Sport is made for betting

Some rather ordinary weather in Ireland of late meant today's attempt at running the Hilly Way Chase at Cork had to be rearranged. Technical difficulties prevented me from publishing the original preview, so here's a tweaked version from Irish racing analyst Neal Murphy, @njmurphy1985 . ------------------------------- Hilly Way Chase rescheduled to Monday 12:35 Navan Grade 2, €47,500, 2m 1f Going: Heavy Bright New Dawn On ratings Bright New Dawn has little chance. The handicapper did not think much of his effort in front of Felix Yonger, First Lieutenant and Mallowney in Clonmel last day leaving him on 148 but this parish takes a contrasting view. All bar Bright New Dawn were open company Grade 1/2 winners and First Lieutenant has since proven he retains some old sparkle when third in the Hennessy off 147. His switch to Gordon Elliott’s stable has gotten off to a shaky start, falling at the second on debut and rear-ending himself at the third in the Fortia losing hi...

After three rounds of heats, it's now time for the richest race in Australasian harness racing, the Inter Dominion Final. Our regular pundit, WA harness specialist Trent Orwin, @themightytrent3 , has appeared courtesy of BettingPro throughout the carnival, and once again, he shares his assessment of the feature race. ------------------------ Inter Dominion Final Gloucester Park, Perth $1.3m, Group 1, Grand Circuit Sunday Dec 13, 1450 local, 1750 AEDST, 0650 GMT 2536m, Mobile Start. Form guide 1. Lovers Delight – $7 William Hill Gets an ideal draw to set the pace and they won’t be handing up with him unless he gets crossed early. He defeated Lennytheshark by a narrow margin after finding the front last start and is capable of running strong sectionals. Regular driver Chris Lewis takes the reins and he is one of the very best when it comes to rating a leader. The downside is there is sure to be plenty of pressure but he does have toughness. Looks a strong each-way ch...

A spate of feral weather in the UK and Ireland has put several meetings at risk, so let's hope the Grade 1 John Durkan Memorial Chase goes ahead at Punchestown on Sunday. It'll almost certainly be a heavy track. Making his first appearance on the blog with no fear about the going or the uncertainty is Neal Murphy, @njmurphy1985 . Welcome aboard! ----------------------------------- John Durkan Memorial Chase Grade 1, €80,000, 2m4f 1350 local 0050 AEDST Likely Going; Heavy Clarcam Having shaped quite nicely on seasonal return needing the run in Gowran, his effort in Down Royal was tremendously disappointing. He travelled through the race without his usual verve and didn’t land any sort of blow on the day. On the back of that run and the pick of his form last season beating an out of sorts Vautour at Christmas and Vibrato Valtat in Aintree, I think he will find his level short of open Grade 1 company this season. Unlikely to feature on Sunday. Djakadam A serious p...

Some great chasing action in Liverpool this weekend and it's caught the eye of aspiring racing journalist, Adam Webb. Read more of his work at OnTheOtherHoof and follow him on @adamwebb121 . ------------------------- Betfred Grand Sefton Handicap Chase Class 2, £70,000, approx 2m5f 1520 local, 0220 AEDST The other feature alongside the Becher Chase over the Grand National fences is the Grand Sefton Handicap Chase run over the same course and distance as the Topham Trophy. Revived in 2003 after being a main staple of the National Hunt season over a one hundred year period from 1865 to 1965, it has proven to be a race that suits horses that race handily and DOUBLE ROSS looks to have a huge chance to make it an excellent day for Nigel Twiston-Davies. Having been in the wilderness after a good effort in last season’s Charlie Hall Chase when third to Menorah, he returned this season with a fine second behind Pendra in the United House Gold Cup at Ascot and confirmed that eff...

Quality National Hunt around Britain tomorrow with the ravaged-by-non-runners Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown, and the Becher and Grand Sefton at Aintree. It's the latter pair which has captured the attention of aspiring racing journalist, Adam Webb. Read more of his work at OnTheOtherHoof and follow him on @adamwebb121 ------------------------------------ Betfred Becher Handicap Chase Grade 3, £140,000, approx 3m2f 1340 local 0040 AEDST Since the Becher Chase was introduced to the calendar in 1992, the race has become one of the most recognised trials leading towards the Grand National in April with three horses having completed the double. Both Amberleigh House and Silver Birch used this as a springboard to Aintree success whilst Earth Summit completed it after winning the world’s most famous steeplechase earlier in the year. Plenty of other Becher winners have performed with enormous credit including the likes of Samlee, Clan Royal and Black Apalachi who all went on to f...

The final round of the Inter Dominion heats and it's back to Gloucester Park over the longer trip. Be very wary of horses who have already qualified for the final - you can read the current points table here . Once again, for the shrewd advice, it's over to WA harness racing specialist, Trent Orwin, @themightytrent3 . -------------------------- Inter Dominion Heat Previews Form analyst: Trent Orwin Website: BettingPro Twitter: @themightytrent3 The final round of qualifying heats are crucial for a number of horses and this round will be ultra-competitive as some runners know that only a strong performance will see them make the $1.3 million Group 1 Inter Dominion Final on December 13. Lennytheshark and Philadelphia Man have already booked their spot into the final which means that they don’t have to produce anything special on Friday night. Yes they can win their respective heats, but making sure they get around safely without doing unnecessary work will be the number ...

After the runaway success of the inaugural Matchbook Traders Conference in October, the realisation of a dream I had several years ago after finding like minds who had a similar idea in mind, the sponsors are understandably keen to keep the momentum running with a series of smaller events. Full house @TradersCon . Well done @TeamMatchBook pic.twitter.com/7qEXwZrmYD — Eddie Barrett (@EddieBarrett12) October 14, 2015 One of the topics which struck a chord with many in the audience was Programming in R. The conference session, Intro to R, was delivered by Tom Heslop, @UTVilla , a self-taught R programmer, and there was plenty of feedback wanting to take that knowledge to a higher level. So now it's here... Matchbook is pleased to present the Matchbook Trader Workshops - the same spirit and fun as the Matchbook Traders Conference condensed into one evening of accelerated learning. Focusing on six trading topics, workshop series will offer in-depth education, analys...