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FLYING COULEURS
HAITI COULEURS (3.00) can confirm himself a serious Cheltenham Gold Cup contender by winning today’s Betfair Chase. Rebecca Curtis’s (below) star won four of his five chases last season including the NH Chase at Cheltenham and the Irish National. And...
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GIFT OF THE GAB’
THE Grand National fences are a Dunne deal for Gaboriot (2.57) at aintree today. The William Hill Grand Sefton Chase is a cracking betting race with 17 runners. And Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s nine-year-old ticks every box. He is ridden by...
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HEW’ BEAUTY!
HEWICK (2.57) can continue his rags-to-riches fairytale at Wetherby today. Shark Hanlon’s ¤910 bargain buy has already won almost ¤911,000 in prize money. And he can add another ¤65k to the pot by snaring the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase. The...
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SUPER CALA’
CALANDAGAN (4.05) can reign supreme in a fantastic renewal of the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot. The French superstar, trained by Francis-henri Graffard (below), produced a career best to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the...
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Reverend has more than a prayer in the Cesarewitch HUBE DARES WINS!
WORSHIP at the altar of REVEREND HUBERT (3.40) in Newmarket’s Club Godolphin Cesarewitch today. The seven-year-old was eighth in the race last year – beaten just six lengths – on a surface that he hated. Trained in Ireland by the canny Charles...
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ATTACK
Minnie Hauk is eyeing glory When Aidan O’brien dominated the 2016 Prix de l’arc de Triomphe by saddling the first three home, it would have been hard to believe he would not be responsible for another winner in the following nine years. however,...
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RIDGE OF HIG hs
WESTRIDGE (3.40) can come out on top in the bet365 Cambridgeshire cavalry charge at Newmarket today. John and Thady Gosden’s raider is a quirky character but is talented and he has got his act together in his last two starts. He bolted up in the...
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TRUST NOBODY
AIN’T NOBODY (3.35) can lead home the cavalry charge in the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup Handicap this afternoon. Kevin Ryan’s (above) sprinter has been campaigned exclusively in Pattern company since his successful debut in May of last year and excelled...
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BOURN TO RUN
LAMBOURN (2.25) can land a Classic hat-trick in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster today. The winner of the Irish and English derbies is preferred at odds of 5-2 to better fancied stablemate Scandinavia (6-4) with Aidan O’brien (pictured) – bidding for...
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BETTER BY HALF
GO ALL in on NO HALF MEASURES (3.35) in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock today. Richard Hughes’ filly caused a 66-1 shock to win the July Cup. But I don’t think that Newmarket victory was a fluke. Neil Callan again gets the leg-up and from a decent...
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BRIGHT SPARK
BRIGHT THUNDER (2.25) is ready to rumble in the BETMGM Atalanta Stakes at Sandown today. Karl Burke’s filly has a high level of form this season and will get her ideal conditions on the rain-softened ground. She won a Listed race at Deauville last...
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HUNGRY HIPOP
HIPOP DE LOIRE (3.35) has unfinished business in today’s Sky Bet Ebor at York. Willie Mullins rarely gets things wrong twice and 12 months ago Hipop De Loire fluffed his lines in this race. Colin Keane got no sort of run on the eight-year-old at a...
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PILLO TALK
PRINCE OF PILLO (3.20) has two ways of running – and I’m chancing him being in the right mood at Ripon today. e William HILL/MND Association Great St Wilfrid Handicap is the day’s best betting race. Irish-born trainer Richard Fahey’s (below)...
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SPIRIT IS WILLING
RAISE a glass to SPIRIT MIXER (2.10) at today’s Shergar Cup meeting at Ascot. Jo Mason (below) made a big impression in last year’s competititon and she gets the leg-up on Andrew Balding’s Northumberland Plate hero in the Dubai Duty Free Stayers...
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Thurles’ closure is a blow to Irish sport
WHAT do Rachael Blackmore and AP Mccoy have in common? Apart from being trailblazing and recordbreaking Grand National and Gold Cup-winning Irish born jockeys, they both rode their first winners at Thurles racecourse. Mccoy’s came on Lethal Steps for...
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IRON BRU’
JAN Brueghel (4.10) can break Calandagan’s heart for a second time in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. Aidan O’brien’s (left) St Leger hero showed all his grit to outbattle the French raider in a dingdong duel to the line for...
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SURE TO SHINE
Sure Touch looks a strong prospect for the Summer Plate at Market Rasen
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WHISTLE WON’T STOP
WHISTLEJACKET (4.35) can blow away his rivals in the Al Basti Equiworld July Cup at Newmarkettoday. Aidan O’brien’s speedball was a winner at this meeting a year ago in the July Stakes. He was among last year’s speediest juveniles and he has done...
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JOY!
DELACROIX (3.35) can banish the painful memory of his Derby flop in a cracking Coral-eclipse today. The Sandown feature throws up an intriguing clash between the threeyear-olds and classy older horses Ombudsman and Sosie1. Prince of Wales’s winner...
