Betting news and tips: Trackman has all the latest news from the tracks and picks out his best bets
IT pays to be persistent in this game.
Nicky Henderson has been frozen out a few times at Huntingdon this winter. But he was walking on sunshine again after Shishkin rocketed home there on Thursday.
Hendo’s flyer has got the lot and will be wrapped in cotton wool until the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival.
Paddy Power’s generous looking 9-2 about him nicking that prize melted quicker than an ice cream in the Sahara and you can’t beat 3s now.
While that isn’t a wallet emptying price, it might take a Willie Mullins `special’ to get him beat.
You would struggle to meet a nicer bloke than Anthony Honeyball and he hit another bullseye when Coquelicot danced home in Huntingdon’s bumper.
She’s off to Sandown for a valuable pot in a months’ time, while happy Honeyball has big plans for his crackerjack novice chaser Sam Brown.
That rascal will be ready to rumble in the Reynoldstown Novice Chase at Ascot next weekend and is expected to go close if the ground stays sloppy.
By the way, keep your peepers on Anthony’s runners at Exeter if that meeting beats a Sunday morning inspection.
Word is he’s been aiming some of his top guns at the fixture and will be gutted if he heads home empty handed.
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Best news of the week is that plans to turn Kempton Park into a housing estate have hit the buffers.
That said, you do have to wonder about some of the track’s number crunchers.
Apparently, in a briefing before Wednesday’s fixture security staff were told the predicted attendance was 2,500.
As these cards usually attract a slightly smaller crowd than you would find at a meeting of the Jeremy Corbyn appreciation society, that was wildly optimistic at best.
Trackstar
NUBE NEGRA (2.05, Warwick) ran a cracker in a smart race at Sandown last time and will be hard to beat.
Trainer Dan Skelton has a blinding record on the track and will be disappointed if this fella is trumped.
As it was about 300 turned up to watch Pinnata (3-1 to 7-4) land a tickle for red-hot Stuart Williams.
It wasn’t all `pay-pay’ for punters though and one regular face dropped a nice few quid when well-bet jollies Law Of Peace and Kamra managed to get beat.
Undeterred, the fella in question whacked a grand on 7-1 shot Allegiant only to see that one come off second best in a head-bobbing photo.
Our man’s stuffing was well and truly knocked out by that reverse and he exited the track looking a couple of shades paler than Casper.
Roger Teal had the right hump when Swiss Pride was mullered in a sprint the other day but raised a grin when discussing his stable-star Kenzai Warrior.
Big Rodge reckons this fella has blossomed through the winter and is planning to send him straight to the 2000 Guineas.
And that might not be quite as far-fetched as it sounds. Roger knows his onions and reckons this bad boy is a notch better than Tip Two Win who finished second in the colt’s Classic for him two years ago.
You should never judge a book by its cover as a punter who can only be described as `unkempt’ proved at Lingfield the other day.
This Billy Bunter looked decidedly the worse for wear but caught rails layers cold when he asked for £1,500 on the jolly Bangkok.
He was accommodated after a bit of negotiation and copped a nice pay-day when Andrew Balding’s colt won by the length of Southend Pier.
What he did with the dough is anybody’s guess, but it’s long odds he wasted it on a bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest scent.
Today, Hughie Morrison spent a few nights walking the box before agreeing to let NOT SO SLEEPY take his chance in Newbury’s £155,000 Betfair Handicap Hurdle (3.35).
The front-runner hasn’t seen another horse in two outings this winter and must be first choice.
Meanwhile, CADZAND was a proper eye-catcher in a piping-hot race at Newbury in November and will take a bit of stopping in the bumper at Warwick (4.25).