I thought that Apple's Shakira was less impressive last time out compared with how she looked in her previous wins. She briefly looked in a spot of bother after the second last flight at Cheltenham on trials day and it appeared far from obvious...

After Santini’s latest victory at Cheltenham in late January his trainer Nicky Henderson implied he was nowhere near ready for this season's festival and would be in his element over fences next season. Six weeks on and we find Santini vying for favouritism in...

The current favourite for the RSA Chase is the Patrick Kelly trained seven year old Presenting Percy. I thought it was quite interesting to see him at the top of the market considering that he is yet to compete in a grade one race...

Kalashnikov won the Betfair Hurdle last time out in a race that turned out to be rather a war of attrition on the soft ground. He has always been thought to be best on good but was certainly not inconvenienced at Newbury. He ran...

Invitation Only has a fair bit of substance in his profile having run three very solid races in a row since falling behind Monalee at Punchestown in the middle of November. Last time out at Leopardstown in early February he was only denied the...

The complexion of this race changed with the late news that On The Blind Side will miss the race. The only surprising consequence of this news is that Samcro remains freely available at odds of 4/6. Last time out he was most pleasing to...

Aside from landing a little awkwardly at the last fence Footpad was pretty much foot perfect when taking the Grade One Frank Ward Solicitors Arkle Novice Chase at Leopardstown in early February. Very few horses improve as much as this one has from hurdles...

The 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup appears to be a really high class renewal. We have the first five horses’ home in the 2017 renewal all set to compete again in 2018. Add to the mix the likes of the Irish National winner Our Duke,...