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KAL’ TO PLAY FOR
KALPANA (3.30) can continue the recent trend of the Group 1 Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes going to a UK raider. On four of the last eight renewals the €300,000 contest has gone to a filly trained across the Irish Sea and Andrew Balding’s...
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THUNDER BOLT
BY MORE THUNDER (5.00) can execute a long-term plan by winning today’s Wokingham handicap. William Haggas has had the famous old race in mind since his two spring victories at Newmarket. Tom Marquand is a jockey in form and the four-year-old colt...
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MOVE INTO THE FAST LANE
FAST TRACK HARRY (3.35) can burn off his rivals in the big handicap at York today. Clive Cox won the Churchill Tyres Supporting Macmillan Sprint last year with James’s Delight. And he has another upwardly mobile speedster in the shape of Fast Track...
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TAKE Pride Beckett and Ryan can strike once again
PRIDE OF ARRAS (3.30) can repel the Coolmore and Godolphin juggernauts to gallop to Betfred Derby glory at Epsom today. Ralph Beckett and Rossa Ryan won the Prix de l’arc de Triomphe with Bluestocking last autumn and they can combine again with a...
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Terra Alert
VOLTERRA (3.33) is worth a roll of the dice at a big price at Haydock today. Kevin Ryan’s (below) fouryear-old had a decent threeyear old campaign, which ended with a runaway victory in a 7f heritage handicap Ascot in October. That was a game...
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Goldie’s star looks a seductive option today
punters should be seduced by AMERICAN AFFAIR (3.30) at Haydock today. Jim Goldie’s sprinter is fancied to make the big leap from handicap to Group race company a winning one in the Betfred Temple Stakes. The five-year-old is 35lb higher in the weight...
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THE LION KING
CRACK miler ROSALLION (2.35) can make a perfect start to his season in the Boylesports Lockinge Stakes. It takes some effort to win a Group One race on your seasonal bow but Rosallion is no ordinary horse. His win in the St James’s Palace Stakes at...
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Charlton’s in-form beast to reign at Ascot
PUNTERS should pile the cash on TEN POUNDS (2.40) in the Schweppes Victoria Cup at Ascot today. Harry Charlton’s (below) beast is on the up and has won four of his six career starts. The son of Ten Sovereigns won a shade cosily at Newmarket’s Craven...
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HAPPY ENDING
CANAL END (4.15) looks primed for a big run in the 3m Palmerstown House Estate Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase on the closing day of Punchestown. Peter Fahey’s seven-year-old was a big fancy for the Irish Grand National on Easter Monday but having failed to...
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GOLD MINE
MINELLA COCOONER (4.10) can hand Willie Mullins the trainers’ title on a thrilling final day of the jumps season. Mullins and Dan Skelton have been going at it hammer and tongs since the Grand National, and the €205,000 up for grabs in the bet365 Gold...
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Word to the wise
WISE EAGLE (3.35) can swoop to land the Virgin Bet Queen’s Cup for the second time in three years. Adam Nicol’s stable star is now eight years old but clearly retains his ability. He has won over hurdles and ran a solid second to Roaring Legend on the...
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Hail MARY
dom of mary (3.35) is a sporting punt in today’s Coral Scottish National at ayr. There is no doubt in my mind that David Bridgwater’s beast is overpriced at 50-1 in this marathon contest. The nine-yearold was touched off in the Sussex National at...
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Go with the BEAU
beauport (4.00) has the class and stamina to gallop to glory in the randox Grand National. Sam Twiston-davies gets the leg-up and his father Nigel has won the race twice before with Earth Summit and Bindaree. Running in the colours made famous by...
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THUNDER can REI G n
thunder run (3.35) can finish like lightning in the William hill Lincoln at doncaster today. Karl Burke (inset) believes his four-year-old is a Group horse running in a handicap and is far better than his rating of 100. The horse won a valuable...
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It’s all in the Game
GAME COLOURS (3.00) can land a big payday for a small operation at Kelso this afternoon. Ben Clarke, who trains a select string all the way down in Dorset, has long had the £100,000 Ladbrokes Herring Queen Series Final in mind for his talented...
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BLUE SKY thinkin
INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN broke the hearts of Galopin Des Champs fans when powering to a stunning victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Dual winner Galopin Des Champs was sent off the 8-13 favourite to land a famous hat-trick that would have put him alongside...
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Dil or no deal!
AFADIL (2.25) can boost the Cheltenham punting coffers in the Betfair Imperial Cup today. The six-year-old has been running into form and finds himself on a very likeable handicap mark for the Sandown heat. Freddie Gingell always rides the horse and...
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Fortune to smile on King at Kelso
FAVOUR AND FORTUNE (3.30) can show his class by winning the Bet365 Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso. Alan King’s raider was sixth in the Supreme at Cheltenham last March before scoring in the Scottish Champion Hurdle. He showed his wellbeing with a strong...
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MAJOR CHANCE
MAJOR DUNDEE (2.10) can right a wrong in the Virgin Bet eider Chase at Newcastle today. Last year Alan King’s (inset) stayer held every chance in the stamina-sapping marathon over 4m1f when unseating at the second last. He has been underwhelming in...
