Special Delivery....

Oh yes, wait a minute Mr Postman. Hey, hey, hey, hey Mr Postman.....

I'm not sure who sang it (pop music would never be my chosen specialist subject on Mastermind) but since Tuesday night I haven't been able to get that song out of my head.

It appears the good times continue here at Nag3 with quite a few more winners over the last two days.

First up was that easy win from Postman who delivered a fantastic performance on Tuesday nights Nottingham card to lick his opponents, stamp his authority on the race and pass the post 4 lengths clear.

And then yesterday the two horses I have been most looking forward to run from the Henry Cecil yard both obliged on the same day to give me a very nice across the card double. Apple Charlotte was first up , and another winner for my pre-season 10 to follow list, before 10 minutes later Native Ruler showed why this horse has been touted all around Newmarket this Spring with a 3 and 12 length win from a field of fairly decent looking maidens.

Throw in Dunguib and all-in-all a very good last two days with just Big Zeb's unlucky defeat on Tuesday night stopping it from being an excellent 48 hours.

With the incredibly generous 7/2 for Postman and the double up yesterday I have now got another Vegas trip well and truly paid for. It's all systems go for the end of May where I'm hoping to catch a couple of the early games in the Poker World Series. Good times indeed!

Letters see if we can find a few more today to get me a First Class Upgrade....

I fancied him for the Cheltenham Festival but he didn't run,
I fancied him last time out at the Fairyhouse Festival but he didn't run that well
but tonight I expect him to show his true colours and give us a great run for our money in the 6.05 Punchestown.

The horse is Maucaillou and Paddy Power are top priced 18/1 on him. They also pay the first 5 home making it a great each way bet. If you haven't got a Paddy Power account what better time to open one and take advantage of their FREE £50 BETS OFFER.

JOIN PADDY POWER HERE

Next up are two for Yarmouth tonight....

Mia's Boy in the 6.00 has run two solid races in the Lincoln and the Spring Cup, where he had Charm School behind him on both occasions, and looks set to run well here.

Small field races seem to be his forte with...
his record in races of less than 9 runners reading 1111316 and
his record in races of less than 7 runners reading an even more impressive 1111

Shallal doesn't run in the race yet Mia's Boy is still available at 5/2. That looks good to me.

The third and last horse of the day runs in the 7.30 and comes from the Christine Dunnett stable. She is the top trainer at the track since 2005 both on number of winners (22) and number of runners (274) and shows a level stakes profit of £13.50 on all these runners.

She actually runs three in the race but the one that interests me most is Registrar who won twice over course and distance last summer. He is now 3lb lower in the ratings than the second of those wins and having run respectably on his seasonal debut, over course and distance, a couple of weeks ago should be ready to run his race tonight. Available at around 10/1.

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Bonus Ball Draw.

The Bonus Ball in last nights all important draw was number 38 and I'm currently sifting through over 400 guesses for this months competition. I'll announce the winners tomorrow but I can tell you that after yesterdays 3 out of 4 in the Lucky 15 boosted the prizepool even further there will be just about £200 up for grabs.

The biggest prizepool by far and also the biggest number of reader entries too.

Good luck,
Gavin.

Night runner.....

Anyone who was watching the AW racing from Southwell last Thursday (I guess that wouldn't be too many of you!) would have seen one of the most impressive handicap winners for quite some time when the recently gelded Postman left his 2yo form well behind to run out an eased down 7 length winner for the Brian Smart yard. He had run well on his debut at Ayr last July but didn't really go on from there in 3 subsequent runs even though he was quite well fancied each time.

After a slow start to the season the stable seem to be coming into form now and I really like the look of this one in tonight's 8.05 at Nottingham under a 6lb penalty. I'm just about to leave for the local Betfred to watch Master Minded in the 6.20 and will be having a few pounds on the Smart runner....

Hopefully, the Postman will deliver (sorry but I couldn't resist that)

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BONUS BALL BET

A final reminder for anyone who has yet to send in a number as the National Lottery Draw from tomorrow night will decide this months winner or winners.

There's £110 in the prizepool and it takes just a few seconds to win it. Simply send a number 1-49 to quiz@nag-nag-nag.co.uk and if your guess matches the Bonus Ball you win.

It's as easy as that and it's FREE to enter.

I'll have one more go at trying to increase the fund with the following bet for Wednesday...

DUNGUIB 5.30 Punchestown
APPLE CHARLOTTE 2.45 Ascot
LAA RAYB 3.25 Ascot
NATIVE RULER 2.55 Pontefract

£2 Lucky 15

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MAY TRENDS

My offer of all the Trends Guides for the month of May (7 meetings in total) for just £14.95 still stands and will be available until the end of the week.

There's also an exclusive Mini-Guide for Punchestown covering 9 of the major races and an early look at the 1000 & 2000 Guineas ready for download now.

