Royal Ascot 2026: Irish horses favourites to lift Gold Cup
The centrepiece of the flat racing season is here, with Royal Ascot ready to welcome some of the world’s premier horses to Berkshire.
Starting on 16th June and offering five days of early summer racing, the meeting is one of the major landmarks of the British social calendar.
For the trainers, owners and jockeys, however, Royal Ascot offers the chance to collect some of the most prestigious trophies in British racing.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for York, Sandown and Chester on Saturday, June 13
Royal Ascot is just around the corner and Sports News Blitz racing tipster Jeff Mexico has spent all week looking for a new frock and hat. Luckily, Farm Foods does an amazing range of clothing (it’s somewhere near the back by the spoon meats), and Jeff is now all kitted out for a busy week in Royal Berkshire.
He’s hoping to get an invite to the Royal Procession or even better be interviewed by Raceday TV about his stunning outfit – his black bin bag ensemble and potato sack fascinator will go down a storm no doubt.
Epsom Derby Day ITV horse racing tips and best bets on Saturday, June 6
This week, Sports News Blitz tipster Jeff Mexico has been measuring the height of buildings for Donald Trump. Jeff discovered that Carnon Downs Garden Centre in Truro, the Ship Inn in Exeter, and Oh, For Goodness Cake! in Shrewsbury are not as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which seemed to please the US commander-in-chief … even though he was asleep at the time.
Away from measuring the size of phallic constructions, it’s Derby Day and Jeff has six tips to dig up for ITV’s coverage this Saturday afternoon from Epsom.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Carlisle, Beverley and Chester on Saturday, May 30
Sports News Blitz’s racing tipster Jeff Mexico has an unusual way of keeping cool in the current heatwave. He fills his wheelie bin with cold water, positions it outside his nearest bossman shop, strips naked, and climbs inside. Jeff will spend all day in there, collecting ice creams and cool drinks from generous passing locals, which he then goes and sells down the dogtrack in the evening.
He’d make even more money if he removed the rubbish from the bin before he filled it with water. Anyway, Jeff has nine races from the north of England to select from this Saturday afternoon as the ITV cameras head to Carlisle, Beverley, and Chester.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Haydock, Goodwood, York and the Curragh on Saturday, May 23
Sports News Blitz horse racing expert Jeff Mexico has returned from a week away helping paint the bottom of a big pool in Washington DC. Unfortunately, Jeff is a little colour blind, so he muddled up the Mexican green and American blue flag paint. Ah well, it’s unlikely anyone will notice.
Let’s get back to a busy day of racing on ITV this Saturday afternoon. It includes nine races from Haydock, Goodwood, and York as well as the Irish 2000 Guineas over the Irish Sea at the Curragh.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for York and Salisbury on Thursday, May 14
Day two of the Dante Festival gets underway at York Racecourse on Thursday and Sports News Blitz’s horse racing expert Kieran McHugh is back for the main event.
ITV are showing five races from York and one from Salisury, all spearheaded by the Dante Stakes at 16:05.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for York and Yarmouth on Wednesday, May 13
Day one of the Dante Festival gets underway at York Racecourse on Wednesday and Sports News Blitz’s horse racing expert Kieran McHugh returns to cast his eye over proceedings.
ITV are showing five races from York and one from Yarmouth, leaving our resident racing reporter with lots of action to uncover.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Lingfield, Ascot and Haydock on Saturday, May 9
Sports News Blitz horse racing expert Jeff Mexico ate a Tesco meal deal sandwich he found on the bus this week. We would always advise against eating anything you find randomly on the bus, but Jeff was absolutely fine.
If anything, he visited the toilet fewer times than usual for the rest of the week. So, Jeff is in tip-top form for the bumper nine-race card on offer on ITV this Saturday afternoon.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Newmarket, Goodwood and Thirsk on Saturday, May 2
Every year, at the start of May, Sports News Blitz tipster Jeff Mexico breaks into his mother’s house and steals a pair of her shoes.
He then wears them for a few days before chucking them in the sea, as he doesn’t feel there’s enough plastic in the ocean.
His mother still hasn’t realised she is missing all these shoes, granted she has been dead since 2009.
