#The Nice Guy

It's the final day of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival and there's seven more races taking place. The Gold Cup is the feature contest at 3.30pm and Rachael Blackmore is bidding to become the first female jockey to win it. On her chances, she said: "The Gold Cup is what the whole week of Cheltenham builds around. It's the pinnacle of the racing year and…

What a week it has been! The racing has been phenomenal, the weather largely clear and most crucially of all, fans were back where they belong on the terraces. Cheltenham felt like it was truly back this week as a result. See you in 2023! It's the seventh Irish-trained winner from seven races on Friday! Mark McDonagh did an excellent job steering…

Last time we looked, Mark Messier was approaching his 62nd birthday later this month, he was ensconced as a hockey commentator on ESPN and, even though he still looks like he spends hours in the gym, he's well past his playing days. But the Edmonton Oilers could use some of Messier's old dressing room fire. He would be in somebody's face or giving…

The stranglehold Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott have had on Limerick's premier race was interrupted last season by the exploits of small-scale trainer Paddy Corkery, but normal service is well on its way to resuming this Christmas. It's disappointing we don't have more than the five runners declared for this Grade 1 named after Mullins' talented…

Another blank week of jumps racing has forced me, not unreluctantly I should add, to widen the scope of the column this week. The latest prolonged cold snap might not have been as severe as some of those in my living memory - December in 1981 in Newcastle in my second year at Uni living in a soon-to-be-condemned terrace in Elswick with three others…

ANTE-POST punting - it's a mindfield like no other. Already this season we have season 2022 Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard - who many fancied to do the double - flop in the Betfair Chase. That horror show at Haydock saw his odds go from around 3-1 for a repeat to a distant 12-1. Many thought Cheveley Park Stud's other stable star Allaho was a dead cert…

WILLIE MULLINS will be Galopin down the road to more big-race glory. The Closutton maestro may be knocking on a bit at 66 - but he has no plans to hand over the reigns to his son Patrick just yet. And his team of Galacticos will take some stopping. Such is his squad strength only a couple of star strikers from Britain would even make it into a…

Reigning champion Minella Indo will be hoping to make it successive Gold Cup wins toward the end of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, but will face plenty of competition from the likes of last year's National Hunt Chase winner Galvin and previous two-time winner of this race Al Boum Photo. That all comes after four full days of racing though, with…

RACHAEL BLACKMORE has cemented her place as Queen of Cheltenham with victory in the Gold Cup. Grand National winner Blackmore was second in the prestigious race last year in the Gold Cup and has gone one better in front of the returning punters this year. All eyes were on Prestbury Park for one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. The…

The seven-year-old was a smart novice hurdler for Dan Skelton last season, finishing a fine fourth behind The Nice Guy in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham, and last month's Colin Parker winner Beauport was among two rivals standing in the 13/8 chance's way in the Jewson St Helens Novices' Chase, alongside the Paul Nicholls-trained…

Racing journalist Gavin Beech looks ahead to the most anticipated battles at the 2022 Punchestown Festival. Five runners go to post for Tuesday's Grade 1 William Hill Champion Chase but barring accidents, the opening day feature should turn into a shoot-out between the best two-mile chasers in Willie Mullins' stable. Chacun Pour Soi has yet to…

Go for GALVIN in the Cheltenham Gold Cup as the Festival reaches its grand finale. Gordon Elliott, already with a winner of the feature on his CV, looks to have an ideal candidate. The son of Gold Well has stamina in abundance - and scooped the National Hunt Chase prize at last year's meeting. A narrow verdict over A Plus Tard at Leopardstown over…

ANTE-POST punters have been thrown into a state of panic five months before the Cheltenham Festival after another big hope was ruled out. An Tobar, who had been as short as 12-1 for the Ballymore after being backed from 25s, was scratched due to a tendon injury. Purchased by powerful owners Robcour, the Henry de Bromhead-trained An Tobar was one of…

Rachael Blackmore can make history and win her first Cheltenham Gold Cup riding A Plus Tard. Henry De Bromhead's chaser, second last year, was extremely impressive in the Betfair Chase at the start of the season. He was then pipped by Galvin, when Blackmore probably hit the front a little sooner than ideal against a strong stayer, at…

We bring you day two of the Punchestown Festival as Allaho waltzes away with the Grade 1 Punchestown Gold Cup (5.55). In a cracker of a race which pits all-conquering Cheltenham Festival winner Allaho thumped Clan Des Obeaux and Al Boum Photo by at least eight lengths leading all the way. This followed Willie Mullins also winning the staying novice…

It was back in 1926 that Barbara Eupean Todd, the creator of Worzel Gummidge claimed that'Winter comes on the tail of the last St Leger horse'. With the entries for the Charlie Hall approaching and the Jumps stable tours coming think and fast, it's fair to say that winter is ranging up and ready to grab the lead. With that in mind the team at…

ASCOT Champions Day looks set to bring the curtain down in style of another stellar Flat season. And a whole host of superstars are expected to take their place following Monday's latest confirmations. Baaeed, the world's best horse, is the headline act in the Champion Stakes. But at 1-4 he is hardly a punting proposition - unless being used to add…

TEMPLEGATE takes on the final day of Cheltenham Festival confident of banging in a few winners to end the week on a high. Our man delivers all his tips below - back a horse by clicking their odds. And while you're here, don't forget to check out the Sun Racing Lucky 15 for Friday and why we fancy this huge outsider. Good luck! CHELTENHAM…