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The biggest domestic day of French racing with the running of the Prix du Jockey Club, referred to by the English-speaking world as the French Derby. Taking the reins is Australian racecalling prodigy and international racing enthusiast Luke Humphreys, @WorldRacingLuke . ----------------------- Prix du Jockey Club Chantilly 1545 local time, 1445 BST, 2345 AEST G1, 2100m, €1.5m Card link 1 New Bay (5/1) (France): Very nice horse who scored quite softly on his seasonal reappearance over a mile and then was a fantastic second, when having very little luck from an outside barrier, in the French 2000 Guineas. He stormed home in that race and out of all of the runners that ran in the that race, he looks the one to be suited the most stepping up to the 10 ½f of this race. Very good chance and looks hard to stop as he tries to give champions jumps jockey Vincent Cheminaud his first flat G1. 2 Karaktar (11/4) (France): Looked like a world beater when winning his prep race in th...

Another week, another preview of AFL fixtures from the smart blokes at @aflratings . Don't worry too much about missing the Sydney-Carlton match, Blind Freddie could have tipped that result! ------------------------ AFL Round 9 Preview by aflratings.com.au via @aflratings Last week six favourites were successful from nine games in the AFL, here are our thoughts for Round 9. Sydney 6-2 v Carlton 1-7 With Coach Mick Malthouse now gone the Blues are at complete rock bottom, a road trip to Sydney visiting the Swans will not be pretty. The betting Line is currently at -69.5 Sydney and could be higher, weather is unlikely to impact at game time & Carlton are seriously missing some of their better player in Gibbs, Judd & Murphy. The Blues have averaged only 60.0pts per game from their last four. games and are up against the No.2 Ranked defensive team Swans conceding only 67.6pts per game this season. Carlton has lacked effort all season, that may turn around for a litt...

Another from William Kedjanyi, completing the Guineas weekend in Ireland with the fillies' edition. Follow him via @keejayOV . ------------------- Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas Group 1 for 3yo fillies One mile The Curragh 1555 local Winner €174,000 Bocca Baciata: Broke her maiden in good style after two promising efforts and took major step forward when travelling smoothly, showing smart turn of foot, and having little bit to spare on Pleasecach in the Salsabil Stakes. That form has since been boosted by the runner up’s Blue Wind romp and the third’s Chester Oaks success (also impressive) and the drop back in trip shouldn’t be an issue. A leading contender. Devonshire: Broke her maiden at fifth time of trying but improved this season, although she was well beaten beind Stormfly and Kissed By Angels in two Group 3 trials for this event and has to find more here to get involved. Found: Beat stablemate and subsequent Fillies Mile winner in extremely strong maiden...

Another French adventure for William Kedjanyi, this time it's the Prix Saint-Alary for the 3yo fillies. Follow him at @keejayOV . ------------------- Pour Moi Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary Group 1, 3yo Fillies Winner: £110,736 Distance: 2000m 1540 local, 1440 BST Varana: Regally bred, being by Sea The Stars out of a Group 3 winning Sindaar mare, and while she’s proven to be a touch disappointing so far, it would be no surprise if this step up in trip and further experience bought her on for a yard that has a fine record with 3 year old fillies and in this contest in general. That said, she still has great improvement to find on her latest minor win and two best efforts with significant cut in the ground. Qatar Dance: Not much form that can giver her a chance but certainly shaped as if 10 furlongs would be right up her street when a staying on fifth in the Pouliches last time out. Interesting in that effort but that did come out of the blue and vulnerable to improve...

French racing suffers from small fields in big races too occasionally, only five to go around here, but a classy bunch at least. William Kedjanyi, @keejayOV , again with the preview. -------------------- PRIX D´ISPAHAN Group 1, 1m1f55y Longchamp 1610 local, 1510 BST Winner: £110,736 Cirrus Des Aigles: Everybody’s favourite veteran and as good as ever last year, finishing second in the Sheema Classic, and then winning the Ganay, last year’s renewal of this, and the Corornation Cup before disappointing at Ascot in the Champion Stakes. However he atoned with a fine fourth in the Hong Kong Cup and the style of his win in the Ganay over a race fit Al Kazeem was a performance that’s as good as any he’s posted and he should take the beating here although the ground today is far faster. Galio Chop: Won all but one of his starts last year when fourth in the Belmont Derby (the form of which stands up well to scrutiny), after which he returned in fine style to land the Prix Gu...

On a great weekend of Flat racing at The Curragh, it's not just about the classic generation and both Guineas. For 4yo and up, it's the Tattersalls Gold Cup, as previewed by William Kedjanyi, @keejayOV . ------------------- Tattersalls Gold Cup Group 1, 1m 2 1/2f €250,000 1520 local (0020 AEST) Al Kazeem: Had not ruffled many feathers on return from stud (infertile last summer) but right back to his best when given soft ground to revel in as he chase home Noble Mission at Ascot in the Champion Stakes. Has been in fine form this season, winning the Prix Harcourt before finishing a solid second in the Ganay behind Cirrus Des Agiles, and a big run expected here for all that he as well behind The Grey Gatsby in the Irish Champion Stakes the last time he ran on a soundish surface. The slight ease in the ground will suit him for all the ground is drying. Fascinating Rock: Looked a 3 year old of great promise when taking the Ballysax and Derinstown Stud Stakes on s...

