Sport is made for betting

Worth giving a plug to blog protege Luke Humphries ( @WorldRacingLuke ), who is now scoring some paid work in the media. The Elitloppet is one of the premier races on the world trotting calendar, and with globalisation, it's now receiving dedicated coverage in Australia. Luke's comprehensive preview of #Elitloppet18 can be found here . If you fancy yourself as a bit of a writer and would like to follow in the footsteps of several guest writers on the blog who have gone onto paid work/regular employment, drop me a line. There's always a feature race somewhere worth previewing to the outside world!

The wonderful Dante meeting kicks off at York tomorrow. Let's hope we'll be able to focus on the racing rather than a bunch of tossers brawling on the lawn after a session on the turps & nose candy! My go at the previews for the week - why not start with the opener on day one? ================= Sky Bet First Race Special Jorvik Hcp Class 2, £50k, about 1m4f 14.20 local, 23.20 AEST Banksea New to this trip but on breeding and recent runs in Dubai, I can’t see it being an issue. Placed each time in his three ‘winter’ starts since being acquired by Godolphin. Dry track suits but doesn't have the killer burst of speed to put a race to bed. Has promised plenty of the years but eternally stuck high in the weight in handicaps and not quite good to step into pattern class. Grandee Previously trained by Jessica Harrington, likely to try a few different things to work him out in his early runs for David O’Meara. Good run at Ripon on stable debut, never turned up at ...

The first Saturday in May is synonymous with the Run for the Roses, the one day of the year that the majority of Americans hear of horse racing in mainstream news. This year takes on a special dimension with world champion trainer Aidan O'Brien pulling out all stops to land America's biggest race with leading chance Mendelssohn. By popular demand after his winning debut on the Breeders' Cup, it's the return of Nathan Cripps, @hoodooguru81 , with his detailed assessment of the classic.  -------------------------- On Saturday 5th May (Sunday AEST) we will witness the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby worth $2,000,000 US. This year, unlike a few of the previous renewals, is a high quality contest. There are four or five outstanding colts that have looked dominant in their lead up races and recorded impressive ratings in doing so. Everything is in place for a brilliant spectacle and given the strength of the race, an exciting finish. We are in for a classic on S...