ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Cheltenham and Doncaster on Saturday, December 13
It’s a busy time of year for Sport News Blitz’s horse racing tipster Jeff Mexico. He regularly breaks into people’s houses and steals exactly the right amount of Quality Street that will create a blazing family argument.
But he’s taking a day off this weekend and casting his net over five big races from Cheltenham, including the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, plus three from Doncaster, where it's Christmas Jumper Raceday … if that’s your type of thing.
Horse racing news: Joseph O’Brien upbeat about chances of Al Riffa and Galen in Hong Kong
Joseph O’Brien has never been a man to duck an international challenge as he prepares to take on three-time champion Romantic Warrior in the HK$40 million (approx. £3.8m) G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (1m2f/2000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday 14 December.
With two Melbourne Cups and a Breeders’ Cup success already unlocked during a training career which only began in 2016, O’Brien pitches the unheralded Galen into white-hot competition.
Horse racing news: Hong Kong International Races – Al Riffa tops Timeform ratings in G1 Hong Kong Vase
With the Hong Kong International Races 2025 this Sunday, Timeform can reveal the four horses who top the ratings for each of the four Group 1 races.
The Hong Kong Cup should be the highlight on the card, being the most valuable of the races, and it may well see history made with Romantic Warrior bidding to become the first four-time winner at the fixture.
Ryan Moore takes place among world’s elite for LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley
The LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley without Ryan Moore is almost unthinkable, and on Wednesday night (10 December), the 42-year-old will join 11 of the world’s elite riders for the 19th time in 20 years.
That couldn’t have been taken for granted when the line-up was first announced a month ago, as Moore continued his recovery from a stress fracture of the femur, which was first revealed at the end of August.
But the four-time recipient of the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey award made his return to race riding when landing a double at Lingfield a week out from the LONGINES IJC, and was in relaxed mood at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning (9 December) after riding a barrier trial for longtime ally John Size.
Harry Eustace carries high hopes for Docklands in LONGINES Hong Kong Mile
There will be another Eustace among the names for Sha Tin’s LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on Sunday (14 December) once again with David's brother Harry hoping for a more prominent showing from his stable star Docklands.
The elder sibling of one of Hong Kong's brightest training talents has had a fine year himself, with Docklands becoming his first top-level winner in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.
Now a very experienced five-year-old, he bids to improve upon last year's 12th-placed finish when tackling the HK$36 million (approx. £3.5m) G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile.
Horse racing news: Joseph O’Brien seeks success with Al Riffa in LONGINES Hong Kong Vase
Joseph O’Brien regards his HK$26 million (approx. £2.5m) G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (1m4f/2400m) contender Al Riffa as the horse who can help further his ambition to become a regular face at the major race meetings around the world in the coming years.
Al Riffa, a strapping five-year-old by Wootton Bassett, has already given a glimpse of that potential with a second to Godolphin’s globetrotter Rebel’s Romance at Royal Ascot in June and a much-debated seventh to Half Yours in the 2025 G1 Melbourne Cup.
Horse racing tips and best bets for ITV racing at Sandown and Aintree on December 6
Is your Christmas tree up yet? This is something Jeff Mexico will never say as he doesn’t believe in the festive season after he was beaten to a pulp by a drunken Santa Claus and a pack of rabid elves on a winter’s eve in the 1990s.
This weekend, the Sports News Blitz horse racing oracle casts his net over five big races from Sandown, including the Grade 1s Henry Novices Chase and the Tingle Creek Chase, plus three from Aintree.
Mr Vango well backed for William Hill Half A Mill Becher
After 13 runners were declared for Aintree’s William Hill Becher Chase, the first William Hill Half A Mill bonus race, Mr Vango has been popular in the betting and is the 4/1 favourite.
Gavin Cromwell: Bioluminescence all set for William Hill Half A Mill Becher Chase
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell has provided the latest on Bioluminescence ahead of her run in the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday.
Khaadem bidding to become oldest LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint winner
Khaadem will attempt to become the first nine-year-old to win the HK$28 million (approx. £2.7m) G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (6f/1200m) at Sha Tin’s LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on Sunday, December 14.
Sir AP McCoy: I couldn’t give up on Constitution Hill over hurdles
Sir AP McCoy has told William Hill that he doesn’t think connections should be giving up on Constitution Hill’s career over hurdles, despite another fall in the Fighting Fifth at the weekend.
Horse racing news: Constitution Hill receives Timeform ‘x’ following fall in Fighting Fifth at Newcastle
Ratings experts Timeform have attached an ‘x’ symbol to Constitution Hill’s rating of 166 following his latest fall in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.
The ‘x’ denotes a ‘poor jumper’ and has been given to Nicky Henderson’s eight-year-old after his third fall in four starts.
Mr Vango tops William Hill Becher betting
Following the five-day confirmation stage for Aintree’s William Hill Becher Chase, the first William Hill Half A Mill bonus race, 19 horses have been confirmed for the prestigious contest over the Randox Grand National fences, with Mr Vango heading the market as the 6/1 favourite with William Hill.
Horse racing tips and best bets for ITV racing at Newbury and Newcastle on November 29
This weekend, the Sports News Blitz horse racing oracle casts his net over four races from Newbury, including the Grade 3 Coral Gold Cup, and two from Newcastle, featuring the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle.
The latter is, of course, named after what Geordies do following five bottles of broon … or something like that probably.
Horse racing news: Barry Geraghty – I haven’t lost faith in what Constitution Hill is capable of
William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty is keeping the faith with Constitution Hill ahead of his clash with The New Lion and Anzadam in tomorrow’s Fighting Fifth, but he gives an idea of the dilemma Nico de Boinville faces aboard the Champion Hurdle winner.
From Van Dijk to Zidane, which racehorses are named after famous football legends?
Read any decent betting guide, and you are unlikely to find the suggestion ‘bet on a horse with a really great name’.
You might land one in every 20 bets placed going down this route, but you are unlikely to be sunning yourselves in Marbella with your winnings. Clacton-on-Sea is much more likely.
Horse racing and football have both had their fair share of donkeys, but it’s hard to make many direct comparisons. Essentially, they are sporting worlds apart.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Scott Allen ploughs his way through some of the most famous horses named after football players.
Fact To File rated narrowly ahead of Gaelic Warrior despite John Durkan defeat
Sunday’s John Durkan Chase saw a career-best effort from Gaelic Warrior (173 from 169) to get the better of last year’s winner Fact To File, aided by the run of the race but building on his strong finish to last season when beating Grey Dawning in the Bowl at Aintree and following up at Sandown.
Horse racing news: Buick eyes International Jockeys’ Championship glory after year of Group 1 successes
William Buick will return to Hong Kong at the end of a year of consistent top-level success as he attempts to tick off another major ambition.
It will be the fifth time Buick has participated in the showdown at Happy Valley, but it has not been an event of great fortune for him so far, with a fifth-place finish in 2020 being his best return to date, while he was sixth behind Mickael Barzalona 12 months ago.
Romantic Warrior dazzles with return success in G2 Jockey Club Cup
Romantic Warrior made a triumphant return to racing at Sha Tin on Sunday (23 November) as he sauntered to an emphatic victory in the HK$5.35 million (approx. £525,000) G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (1m2f/2000m) for jockey James McDonald and trainer Danny Shum.
Gavin Cromwell: I suspect Mark Walsh will ride Fact To File over Inothewayurthinkin in John Durkan
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell has revealed that he expects Mark Walsh to ride Fact To File in the John Durkan, instead of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin.