Slack Jawed Babbling

I’ve been dabbling again. But I’ve got my fingers mildly burnt this time. I was looking for a bit of value in the World Hurdle market. I don’t seriously think Big Buck’s will be beaten. Nevertheless, there are a number of interesting contenders in this year’s renewal and as a point of principal, a market leader as short as this must be taken on. The vague smell of scorched digits permeates the airwaves because I backed Voler La Vedette on Thursday before the Galmoy Hurdle. SportingBet’s stand out 16-1 was too much to resist. I had visions of a cosy win for the much-improved mare forcing a sharp contraction of those flabby odds. As it is, her 1 length defeat to Zaidpour is not quite the disaster for this bet that I first thought. I can point (with slightly charred extremities) to the heavy ground that was massively to Zaidpour’s advantage as well as the slow pace and masterful tactics of Ruby Walsh. I’m still hopeful that Voler will line up for the World Hurdle. Her other serio

It’s Mug Punting Saturday! I feel the need for a shockingly conceived, poorly executed, cheaply staked each-way Lucky 15. A cheery, comforting bet on the Channel 4 races is very much needed on this wintry Saturday afternoon. Working out a sloppy Lucky 15 is as much intellectual rigour as I can muster right now. The grey matter took a pounding last night. The Cunninghams were round. That's probably sufficient explanation. Mrs A's sweet-spiced kilo of fillet steak was an unconfined joy. The many fine bottles of accompanying Rioja and real ale were also very welcome. The company was exemplary. And as the last bottle was drained and the castle doors bolted at about 3am, I didn't need to ponder for too long where, exactly, the night had gone. So I offer up my soothing combination more in hope than expectation. 2.20 Haydock - Mister Marker , 13-2 Much better over hurdles than recent disappointing fencing form. Acts on soft. 3.10 Ascot – Wishfull Thinking , 15-2 Ne

Well I was delighted to see that nice young Pricewise man from out of the Racing Post put up Oscars Well for his Champion Hurdle ante-post bet the other day. I assume he saw my post  a couple of weeks ago, was seduced by the inescapable logic, and followed me in. Possibly. January has been pretty quiet so far and I’ve been having a look at the Queen Mother Champion Chase market. Much as I love this race as a dramatic spectacle of white-knuckle, precision jumping, I rarely plunge into the ante-post markets with any vigour. However, this year’s renewal is taking an interesting twist. Sizing Europe and Big Zeb are solid market leaders and I can’t really quibble with their credentials. But in looking for some value to take on these two, I’m persuaded that the opposition is a bit thin. Finian’s Rainbow didn’t impress that much at Kempton over Christmas and needs to improve to take this. He may well do so on Saturday in the Victor Chandler. But at a best-priced 6-1 I’m not interested

It’s as if a switch has been flicked. Blinking into the howling gale of a New Year, with Christmas Tree shredded, cards recycled and industrial-size pork pies scoffed, my focus has changed. I’m compelled to peer into the future. The ending of one Festive season seems to clear out just enough mental clutter to make room for another. Driven by a body clock ticking to a seasonal tempo, I am helpless to resist. Involuntarily, my brain has become hard-wired into the Oddschecker Cheltenham Festival countdown clicker: 67 days, 23 hours, 24 minutes, 15 seconds as of this afternoon. My ante-posts bets are now being struck. Every year I self-medicate caution and restraint. “Don’t go crazy on the ante-posts, Davoski. You know your stats show they don’t really pay”. But the drugs don’t work. I get sucked in, fuelled by eye-catching holiday winners, nagged by juicy but often fleeting prices and pressurised by the diminishing time to festival kick off. I need a suit of shiny ante-post armour to