It wouldn't be Eurovision without the plethora of previews from punting people who love a cheesy song. Step forward, Andrew Hawkins! What does the Hawk have in store for us this year? @AndrewNJHawkins --------------------- EUROVISION FINAL Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna It’s here for another year! Eurovision hits our screens tonight, and the annual festival of cheese reaches its climax with tonight’s grand final. As an Australian, it feels odd to be cheering for my country in the world’s biggest music event. Best of luck to Guy Sebastian, who should ensure Australia is not disgraced but is unlikely to win. As always, it’s a great betting opportunity – if you can find the right markets. First things first - who do we think will win? While personally a fan of Estonia and Norway, both strong duets, I think both are placed poorly on the all-important running order. I think Norway's still got some hope, but Estonia - who were the pick at the start of the week - appear to be ...

The richer races in Australia might have moved north for the winter, but there's still racing at headquarters in Melbourne with a Listed race to boot. Time to hand over to the guys from @PremiumRacingS for the preview. Learn more about their work at Premium Racing Services . ------------------ Andrew Ramsden Stakes Flemington Race 7 Listed, 3200m 1525 local time PRS Speed Map Our pace rating on this race suggests it will be genuinely run with Shoreham likely to dig up and take the outright lead. There could be a small fight for the positions in the 2nd and 3rd pairs but with the large run to the 1st turn over the long trip the jockeys will not want to exert too much early energy on their horses. The runners highlighted in red may have issues finding their desired position without being caught wide so their jockeys will be required to make an early decision. Our Market: This market is of our systems ‘raw’ prices which is set to 100% with every runner rated >$...

Another week, another preview of AFL fixtures from the smart blokes at @aflratings . --------------------- AFL Round 8 Preview by aflratings.com.au via @aflratings Last week 7 favourites were successful from 9 games in the AFL, here are our thoughts for Round 8. Geelong 3-4 v Carlton 1-6 If you thought the Blues were at an all-time low, then be prepared for some more pain over their remaining 15 games of the 2015 Home & Away season. Carlton are Ranked 15th scoring 74.6pts per game and at the same time are conceding 108.7pts per game (Ranked 18th) whilst only managing 333 Disposals per game which is Ranked 17th, basically the Blues can’t get hold of the footy and are being punished as a result on the defensive end. Geelong last week were very good until the mid-way point during the 3rd when Mitch Duncan left the ground via injury, he is missing long term and the Cats are going to miss him putting undue pressure on a midfield lacking quality depth. Should be no surprises i...

The Festival of Cheese is nearly here, it's Eurovision 2015, previewed by Eurovision tragic/superfan Andrew Hawkins, @AndrewNJHawkins ! There'll be more later in the week too... ----------------- Eurovision 2015 preview - pre-semi-finals Vienna That annual festival of wind machines, key changes and novelty acts is here! Yes, it's Eurovision time once again and once more, we line up to try and beat the bookies in the world's biggest music event. We struck out badly last year, with a big result on the Netherlands going astray as Conchita Wurst won the title for Austria. Amazingly, last year's 1-2 Austria and the Netherlands were both still at big prices five days out. In fact, both were greater than 33/1 hours before they performed in their semis. Extraordinary. The time to jump aboard a number of these is now, before the first semi. A good semi performance can begin the momentum towards taking out Eurovision. So who would we be wanting to back now? Here...

More international racing tomorrow, this time in Singapore for their headline event of the year, the International Cup, over the championship standard of 2000m weight-for-age. Extending his coverage of the global racing scene is Australian racecalling prodigy Luke Humphreys, @ WorldRacingLuke - provider of English language commentary on foreign racing to a potential audience of millions... ------------------ Singapore Airlines International Cup 2000m Turf 3yo+ $3,000,000 Kranji R10 2040 local time, 2240 Sydney, 1340 London 1 Military Attack (2/1) (Hong Kong): He’s not getting any younger but he’s still got some very nice ability. I thought he was the best horse on the planet when he won this race in freakish style in 2013 and was third to Dan Excel and Smoking Sun last year when just not good enough on the day. Brilliant second to Designs On Rome in the G1 HK Cup in December and since then he’s been a bit disappointing possibly although I thought it was the very odd below ...

It's the grand finale of the Australian version of the world game, and we Aussies don't believe in a season which peters out to a final round of fixtures, there must be a climactic finish. So it's the A-League Grand Final! Trusted with the preview are the data crunchers at Football Form Labs, @footballformlab , the fantastic football database which should be the backbone of all your football punting. Try them out now via FootballFormLabs.com , and trust me, there is a hell of lot more football going on than just the winter leagues now concluding. ------------------- A-League Grand Final: Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC Sunday 1600 local time, 0700 BST The 10th edition of the A-League Grand Final sees Melbourne Victory take on Sydney FC at AAMI Park in a repeat of the 2010 Grand Final which ended in a victory on penalties for Sydney, who had won the regular season that year. This time it’s Melbourne that triumphed in the regular season by three points from Sydney in se...

