In this regular Monday segment, racing expert Scott Armstrong rounds up all the action of note from this weekend’s racing for SBC Blog readers.
For six minutes on Saturday race-fans were able to forget whip rules, lack of prize money and corruption charges as the imperious Kauto Star warmed the hearts of all who watched him triumph in the Betfair Chase. One of the sport’s greatest ever chasers, Kauto jumped magnificently before kicking for home to readily dismiss the challenges of Diamond Harry, Weird Al and Long Run to triumph by eight-lengths. The National Hunt trainers champion Paul Nicholls simply said “This is my proudest-ever moment”. Kauto Star has been cut to 11-2 from 16-1 for the King George VI Chase. That price is not for me though as it’s hard to see him taking part in five weeks time after such a strenuous effort here and he goes best when fresh. Long Run made a few jumping errors when finishing second, running 12lb below his best but will improve for his seasonal outing. Continue reading
Master Minded
Sportman Racing: Derby Crusade For Camelot?
In this regular Monday segment, racing expert Scott Armstrong rounds up all the action of note from this weekend’s racing for SBC Blog readers.
It was a great day for punters on Saturday when the very well backed Camelot justified his odds-on price with a mightily impressive win in the Racing Post Trophy. Scott examines his Derby credentials, where he is now 7-2 favourite and highlights a number of other horses and trainers to note from the weekend.
Money spoke volumes in the Racing Post Trophy as the once-raced Camelot was hammered in to odds-on at the off, winning easily by two-and-a-quarter lengths and making the 10-11 SP look extremely generous. Ladbrokes famously have a line on the Aidan O’Brien stable and in the lead up to the race they went odds on with Camelot while other bookmakers were odds against. O’Brien said after the race “The boys (in the yard) were saying that Camelot’s work was so exceptional it was hard to believe. In comparison to other horses his data was incredible”. Unfortunately for punters, O’Brien was typically reticent about such news before the race itself. Continue reading