You can read all about the Guides and what you will get for your money by clicking below;

Click here to read about the 7 May Trends Guides

or if you have purchased a Trends Guide previously you can subscribe to the May offer by signing in to the Members Area here;

http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/member.php

and selecting the May Offer.

Of the 4 Trends Guides produced already this is the story so far ....

For a £1 level stake at SP!

CHELTENHAM: TRENDS PICKS + £12.36 NAG RATINGS+ £15.86

AINTREE: TRENDS PICKS -£1.17 NAG RATINGS + £6.33

NEWMARKET: TRENDS PICKS -£4.33 NAG RATINGS -£4.33

SANDOWN: TRENDS PICKS + £1.98 NAG RATINGS -£1.12

From 54 selections....

Trends Picks + £8.84
Nag Ratings + £16.74

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Gavin's 10 to Follow

It was nice to see Tamagin win at Newcastle yesterday at the rewarding odds of 9/1 as I had included him in my 10 horses to follow for this flat season way back in March.

What wasn't so nice was not having a penny on him because I didn't see he was running yesterday. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Let's hope Apple Charlotte can give me a quickfire double at Ascot tomorrow....

Good luck,
Gavin.

The Weekends Talking Points, Discuss.

Tony McCoy - The best jockey ever?

This years Bet365 Chase may not have been the best renewal ever of this race but there's no denying it provided a great finish and proof (if it were still needed) that Tony McCoy is the greatest jockey to ever to pull on a pair of riding boots. Journalists up and down the country are running out of superlatives to describe him and after his ride on Witchita Linesman at Cheltenham we thought we'd see the best ride of the season but this was just as good, if not better.

He doggedly refuses to let any horse get the better of him and if they don't fancy it, tough! because he fancies it every single day whether it's the feature race of the day or a seller at Newton Abbot. He just wants to win every time and it's this hunger and determination that separates him and all true Champions from the also-rans.

I think winning trainer Carl Llewellyn summed it up best in his post race interview when he said "...the rest of us could win on horses that were the best horses but he consistently wins on horses that aren't the best horses, which is the true test."

It's just a shame his talents are not lauded outside of the racing world.

Paco Boy - Is he a Champion Miler in the making?

There's no doubting that at the specialist distance of 7f he's one of the very best in Europe but what are his chances of making it as a Champion over a mile? After Saturday's convincing win in the Sandown Mile where he travelled supremely well before being pushed out for a ready success it would certainly appear that way.

But, even with his 6lb Group 1 penalty he was fully entitled to beat this field of good but certainly not top class milers in the style that he did and to my eye, he did seem to tire in the closing stages. With the time actually slower than Dunn'o clocked in the handicap later on in the afternoon I'd have my doubts about him staying a true run mile against Group 1 performers and his next run in the Group 1 Lockinge in May should prove more informative.

(One thing worth noting though is that the 15 winners of the Sandown Mile to run in the Lockinge since 1986 have all failed)

Yeats - Can he still win the Ascot Gold Cup?

Yeats had his comeback run at Navan yesterday and his performance was disappointing to say the least. Never really looking happy and not handling the soft ground he eventually trailed home a well beaten 32 length 6th though he was eased when his chance had gone at the 2f pole.

He was reported to have blown heavily after the race and it could just be lack of fitness and the going were to blame but to me, age looks to have caught up with this fine stayer. It seems the bookmakers are in agreement as their immediate reaction was to push him out to 7/2 (from 6/4) for the Gold Cup in June and though he still remains outright favourite I'd be willing to take him on at that price and will be looking for something else to beat him.

He's bound to have another run before Ascot now and that will tell us more about his wellbeing but another heavy defeat could see him heading for an honourable retirement before he even gets the chance to try for a record breaking 4th Gold Cup.

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MAY MADNESS TRENDS GUIDES

As I mentioned in Friday's Post I will be compiling 7 trends guides throughout May to cover the major meetings and will be offering them all for the one off payment of just £14.95.

The meetings and some of the races that will be available are;

2nd & 3rd : NEWMARKET – 2000 Guineas, Jockey Club Stakes, Palace House, 1000 Guineas, Dahlia Stakes & Pretty Polly
6th - 8th : CHESTER – Cheshire Oaks, Chester Cup, Huxley Stakes, Chester Vase, Dee Stakes & Ormonde Stakes
9th: LINGFIELD – Derby & Oaks Trials
13th - 15th : YORK – Duke of York, Muisidora, Dante, Hambleton H'cap & Yorkshire Cup
16th : NEWBURY – The Lockinge
23rd & 24th : CURRAGH – Irish 1000 & 2000 Guineas
28th : SANDOWN – National Stakes, Henry II Stakes & Brigadier Gerard

PLUS, as a special early-bird bonus, an exclusive members only Punchestown Festival Mini-Guide which will be available in two parts and cover 2 races each day. Part 1 will be available from 7.30pm tonight and will contain the Champion 2m Novice Hurdle & 2m Champion Chase from tomorrows card and the Gold Cup & Champion NH Flat Race from Wednesday. (Part 2 will be out Wednesday at 7.30pm.)