It's part two of the American Triple Crown tonight, and the preview comes from regular US racing contributor, Jon da Silva, @creamontop . Is it all about the Pharoah? ------------------------- The Preakness 1818 local, 2318 BST Pimlico The Preakness has a low profile for 50 weeks of the year. A bit like a Russian athlete's blood test it's the annoying thing you have to get through but don't always manage to for a chance at the prize - The Triple Crown. When I did not follow racing I had heard of the The Kentucky Derby and Secretariat's Belmont but the 2nd leg had less profile than Joey Barton on a list of great footballers. It's run at Pimlico a place name which conjures images of insufferably twee middle brow gentle British Comedy "Passport to Pimlico" and my mate being banned from The Grenadier on a Pimlico Belgravia pub crawl. However a little like those Ealing comedies after years of shit Rom Coms its true value is revealed. It's run ...

More from Newbury today, courtesy of Willaim Kedjanyi, @keejavOV -------------- Al Rayyan Stakes (Registered As The Aston Park) (Listed) (Class 1) (4YO plus) (2.00) There have been a few disappointing efforts in the career of Telescope but none of them include his Hardwicke win, his King George second, Juddmonte International third or Breeders’ Cup fourth, and Sir Michael Stoute’s charge, fresh from his reappearance second in the Jockey Club Stakes, can improve to take the win here. Telescope travelled beautifully into the Jockey Club Stakes at Newbury and produced a sharp burst that looked to have things put to bed, but fitness soon told having gone clear with two furlongs to go and he was nailed by the progressive second step. Like many of his stablemates, he should come on from his first outing significantly and he sets a very high standard. Should...

Group 1 racing action switches to Newbury this afternoon with the running of the Lockinge Stakes, a great race in its own right but also a serious pointer towards Royal Ascot, particularly the opening race of the week, the Queen Anne. Once again this week, it's William Kedjanyi with the preview. Follow his work via @keejayOV and his blog . ---------------------- Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes British Champions Series Group 1 Straight Mile Newbury 1545 BST The biggest ever field in the race’s history, which brings the draw into play. In the 20 runner maiden yesterday they split into two groups with the far side coming out empathically on top compared to the near side – the first nine home were drawn 1-9 - which is something to take into account. Despite the size of the field, there are just three Group 1 winners and Night Of Thunder is possibly unlucky not to have at least one more Group 1 to his name after landing last season’s 2000 Guineas – a fine renewal to boot w...

Quality harness racing action this weekend from Albion Park in Brisbane. Former Queensland harness handicapper Darren Clayton, @dashman01 , previews the trio of features on the Saturday night programme. ------------------- Albion Park preview With three races carrying Group 2 status and one at Listed level, Saturday's Albion Park program has a bit to offer. Unfortunately, the Seymour Nursery Pace for 3YO's has attracted just seven acceptors (six starters with a scratching already) in the colts & geldings and the fillies could not achieve a full field either with 11 acceptors (10 starters with a scratching). The third of the G2 events but first set down for decision is the third and final instalment of the Cups Carnival races that have been held in March, April and May. Cups Carnival Final Heats were held and the winners of those were Nureyev for Brisbane trainer/driver power couple Pete McMullen and Chantal Turpin and the NSW visitor Scotlynn Jiggs which is trained ...

The feature of the final day of the Dente meeting at York is the Yorkshire Cup for the stayers. Taking on the challenge today is international racing fan and Australian racecalling prodigy Luke Humphreys, @WorldRacingLuke . ------------------------- Betway Yorkshire Cup £150,000 Group 2, 1m6f British Champions Series Long Distance 1515 BST 1 Brown Panther Superstar stayer who is in arguably career best form. The only time he ran out of the first three last year was in the 12f G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf, which you can completely forget as that was not his distance at all. He won the G1 Irish St Leger by 6.5 lengths, courtesy of a very good ride from regular jockey Richard Kingscote, and is coming into this after arguably a career best performance in the G2 Dubai Gold Cup on Dubai World Cup Night were he absolutely dominated a fair enough field in super time. This is his preparation for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, where he may struggle distance wise, but today he’s the horse to catc...

Time for the regular weekly contribution from @AflRatings , it's the Round 7 preview of the greatest sport in the world! ------------------- AFL Round 7 Preview aflratings.com.au @aflratings So far the 2015 Home & Away season has provided a host of upsets, only 63.0% of favourites have been successful following 6 Rounds of AFL. In comparison, 70.7% of favourites were successful in 2014. What will Round 7 deliver this week? Here are our thoughts. Essendon v Nth Melbourne Both teams have had mixed results in 2015, off field distractions could play a part in the Bombers output in this one. Essendon are returning from Perth and will also be on consecutive 6 day breaks, if you remove the 105pts they scored against Carlton in Round 3 the Bombers are averaging a miserly 64.2pts per game. Nth Melbourne are one of the more reliable teams when starting favourite in 2015 with a 3-1 record, will that be tested on Friday Night? Adelaide v St Kilda The Saints on the back of one...