Arc the Longchamp Angels sing..!

Dear All In the immortal lyrics of that great songstress, Joni Mitchell, I looked at the Arc from all sides now, from up and down, and still somehow I can only see one winner and that's Saonois... The key features are: He's from the classic generation - 3-year olds appear to have a distinct advantage... He's a Group 1 winner... He's a Classic winner He's improving He's won over the trip He's French-trained He won the Prix Niel - a significant Arc trial He's drawn perfectly in stall 2 - ages since a high drawn contender was victorious Add to that: Weak opposition generally Those that are not weak have to overcome terrible draws (Orfevre) or, in the case of Camelot, a second-hand plan - very much doubt he'd have run here but for St Leger defeat... How Great Heavens is ahead of a French Derby winner in the betting is a mystery; Nathaniel was connections' first choice for the race; this is clearly plan B and she has never once raced against a colt... no chance! Dangers, if any, are Shareta and Meandre... Happy punting Rm(Mark)

Out with the old and in with the New One...

Dear All Quick tout for the best horse to follow books on the market - One Jump Ahead/Ahead On The Flat by the legend that is Mark Howard... If you love your racing and don't have time to undertake sufficiently in-depth form study, then these little nuggets will point you in the direction of plentiful winners, many at a working man's price... OJA is out now for the 2012/2013 National Hunt season - so far and below are 5 horses, I fancy Mark has high hopes for in the new jumps season... Wonderful Charm - Trained by Paul Nicholls Ile De Re - Donald McCain Simonsig - Nicky Henderson Up And Go - Donald McCain Keppols Hill - Paul Nicholls Put these in your GG-Alerts... --------------------------------------- Post-October 1 - jumps performance of the season so far, The New One at Newton Abbot on Monday; liked him in bumpers last year. In fact, sizeable wager on him in the Cheltenham Festival Bumper; a little lacking in experience for that contest but showed his mettle in the Aintree version one month later beating 19 rivals impressively - one for Cheltenham before Christmas... Follow classy bumper sorts from the top 10 of the Championship Bumpers at Cheltenham, Fairyhouse, Aintree and Punchestown in Novice Hurdle contests all season. Remember also, it's tough to carry a penalty in a bumper - be aware of the opposition before wading in to a first time winner on its next start --------------------------------------- Now back to the book... Happy punting... Rm(Mark)

A new dawn...

Back after a summer of activity but little in the way of punting - planning to reinvigorate The Blog shortly with new features - proof reading for Belinda has been a success, poem written for niece's wedding; new car sorted, move to Oxfordshire imminent, change of role at work on horizon, an awesome summer of sport and, at last recovering from a nagging groin strain (no sniggering , please!) More importantly, the Jump season is back! Apologies for being so elusive recently - the above explains most of the reasons for said absence... Details of new features to follow soon... November 1 launch - thrice weekly posts including all Saturdays... Happy punting all Rm (Mark)