Anyway to the horses.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Sandown, Leicester and Haydock on Saturday, April 25
Sports News Blitz’s racing tipster Jeff Mexico fell over when he was running in the playground this week and scraped his knee.
We gave him a hug, offered some soothing words and patched him up with a Spiderman plaster, which he showed off to all his friends. Now he’s fully ready to deliver this Saturday’s racing tips for the six races on ITV.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Ayr and Newbury on Saturday, April 18
After a brief sailing holiday along the Strait of Hormuz, Sports News Blitz’s racing tipster Jeff Mexico has returned with six barrels of oil and some red-hot selections for Saturday’s ITV racing.
There are five contests from Scottish Grand National Day at Ayr and four from the second day of Newbury’s Spring Trials.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Aintree on Saturday, April 11
Day three of the 2026 Grand National Festival arrives on Saturday, and Sports News Blitz’s horse racing pundit Kieran McHugh is eyeing the big race – the Grand National.
ITV are showing five races from Aintree Racecourse, starting at 13:20 and culminating at 16:00 with the Grand National, and our resident reporter is hoping to continue his good form.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Aintree on Friday, April 10
Day Two of the 2026 Grand National Festival arrives on Friday, and Sports News Blitz’s horse racing pundit Kieran McHugh is back for more after scoring a profit on the first day at Aintree Racecourse.
ITV are again showing six races from Aintree, and our horse racing expert is hoping for more success in Liverpool.
Grand National 2026: Willie Mullins star supported for Aintree Hurdle success in William Hill market movers
William Hill have seen some significant market movers ahead of the first day of the 2026 Grand National festival at Aintree Racecourse, Sports News Blitz’s horse racing expert Kieran McHugh reports.
Willie Mullins’ El Fabiolo is the main market mover in the Aintree Hurdle, as punters seem keen to side with the nine-year-old.
But Mullins’ charge is not the only major market mover before action gets underway, with Lulamba and Protektorat also being supported.
Horse racing tips: Best bets for Aintree on Thursday, April 9
Day One of the 2026 Grand National Festival gets underway at Aintree, and Sports News Blitz’s horse racing pundit Kieran McHugh has returned to cast his varifocals over the meeting.
ITV is showing six races from Aintree, and our resident racing reporter is keen to unearth the secrets of the card after striking oil in Dubai with a 28/1 winner.
Meydan horse racing tips for Saturday, March 28 – Triple Crown glory for Forever Young?
After posting a double-figure profit from his selections last week, Sports News Blitz’s horse racing expert Kieran McHugh turns his attention to Dubai.
Meydan plays host to the Dubai World Cup carnival, with nine races on the card, and our resident racing fanatic is very much looking forward to getting his teeth into it.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Doncaster and Kempton on Saturday, March 28
Sports News Blitz’s racing tipster Jeff Mexico is finally back from Cheltenham… Ladies College where he has been teaching sixth-form girls geography for the last month. How Jeff managed to swing that gig is beyond us as he can’t tell the difference between a glacial system and an oxbow lake.
Let’s bring him back down to earth with a bump by waving in the traditional start of the Flat season at Doncaster, with five contests on offer from ITV, as well as three on the all-weather at Kempton.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Kelso, Newbury and Bangor-On-Dee on Saturday, March 21
After a very profitable Cheltenham, normal service is resumed for Sports News Blitz’s horse racing pundit Kieran McHugh.
ITV Racing are showing 10 races on Saturday, from three different meetings, and our racing reporter is looking to continue his fine form.
Cheltenham Festival 2026 day four: Tips for televised races on ITV
After a thrilling and dramatic Cheltenham Festival, the fourth and final day is upon us with all eyes on the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Sports News Blitz’s Jeff Mexico and Kieran McHugh seem to have saved their best until the end, and after a successful Thursday, they return for the finale on Friday, March 13.
Cheltenham Festival 2026 day three: Tips for televised races on ITV
Day three of the Cheltenham Festival has quickly rolled around and after a thrilling last couple of days, all focus turns now to St Patrick’s Thursday.
Sports News Blitz’s Jeff Mexico and Kieran McHugh are back for round three of the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday, March 12.