Sport is made for betting

Glorious Goodwood is a magnificent festival but the highlight of this week is undoubtedly the Sussex Stakes. Traditionally the race where the three year olds take on the older division of star milers for the first time, and what a clash we have in store today. Declan Meagher, @declanmeagher76 , casts a discerning eye over this year's classy field. You can read more of his work on his site, LearnBetWin . ----------------------- Qipco Sussex Stakes – 3.05 Goodwood The Sussex Stakes rarely gets a double figure fields these days and its the same story tomorrow with just seven set to go to post. It’s still a pretty decent race though and provides us with the third meeting between Dawn Approach and Toronado, with the score 2-0 to the former. Dawn Approach is clearly a high class colt. His short head defeat of Toronado in the St James Palace Stakes was his fourth Group 1 victory. What he doesn’t appear to be is a superstar though. Yes he has plenty of guts and battles well, but ...

The end of July traditionally means Glorious Goodwood and the Galway Races, all week. Plenty of coverage on the blog hopefully, starting off with Calum Madell's look at the opening day feature, the Lennox Stakes. Follow him on Twitter, @calummadell or read his blog for more - TheYoungRacegoer , several other races covered on day one. ------------------------ 3:05 - bet365 Lennox Stakes (Group 2) (CLASS 1) (3yo+) If good ground and no rain could be promised then the class act Aljamaaheer would not be a bad price at 11/4. He is the best horse in the race by a decent margin and though hasn’t got the best record in terms of getting his head in front (three wins from 10 but never out of the top four), his last run showed he could win when he deserves to. That was a stronger race than this and I was impressed, though a 4lb penalty wouldn’t make things easy, without doubt he’s the one to beat and there could be more to come too. Richard Hannon has won this with Paco Boy and Strong...

Three continents of feature racing covered this weekend on the blog, this time it's Jon da Silva ( @CreamOnTop ) chiming in with his assessment of the time-honoured Jim Dandy Stakes from the picturesque Saratoga. --------------------- Jim Dandy Dirt Grade 2 9 furlongs 1045 BST The Jim Dandy looks a compelling race. After the 3 classics run in 35 days the 3 year olds return 7 weeks later. The classic runners face horses kept fresh and maybe some late developing sorts. As in the UK it is not unknown for early season classic contenders to disappear as forces in later top class racing. For classics to prove to be anything but in hindsight. A slight wrinkle here is this is not level weights albeit a very limited one but Belmont winner Palace Malice carries top burden. Bashaar Paceless closer who has made ground over lesser trips and steps up in class here (has contested a turf grade 9 when well beaten). Has been staying on but this would be a tough way to break your stakes mai...

Ascot is the scene for feature racing in Britain this weekend and while many eyes will be on the big names in the King George, those shrewd handicap punters will be focusing on the Betfair International. The Young Racegoer , Calum Madell, @calummadell returns with his preview... ------------------- 3:15 - Cash Out Multiples Only On Betfair International Where do you start in finding the winner of this desperately tough 7f handicap, one of the best of the year. I do like to look at trends for races like this and firstly I will look at age and there’s some telling stats. Considering that two of the three favourites are three-year-olds it is worth looking there first. Despite a few places and a win for New Seeker back in 2003, they have a poor record in the last ten years from the 25 runners to represent them. That already is a negative for Queensbury Rules and Ashaadd , the former finishing third in what looked a very good Britannia Stakes. Ashaadd meanwhile won last time at Hay...

With the focus off the big cities for feature racing in Australia at this time of year, other venues hit the spotlight. Today is Townsville Cup Day, a race meeting that will draw a crowd from far and wide in northern Queensland. But rather the main event, @BrisburghPhil has settled on the sprint feature of the day, the $75k Cleveland Handicap. Read more of his excellent via the ReadingThePlay website . ---------------------- Cleveland Handicap I love a good handicap race, and whilst this isn’t a Blue Riband event on the Australian racing calendar, it is nearly always an interesting race, with a big field, and thus plenty of chances. This year is probably no exception but I’ve hopefully found 1 or 2 horses that stand out a bit from the pack; Weather and Track Condition; A shower or two forecast but very much expect that a genuine dry track will eventuate. Tempo; Should be genuine at the very least here, with a number of these being on pacers, and a few of those drawn...

The Open - one of those major sporting events I've grown up watching and still find it weird to be seeing it during the daytime now that I'm living in the UK. With no dominant player on the scene this year - Tiger hasn't won a major since Australia last won the Ashes and Rory McIlroy is battling to make cuts these days, let alone claim trophies - this could be anyone's tournament. Taking the time to spin us a yarn as well as preview the tournament in blog regular Jim Gilchrist, @jimgilch . Read more of his work over on his blog . ---------------------- Gullane Ghosts and Muirfield Magic A small silver trophy stood modestly on the mantelpiece of the dining room in my father's house in Hawick. As a young lad aged about seven, I asked my Dad what it was for. "That, son, was for a lucky hole in one I got on Gullane (he insisted on pronouncing it 'Gillan') Number One course a long time ago." He regaled me with the story of the blind tee shot and ...

The highlight of the Newmarket July meeting is the time-honoured July Cup, one of the premier sprint races in Europe. Good-to-firm ground, glorious summer weather, a great fiel - what more do you want? Declan Meagher, @declanmeagher76 , casts an eye over the field for this G1 contest. Read more of his work on his blog . ------------------------------- Darley July Cup – Tips and Preview – 3.50 Newmarket The July Cup run over 6 furlongs at Newmarket is one of the top, if not the top sprint in Europe. Horses who have won it over the years have often gone on to be crowned leading sprinter in Europe, and with a strong field assembled there must be a good chance that tradition will be maintained this year. With the first three home from the Golden Jubilee, and the first two from the King Stand lining up, it looks like easily the best sprint of the year thus far. Shea Shea is currently favourite and he looks the best horse in the race. The doubt, and its quite a big one, is will he pro...

Kicking off the July Festival is a tricky little race for staying 3yos, the Bahrain Trophy. With the task of previewing the opening race is Dan Briden, @DanBriden . Read more of his work at SBBColumns . -------------------- Bahrain Trophy preview The Group 3 Bahrain Trophy is probably the first recognised trial for the St Leger in September, and this year’s renewal brings together a couple of promising maiden winners against a sextet of more proven rivals, albeit one or two arrive here with a bit to prove – notable winners during the past decade include Youmzain, Kite Wood, Masked Marvel and Shantaram. The John Gosden-trained Feel Like Dancing looked a smart prospect when landing an 11f maiden at Newbury’s Greenham in good style, overcoming obvious signs of inexperience to get up close home for hand riding in the main to see off Boite by a nose. However, he finished last of four behind Ruler Of The World in the Chester Vase next time, and seemed to lack for pace when fifth of si...

The July meeting at Newmarket is a great three days of racing, and we're blessed in the UK at the moment with a glorious run of genuine summer weather. So any horse needing a bit of give in the ground probably won't be peaking this week. One of the early features of the meeting is the Group II July Stakes for the two year olds, so who better to draft in for the preview than @twoyearoldtips from the excellent new site Twoyearoldtips . --------------- The July Stakes A very exciting renewal of the July Stakes with a field full of promising two year olds. Three bring Royal Ascot form to the table and they are taken on by three juveniles whose profiles are without blemish. Could be the finest two year old race of the season so far. Anjaal - a son of Bahamian Bounty who cost 105,000 guineas as a yearling for owner Sheikh Hamdan and trained by Richard Hannon. Two runs to date have resulted in one win. Finished eighth on debut when favourite in a Newmarket maiden that has been ...