Also, the 1000 and 2000 Guineas Races are complete and available for download NOW. Interestingly there is only one filly who satisfies all the trends in the 1000 Guineas and with Group 1 form to her name looks a great bet at 20/1.

You can read all about the Guides and what you will get for your money by clicking below;

Click here to read about the 7 May Trends Guides

or if you have purchased a Trends Guide previously you can subscribe to the May offer by signing in to the Members Area below;

http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/member.php

and selecting the May Offer.

There is also an option to purchase a Season Ticket for the 2009 Flat Season whereby you will receive every Flat Racing Trends Guide this year including Epsom, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood.

Whatever you decide to do,
Good luck,
Gavin.

Big Race Chase...

BET365 Chase 3.10 Sandown

As Matt so rightly said in his Geegeez post this is a very poor renewal of a once important race. Most people of a certain age will remember it as The Whitbread along with a roll call of illustrious previous winners that includes Mill House, Desert Orchid and the greatest of them all Arkle.

With 10 year old top weight Darkness rated just 151 we won't be seeing a truly great future /past / present champion winning this race, and it's certainly not the best way to bring down the curtain on the domestic jumps season, but we'll still get paid out if we select the right horse so let's have a look, again.

I say again because I tried on Thursday in the Trends Guide before the final declarations were made to select the winner but the one I was left with is now a non-runner. The weights have also risen so it's time to try again....

- According to my trends all of the last 12 winners carried 11-07 or less ....

So Darkness is excluded

- And a last run in a National or a Festival is a must (every winner since 1997)...

Laskari, Briery Fox, Oscar Park and Zacharova didn't and therefore don't make the cut

- So is a win at Class 3 or better (all of the last 10)...

Hennessey is yet to win anything better than a Class 4 race and is for the chop

- We'll now try to weed out those who weren't placed in the top 3 in at least one of the last three runs (11 of the last 12 winners had)....

Hoo La Baloo, Always Waining & Verasi

- 10 of the last 12 winners had won a race at 3m or further with the 2 exceptions being Martin Pipe Novices

New Little Bric has yet to win over this sort of trip and is no novice

We're left with four 10-y-o's and with 10 of the last 12 winners falling in the 6-9yo bracket it doesn't look too good for the trends. However, it's not impossible for a 10yo to win and Jack High won for that age group in 2005 (Monkerhostin was 11 when he won last year).

With 15 of the last 20 win and placed horse all being French Bred and French Bred horses filling the top four places twice (2006/2008) plus 3 of the top 4 places twice in 2004/2005 it seems the most likely scorer from a trends point of view is previous winner Lacdoudal who won the race in 2006.

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Bonus Ball Bet.

The Prizepool is just short of £100 which is the biggest fund yet and with two bets left before the draw I'm hoping for a figure of around £130 which should give some lucky readers a nice cash prize this month.

Remember to stand a chance of winning the prize money all you need to do is send a number (1-49) to

quiz@nag-nag-nag.co.uk

Match the Bonus Ball in the National Lottery Draw April 29th and you will win.

Simple as that. No catch, no con, Just Cash!

Tomorrows bet will be...

Lacdoudal (See above) 3.10 Sand

Jack Dawkins (Henry Cecil trained top-weight) 4.50 Sand

Seven Is My Number (back to Sandown where he ran his best race this season) 2.05 Sand

Feelin Foxy (the handicapper has given this one a real chance and with a comeback run on the board already, the going and draw in her favour she looks primed to run a big race. My Nap of the Day). 2.55 Ripon

4 x £2.50ew Singles + 20pew Lucky 15

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May Trends Guides

There's plenty of top class racing to look forward to in May with the Guineas meeting at Newmarket starting things off followed by numerous classic trials and the popular Chester meeting somewhere in the middle of it all.

I'll be doing Trends Guides for 7 meetings during the month in an attempt to cover all the major races and as I'm sure no-one would want to pay out 7 times I'll be doing all the races and every meeting for a one-off price of just £14.95.

You can read about the May Madness Offer below....

Click here to read about the 7 May Trends Guides

I'll tell you more on Monday as I'll have the 1000 & 2000 Guineas guides ready for download PLUS there'll be an extra Guide covering the Grade 1 races at Punchestown available to all subscribers.

(If you've purchased a guide before you can simply log in to the members area to upgrade your subscription.)

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FRIDAY FUN

Can you name a country beginning with U?




Good Luck,
Gavin.

Bookmaker bonus... Part II

Continuing on from yesterday here are a few more leading bookmakers and their free bet offers...

