UK Horse Racing Tips

Richard Johnson has won the the Stobart Jump Jockeys Championship for the last two years and, with 135 winners already this season – 23 ahead of his nearest rival, Harry Skelton – is well on his way to collect his third successive title. Johnson won the Conditional Jump Jockeys Championship in 1995/96 but, for the next 19 years it was a question of “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” for the Hereford-born jockey.

Unfortunately, his career coincided with that of a certain Anthony Peter “A.P.” McCoy – now, of course, Sir Anthony – who is the only jockey in the history of National Hunt racing to ride over 4,000 winners and was Champion Jockey every season from 1995/96 until his retirement at the end of 2014/15 season. During that period, Johnson finished runner up in the Jump Jockeys’ Championship no fewer than 16 times.

Nevertheless, Johnson, 40, speaks highly of the former champion, without whom he would almost certainly be talked about as the greatest jockey in the history of National Hunt racing. He has admitted, however, that McCoy was a thorn in his side for a long time and, with all due respect, expressed his delight at his former arch-rival’s absence from the weighing room.

Johnson rode his 3,000th winner at Ludlow in January, 2016 and, at the time of writing, has a career total of 3,363 winners. That figure is still some way short of McCoy’s record total of 4,348 winners, but streets clear of the likes of Richard Dunwoody, John Francome and Peter Scudamore, who won the Jump Jockeys Championship between them. Of course, “Dicky”, as Johnson is popularly known, is still riding as well as ever, with the same level of commitment he’s shown over the last two decades, so he’s likely to be Champion Jockey a few more times before he finally hangs up his boots.

There are so many paid for online tips services nowadays. It appears that with the advent of the internet, suddenly everyone is the next expert in waiting, or at lest perceives themself as such. It’s not as if it’s difficult to throw up a nice looking web template and a soothsayer like list of 50-1 and 100-1 winners. Of course though, it can often be the case that as soon as you input your credit card details or click on the paypal button, the results that start flooding in for you are about the same as what ‘Dave down the pub’ gets by throwing a dart at his daily copy of the Racing Post.

Let’s not get too cynical though, because the internet is home to all, both snake oil salesman and legitimate and proven betting experts. And also, and this might surprise some, making the most of online tip selections isn’t always about putting your hand in your pocket and paying for them. In fact much the same as the offline betting world, some of the top tipsters are happy to offer their selections without any caveats or hurdles to jump over to get to them.

So with that being the case it can all come down to spotting the best sources of top free racing tips. I have to admit I do tend to go the tried and tested route (again on account of the fact that anyone can just set up a site or twitter account), so it certainly does often bode well if the website, service or twitter account in question already has a good following. This can easily be ascertained by looking at follower numbers, web stats, quality of the domain name and website and the like. Sometimes a combination of factors.Web properties with a bit of history to them have likely already seen a few tipsters come and go and so have often acquired the cream of the crop in that regard, likely having enough money in the bank to get top tipsters on board.

If you’re looking for additional guidance, here’s a site that basically fits the description of what I’ve set out above by offering free tips on hundreds of races, in the form of daily tips, guest tips, video tips and more.

It also goes without saying that on this very site, we’ll be offering a whole array of horse racing tips over the course of the year from short odds selections to ambitious outsiders. Whatever approach you take, let’s make it a winning year for all of us. Good luck!

After six years in training and 121 races, it’s fair to say the Windforpower is fully exposed, but Tracey Waggott’s 8-year-old has been in fine form since switched back to Tapeta in September and may be capable of completing a hat-trick in the Betway Casino Handicap (6.15) at Newcastle on Wednesday. His latest 5lb rise in the weights, for beating stable companion Little Kingdom over course and distance 12 days ago, necessitates stepping back up into 0-70 company, but he’s won off much higher marks in the past, so should remain competitive. It’s also fair to say that his trainer has some fairly dismal statistics at Newcastle, but that shouldn’t necessarily be held against Windforpower, who has held his form well in recent starts. He’s well drawn, in stall 9 of 10, and should give it another good go.

Selection: Newcastle 6.15 Windforpower to win 5/2

The Arkle Challenge Trophy, currently sponsored by the Racing Post, is currently scheduled as the second race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and, as such, is the first Grade 1 steeplechase of the week. The race is run over a distance of about 2 miles on the Old Course and is open to novice chasers – that is, horses that have not won a steeplechase before the start of the current season – aged five years and upwards. Let’s take a look at the best wagers ahead of the trophy.

Recent trends suggest that what we’re looking for, ideally, in a likely winner is a horse that has won, or been placed, at a previous Cheltenham Festival and has run since the turn of the year, finishing first or second in its preparatory race. The Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown and the Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown have proved key trials for the Arkle Challenge Trophy in recent years, so the winners of those races seem as good a starting point as any at this early stage.

The Henry VIII Novices’ Chase – the first Grade 1 of the season for novice chasers in Britain – was run on December 5, on good to soft going, and won, in impressive fashion, by Sceau Royal. The winner, trained by Alan King and ridden by Daryl Jacob, reversed earlier Cheltenham form with the runner-up, North Hill Harvey, to the tune of 11¼ lengths on just 5lb better terms, in the style of an improving horse. The 6-year-old has finished unplaced in the Triumph Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle on two previous visits to the Festival, but is entered for the Grade 2 Lightning Novices’ Chase at Doncaster this Saturday, for which he is likely to start a hot favourite. The Doctor Dino gelding is currently top-priced at 6/1 for the Arkle.

The Racing Post Novice Chase was run, on yielding going, and won, in equally impressive fashion, by Footpad, who is now a top-priced 7/4 favourite for the Arkle. Interestingly, Willie Mullins’ 6-year-old also ran in the same races as Sceau Royal on his two previous visits to the Festival, but finished third in the Triumph Hurdle, 17¾ lengths ahead of his old rival, and fourth in the Champion Hurdle, 2¾ lengths ahead of Alan King’s charge. The Creachadoir gelding has only run twice over fences, but jumps well for a novice and – while thirteen stiff fences will, undoubtedly, play their part come March 13 – he looks a worthy favourite at this stage.