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LOVELY JUBILEE
JUMP on the JUBILEE EXPRESS (3.15) in Haydock’s Oddschecker Grand National Trial this afternoon. Sam Thomas’s stayer finished like a train to be runner-up in the Welsh National and can go one better today. The stamina test will suit the eightyear-old...
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WASH AND GO!
WASHINGTON (3.35) can teach the youngsters a lesson in the William Hill Hurdle at Newbury. As a nine-year-old, he wouldn’t be a typical winner of the big handicap previously known as the Betfair Hurdle but he’s fairly low mileage for his age and...
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JUST CHAMPION
GALOPIN DES CHAMPS (3.30) can take another step towards equine immortality in this afternoon’s Grade 1 Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown. The Willie Mullins-trained nineyear-old will attempt to land a third Irish Gold Cup in succession before...
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ROAD TO RICHES
GOWEL ROAD (3.35) can enjoy a day in the limelight at Cheltenham today. The nine-year-old has been runner-up four times on the spin this season but has raced with huge credit each time. His second to Lucky Place in the Relkeel Hurdle over an...
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’MENE MACHINE!
ENERGUMENE (3.32) is fancied to get the better of Jonbon in a thrilling tussle for the BETMGM Clarence House Chase at Ascot. The dual champion chaser made a successful comeback after an 18-month absence to win at Cork in December. He was upsides...
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Form
rerouted from snowbound Wetherby and Handstands has to defy a 5lb penalty. TV tips special: Pages 2 and 3
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JUST CHAM-PION
CHAMBARD (3.00) can be crowned king of the old boys at Sandown today. The 13-year-old is the senior member of the field in the Unibet Veterans’ Chase Final. But he is a sporting punt to cause a surprise at a decent price (20-1 at the time of...
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LION HEART
THE NEW LION (2.55, Nb) can savage some classy rivals in the feature Coral Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury this afternoon. Dan Skelton’s (left) exciting youngster has won all three starts, brushing aside five previous winners over course and...
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BEAU’S GOT IT TIED UP
BEAUPORT (2.25) is a sporting punt to boost the Christmas kitty in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot today. Nigel Twiston-davies’s eight-yearold has always been a talented beast and he produced a career best to bolt up over fences at the Berkshire track...
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MAD RUSH
MADARA (1.50) can keep the Skelton brothers’ bandwagon rolling at Cheltenham today. Dan and Harry are in tip-top form and their recently acquired five-year-old looks a winter warmer in the Nyetimber December Gold Cup. He stormed up the hill to be...
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CHEW-S WISELY
MASTER CHEWY (3.00) can give hot favourite Jonbon a run for his money in today’s Betfair Tingle Creek Chase. Jonbon looks pretty bombproof as he bids to repeat last year’s win in Sandown’s twomile showpiece but he’s a 4-7 shot. With the dead eight...
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GALIA DES LITEAUX (3.00) has just the right profile for this afternoon’s Coral Gold Cup glory at Newbury.
In a decent campaign last season, Dan Skelton’s talented mare led two fences out in the Grand National before the petrol gauge started flickering. She should be stronger this season and today’s 3m 2f test looks ideal. She also has a run under her...
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PACKING SOME REAL PUNCH
PUNTERS in Ireland are being treated to an early Christmas present this weekend with a wonderful two days of racing at Punchestown. This afternoon the Champion Hurdle hero State Man takes on the Mares’ Hurdle heroine Lossiemouth in a mouthwatering ■...
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LICENCE TO THRILL
IL RIDOTO (2.20) can upstage stablemate Ginny’s Destiny in the Paddy Power Gold Cup. The Paul Nicholls second string saves his best for Cheltenham, where he nished third in this race last year before following up with a second and third in two more...
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Middle Selection
Ed Bethell’s beast has ourished since being sent over middle distances and he handles testing ground well. He is a big horse and will feel like he is running loose off 8st 6lb. Aidan Keeley rode a canny race to win on him at York and 14-1 is a nice...
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CITY OF JOY
CITY OF TROY can gallop into racing folklore with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar tonight. The Derby winner takes on the best of the Americans in their own backyard on dirt – a surface that can often make it a brutal race. Aidan...
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CREME DELA’ CREME
DELACROIX (2.40) can give Aidan O’brien his 12th victory in the William Hill Futurity Trophy at Doncaster today. The trainer’s domination has been a feature of the final Group One of the Flat season and he has a prime contender in the strapping...
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HOT DAG
FRENCH raider CALANDAGAN (3.55) looks set to crash the economy at Ascot today. The Aga Khan’s four-year-old tackles Economics in a fascinating head-tohead on QIPCO British Champions Day. The centrepiece, the Champion Stakes, has attracted a stellar...
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SHUNT WORTH A PUNTMAKE
THE SHUNTER (3.40) could make his own slice of history today. No horse has won backto-back renewals of the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch in its 185year history. Aaim To Prosper won it twice with a year’s gap (2010 and 2012), so The Shunter, who landed...
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