Another difficult day ahead for punters, especially at Royal Ascot.  Cracksman drops back 2f today for the Group 1 Prince Of Wales Stakes, he won over 12f last time at Epsom.  He only just got up that day, having looked beaten at one stage.  But really good horses always seem to find a bit extra, even when possibly slightly not at their best.  I think he is around 4/7 to win.  I think I would rather back than lay !

Frankie Dettori was at his best yesterday at Ascot.  He really seems to ride the track so well.  The Gosden/ Dettori combination looks really strong this week, Cracksman today and Stradivarius is running in the Gold Cup, he should run well, but Order Of St George may have something to say about winning !

Today is the first day of Royal Ascot.  Lots of very good horses performing.  It is always very difficult to back a winner at the prestigious meetings, as everything is trying !

Todays first race looks a good one.  Rhododendron will start likely favourite for this race, she will be primed for the race by her brilliant trainer Aiden O’Brian.  If I was having an interest bet in it, Lightning Spear is a bit of value each way at around 8/1.

More tomorrow.

Fairly quiet day, I fancied one at Carlisle who was 4th.  Gearing up for Royal Ascot , starts tomorrow, it is a great meeting.  A lot of bubbles will burst this week !

Looking at football later, England should get a win, hopefully it can be decent performance.  It is vital to get a good start in such an important tournament, although Germany lost 1-0 yesterday.  I still think they will raise performance levels and qualify, but they did show yesterday that maybe they are not a team to be afraid of, a number of players are not as quick as they were, It is wide open the tournament, hopefully we can get a win and then try and think of our next opponent.

A few big priced winners yesterday at many meetings.  Franny Norton was the man to follow at Chester, he bagged a three timer.  He is a very good rider, nobody rides Chester as well as him, he has been tactically brilliant for a few seasons at the tight track.

Chester is so unique, a lot of horses find the turns very difficult, it helps if you have a horse that is a strong traveller.  I was lucky enough to ride a winner at Chester for Denys Smith as an apprentice, it was quite a few years ago.  My old guvnor Denys  was a very good man to ride for, he never put pressure on you, orders were usually similar- on whatever you rode, he liked his horses to be ridden fairly close to the pace.  He was a good trainer of Flat horses or Jumpers.

He was a good trainer of jockeys as well.  When I was apprenticed to him we had Alan Dickman, Chris Grant, Andrew Stringer all riding the jumpers, all very good riders, and Pat Kelleher as senior jockey on the flat, with Robert Sidebottom, Chris Olivier, Paul Sedgwick and myself, all apprentices trying to get rides on the flat, competition was strong !

Racing has changed so much, Richard Hughes wrote an excellent article in the Racing Post last Saturday.  He said how hard it was for trainers currently trying to manage staff, and also keep staff on a full time basis.

I recently visited Newmarket, I was on the Heath watching the horses training,  and was shocked by some of the staff riding out, a lot of good riders riding, but a lot of very poor riders as well.  I think something has to be done with the racing schools. I am not totally sure of how long school leavers attend the British racing school in Newmarket when they join, it used to be around six weeks.  But you don’t scratch the surface in that amount of time, the problem is youngsters do the six weeks, and start work in one of the racing stables, and think they can do the job.  I am not sure what the answer is to make a positive adjustment, but 6 months rather than 6 weeks may be a starting point !

Another Saturday that looks very difficult ! Racing is oso competitive today, as expected. I like to try and give a free selection on Saturday’s, something with a little bit of value in one of the handicaps.

Todays free selection is as follows:

Horse: Citron Major

Time: 3:35 York

Current Odds: 9/1 ew

Worth a few of the hard earned cash each way.  Track bias at York in sprints can be crucial.  It is always advantageous to come from where the pace is generous, when riding a horse that is a tad keen, especially over 6f, and likes to finish off its race strong, Citron Major fits the ‘finisher’ profile.  This is a strong race, numerous horses with chances, I just think my selection is improving, plus a good 3lb claimer riding.  Of rivals, Staxton has had a run, that was 59 days ago, his stable are flying now, so he can be in the mix, Bengali Boys has top weight, he is another with a good claimer on.  I feel old when I see the name Sebastian Woods, he is the son of Wendyl Woods, who was a good flat jockey, his uncle Sean was riding when I was, good guy who rode plenty of winners, and was a very successful trainer in the U.K. and Hong Kong.

Update:

I am just trying to watch a little bit of the Uruguay v Egypt match, the Uruguay team have some really strong players, Salah on the bench. Could be a tough day for Egypt.

Looking at the Sandown card, Ryan Moore has some good rides, he may well have a good day.  Strong mounts in the handicap races, Aclimatise and Eyecatcher may take some stopping today.  Eyecatcher could be hard to beat 5:25, he has some headgear today to help him focus.

A good double advised yesterday for my subscribers.  Zain City was an easy winner at Nottingham 2:10 in the hands of Sylvester De Sousa, and Linganno Felice just managed to get back up on the run in, after being headed going to the second last flight, but went on to win at Uttoxeter (7:15).   He did not seem to jump with his usual fluency, not sure why- maybe he prefers going right handed.   My wife was screaming the horse home in the living room, she did not go to the races last night, her dad was there, he was really pleased with the win.  He told me he got presented with the owners trophy by Andrew Thornton.

Trainer Iain Jardine had another winner last night in the last race.  With a nice bumper mare.  Iain is a really good man, and can certainly train a horse.  He is a real grafter, and his young jockey, who rode both winners last night- Ross Chapman is excellent value for his 3lb claim, he rides very well, and could go right to the top.

I will update later, hopefully I may be able to advise followers a horse that has a good chance of winning at one of today’s cards.

Another good winner yesterday.  Swiss Knight won at Haydock- he drifted from evens- 7/4 , But he didn’t know that ! He won well, really pleased with my new service.  Currently 9 WINNERS from 12! Had some nice messages from people who have joined, it’s always good when giving some stick to the bookies !

Hopefully Linganno Felice can win again at Uttoxeter 7:15.  My father in law is travelling to the track, he will go on good to firm, but as he is useful, with lots of potential- he will jump a fence, he will only run if the ground is safe.  My wife is not going to see him run today, she will be watching, nervously tonight ! It will be nice if he can win again for them both, but the main priority is both horse and jockey get round safe.

8 WINNERS from 11 bets advised to my subscribers ! Burgonet won yesterday at 6/4 at Salisbury.  Given a good ride by Franny Norton, who is like a good wine, he gets better as he gets older.  Today looks quite trappy, with the dry weather conditions forecast, a lot of racecourses are now watering to try and keep the ground safe, June-August if dry, can be tough on horses if the ground is too quick, horses can get jarred up ! (Usually in their shoulders) or sore shins, normally shin problems are common with the two year olds, as they are not fully mature.

On a different subject, I hope England can do well in the World Cup.  If they get to the last 16 it would be viewed as an ok tournament, with a bit of luck I think we could be quarter finalist”s !

More tomorrow.

Just watched the first race at Salisbury.  One of the biggest problems when horses are  in the starting stalls for a while, (over a minute) especially two year olds, they become tense and can get upset.  It is very claustrophobic when you are in the stalls, for both horse and jockey.  But I just saw two horses get upset in the 2:00 race,  both reared up, they were drawn next to each other, so highly likely they set each other off !

My view is that when this happens, horses should be withdrawn.   It’s unfair to connections and punters, you are beat before the race has even started.

More tomorrow.