Please use this page for all your chat and tips regarding horseraces and sporting events as we move into the Autumn.

Please, please, please don’t forget though we are a Grand National blog and do remember to start adding some early thoughts on the Grand National 2011.

ALso, if you have any ideas for pages relating to the Grand National or the upcomiing NH Season (Yippee!!!!) then please let me know and we will see what we can do.

Thanks for you support

Last year’s Kerry National was a very competitive affair with Tony Martin’s Northern Alliance eventually running out a one length winner from subsequent Bet365 Gold Cup winner Church Island.

Michael Hourigan’s Church Island has been well touted on this site as a potential Grand National winner and it will be interesting to see if he starts his 2010/11 campaign at Listowel and is eventually aimed at Aintree.

Trainers to look out for in the Kerry National would be any entries from Jimmy Mangan who trained Monty’s Pass to win this race and the Grand National in 2003. Willie Mullins has had two winners and two horses placed in this race so, as usual, runners from the Mullins yard also need close attention.

However, last year’s race could prove the biggest clue for this year. Last year’s winner Northern Alliance looked set to go on to bigger and better things after taking this race but he didn’t really seem to kick on with his season after that. He showed up well recently on his reappearance over fences in the Galway Plate and a repeat win in the Kerry National would not be out of the question on just a mark of eight pounds higher.

Another horse to take the eye in The Galway Plate was the Eoin Doyle trained The Fonze who had finished seventh in the Kerry National last year. Since then the nine-year-old has won six times over fences, hurdles and most recently on the flat. The Fonze is in great form but admittedly is on a much higher mark than well beat in this last year but his vast recent improvement and eye-catching run at Galway could make him interesting here if he should make the line-up.

Please use this thread for all your thoughts on the upcoming York meeting, the USPGA golf or the premiership football – but don’t forget to keep your focus primarily on the Grand National 2011 – we need any thoughts you may have on the type of horse we should be looking for next year, or updated systems for whittling down the runners or even analysis or individual horses. Don’t forget to keep adding your thoughts to our Grand National 2011 Early Thoughts thread.

Thanks

Please use this thread for the rest of the Newmarket July meeting, the upcoming Glorious Goodwood meeting and any other big flat race you may want to talk about in the near future.

But please don’t forget that this blog is primarily focused on the Grand National and I will be adding a thread on the 2011 Grand National later in the week for your thoughts.

Happy punting!

The majority of bookmakers are already betting on eight of the races taking place between the Tuesday 15th and Saturday 20th June at Ascot so if you have an early fancy for the Royal Hunt Cup or the Wokingham why not let us all know on this page?

My own personal favourite race is the Ascot Gold Cup for which the Henry Cecil trained Manifest is the current 3/1 favourite with Bet365 Jump fans will be keen to see the possible return to Britain of former World Hurdle favourite Kasbah Bliss in this race. The Francois Doumen eight-year-old is a general 7/1 to lift the stayers crown.

Another race to savour is the rematch between 2000 Guineas first and third Makfi and Canford Cliffs in the St James Palace Stakes. Canford Cliffs is 11/8 for this race with Boylesports after his impressive victory in the Irish 2000 Guineas with Makfi 5/2 with 888Sport

Who are you looking forward to seeing? Goldikova? Fame And Glory? Let us know your Royal Ascot fancies.

Our team of tipsters have been in great form since the Grand National coming up with the winners galore in recent weeks so let’s hope we can find the winner of the most famous of the five Flat Classics.

The last ten winners of The Derby have seen two winners apiece for trainers Aidan O’Brien, Sir Michael Stoute and John Oxx, who trained the outstanding Sea The Stars to victory last year.

The current betting is dominated by stables that have had recent winners of The Derby with Aidan O’Brien’s 2000 Guineas disappointment St Nicholas Abbey the current 7/2 favourite with a number of bookmakers including with Ladbrokes

Next in the betting is Workforce, trained by Sir Michael Stoute for Khalid Abdullah. This horse won his maiden last year impressively at Goodwood and could make his reappearance in the Dante Stakes at York next week. Workforce is a best priced 9/1 with with Boylesports

Third in the betting in many bookmakers list is Coordianted Cut, trained by Michael Bell who won The Derby in 2005 with Motivator. This horse has had the benefit of a run this season, winning the valuable Timeform Trophy at Newmarket in April. He is 12/1 with with Bet365

Who do you fancy for The Derby? And what about The Oaks and The Coronation Cup?

Let us know your thoughts.

The first meeting up is the Newmarket Guineas meeting with Saturday’s highlight the 2000 Guineas in which the Aidan O’Brian trained St Nicholas Abbey is currently a best-priced 11/8 favourite with Paddy Power
Saturday’s card also highlights two other Group races, with the Jockey Club Stakes over one mile four furlongs and the Group Three Palace House Stakes over the minimum distance.

Sunday sees the turn of the ladies in the 1000 Guineas and also the Group Three Dahlia Stakes. The 1000 Guineas betting is headed by Special Duty, the winner of the Cheveley Park in October, but her trainer Criquette Head-Maarek has admitted in the press this week that she is concerned about the one mile trip for her filly. Nevetheless, Special Duty remains the 7/2 1000 Guineas favourite with Stan James

Let us know your thoughts and fancies for all the big races at Newmarket this weekend.

I think we can safely say this is the most popular place on the inernet for discussion about all things Grand National related. Unfortunately things haven’t worked out too well with winner finding in the last couple of years but even though yesterday’s winner went off joint-favourite it was available at 50/1+ on the exchanges just a week before the race giving you some idea again of how difficult it would have been to come up with Don’t Push It.

I for one couldn’t have had it if you’ve given me ten picks! Pulled up last time out and some of its jumping in the past has been so bad you would have thought it would have struggled to get round but that is the beauty of the Grand National. But well done to AP – he deserves it.

UNHELPFUL CONTRIBUTIONS

I don’t think there is any merit in newish contributors coming on to the site and criticising the methods of our regulars AFTER the race – this just looks petty. The idea of the blog is to create FRIENDLY debate, not name calling or arguing, and if you disagree with a selection or method please come on and give your reasons why at the time. I wonder if those same people would have popped up and said well done if one of the top picks had won? I try not to be too invasive but I feel some of the comments in question have been unpleasant and unhelpful and have been removed from the site.

I will set up a thread for the Scottish National tomorrow and a new thread for the 2011 Grand National also on Monday or Tuesday.

So, once again a big thank you to all our regulars (there are too many to thank individually but you know who you are) and we hope you’ll stick around for 2011.

Darren

I understand some of you are having some issues with the new version of Grand National Blog.

I’d be grateful if you could list any problems you are having on this page and I will ask our technical people to look into the issues.

If you are having technical issues please list the type of browser you are using and the version (i.e. Internet explorer 7, Firefox 3.6 etc) and the type of system you are using (Windows XP etc).

I appreciate some of you are not happy that GN Blog has changed its look but we have had some technical issues with the old version when we gets lots and lots of traffic (we even had to take the blog down on Grand National day last year!) and the switch to this updated (and hopefully more efficient) software is designed to avoid further problems on those lines.

However, if any of you have productive comments you would like to make regarding the look of the new site please also add them here and I will pass them on.

Thanks

Darren
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