Happy St.Patrick's Day - E/W picks

1:35 » Down Royal (IRE)371/3-  Touchthewood

3:15 » Down Royal (IRE)P21/     Dices Loaded

3:50 » Down Royal (IRE)4-3F12   Yes Tom

4:20 » Down Royal (IRE)0-U424   The Shepherd

4:55 » Down Royal (IRE)023      Six Stone Ned

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2:55 » Wexford (IRE)8-3      Mctaggart

3:30 » Wexford (IRE)P2117    Isobella Blue

4:00 » Wexford (IRE)P33U30   Wilde Wit Pleasure

4:30 » Wexford (IRE)P-13PF   The Fonze

Cheltenham Festival 2012

By Jason Millward

image: depositphotos

The festival features a total of 27 races including 14 chases, 12 hurdle races and 1 flat, or bumper, race. Cheltenham takes place every March and almost always coincides with St. Patrick's Day, making it a very popular choice with Irish visitors and Guinness drinkers!
Cheltenham's official title is the National Hunt Meeting, going all the way back to 1860 when the National Hunt Chase was held at Market Harborough. The Betfred Gold Cup is the undoubted jewel in Cheltenham's crown and was first established in 1924. For the vast majority of its history Cheltenham has been a three-day long festival, however all this changed in 2005 with the introduction of a fourth day; meaning there would be one championship race on each day, with the Gold Cup taking place on the final day of the event.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the jewel in the crown of the Cheltenham Festival and is one of the most anticipated races of the National Hunt season as it showcases the best race horses that Britain and Ireland have to offer. It is run over the new course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3miles and 2.5 furlongs, and with 22 fences to be jumped it's a fantastic spectacle.
With this being such a prestigious event in the racing calendar there will be an estimated �25million spent on betting for the event. With no shortage of free bet offers from some of the world's leading bookmakers Free Bets Online brings you a handy guide to Cheltenham Gold Cup Free Bets to help you make the right choice.

The Implications of the Size of Fields to Betting

By Himanshu Joshi

image: depositphotos

There are many Jockey Clubs in many horse racing areas. Some of these clubs have been in existence for many years. There are Jockey clubs that were established more than 100 years ago and they are still in operation. The clubs' main role in the horse racing industry is to improve the racing arena. The main categories addressed by these horses are the thoroughbred and the breed races. These Jockey Clubs are actively involved in research programs, whose findings are published and shared in horse racing news papers and websites. Research programs include the study of aspects that would lead to enhanced performance of the horses in readiness for the races.

One of the recent findings by Jockey Clubs revolved around the size of field and betting done by the racing enthusiasts. The findings that were relayed through the horse racing news channels have generated interest in the betting circles especially during major events. Among the areas highlighted during the research, the size of the field stood out very well. Observations made included the fact that the sizes of the fields have gone down. The fields are much smaller today than they were only a few decades ago. Horse racing news reporters have also taken interest in the research findings. They have reported that whenever a new horse is taken up in a racing field, the value of the average handle improves by at least $100000.