Blue Square

Another firm opting for the straight £25 bet match up for all new customers means another free bet of £25 when you stake the same amount or greater.

They have a dedicated promotions page on their website which highlight the current offers available.

Blue square also have an enhanced SP service where their returned price is bigger than the official starting price. They claim that 42% of all their SPs are bigger than official returns with the remaining prices the same. Ok if you bet at SP but I doubt anyone does anymore, do they?

There's nothing of great interest here and it may pay to just take the free bet and move on.

http://www.bluesq.com/bet

Boyle sports.

Another Irish firm who have the same fantastic opening offer as Bet365 (see yesterday's post) whereby £200 is available over a period of bets. If you don't fancy carrying on with the firm simply take the original match-up FREE bet (up to £50) and find the next free money offer.

But there's plenty here to make you want to stay.....

They have betting on just about anything and everything and are fast becoming the 'kings of the cash-back offer'. For example; At Southwell and Beverley today they are refunding all stakes (up to £300! win part of bet) if your horse is beaten into second by a head or less. Never suffer the agony of just getting beat again.

Other cash back offers recently have seen them refund losing bets on Man Utd after getting beaten on penalties in the FA Cup Semi-Final, refund losing win bets on Gone to Lunch for finishing second in the Scottish National and stakes returned for those players who got beat in the US Masters Playoff.

A great site and worthy of a look...

http://www.boylesports.com/

Tote

There's nothing on their site to indicate any free bets available but by following the link below you can get a £25 match up bet. The bet has to be above evens and be placed the same day as the account is opened.

http://www.totesport.com/promotions/affiliatefreebet.htm

Unless you bet Totepool bets there isn't much point in having an account with them other than to have access to their early odds should they offer a standout price. Another case of take the free bet and run

Stan James

One of the largest independent bookmakers in the country Stan James have what seems to be the industry standard £25 match-up bet for all new customers which again requires your first bet to be above evens. You have 30 days to use your free bet token.

http://www.stanjames.com/index.asp

Guaranteed odds are available on all UK horse-racing and they run various sports promotions throughout the year which can be found on a dedicated promotions page.



Jennings

One of the smaller independents with nothing much to offer although they do pay the first 6 places in all US and European Tour Golf events.

http://www.jenningsbet.com/jenningsbet

They used to offer a £30 match up bet but this ended on 29th March 2009 and I've been unable to find any free bets for this site.

Victor Chandler

The worldwide bookmaker, who has some of the biggest gamblers on his books, has a very nice website with an abundance of sports betting and football markets.

He is currently offering £50 in free bets to new customers in the form of an instant £25 match up and then another £25 free bet when you have placed a further 5 bets of £10 or more. These 5 bets must be placed within 30 days of the account being opened.

http://www.vcbet.com/promo/50cashback.html

If you bet £5 or more on a race with Victor Chandler you can even watch the race live on your computer. (UK and Irish IP addresses only)

As you can see there's plenty of money out there to be had. Simply open an account place your wager and take the free bet. Just about every online site offers some sort of cash incentive to get you signed up and some are even worth staying with to take advantage of their continuing offers.

There are also a few sites dedicated to helping you find the offers (though, they obviously get paid for doing this) and probably the biggest and most famous is

http://www.freebets.co.uk/

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SANDOWN TRENDS GUIDE

The full Sandown FREE Trends Guide will be available from 7.30pm tonight though you can download it now in its uncompleted form.

I've done four races with the Classic Trial tomorrow and the Mile, Bet365 Chase and the Gordon Richards Stakes all included.

No sign-up, no payment and just a one click process below.........

Sandown Free Trends Guide

Good luck,
Gavin.

Ooooooh Betty.....

Jamie (or Frank to his many detractors) Spencer is in the news again after another terrible ride on a short priced favourite. Riding the Michael Bell trained 11/10 favourite Thomas Baines at Windsor on Monday night he found himself behind a wall of horses and unable to make a challenge. The race finished with Spencer in 7th place, sitting motionless, on the bridle, with plenty of horse under him and hundreds more members for the 'Jamie Spencer Sucks' Club.

Apparently while he was at Ballydoyle riding for the mighty O'Brien stable he earned himself another nickname, 'Handkerchief'. This was because he was always in a pocket and after another ride of incredible ineptitude it seems the legend lives on.

The one thing that bothers me more than anything else is his comment after the race when he said 'It's just a case of not getting the rub of the green. If I rode the horse again I'd ride him the exact same way.....'

And there you have it, the reason why everyone hates Jamie Spencer. He rides a blatantly awful ride on a well fancied favourite, gets it beat but wouldn't change a thing about the way he rode it. I would suggest that if riding the best horse in a race and you get beat there must be plenty of things that you could change to make sure you win given the chance to ride the race again.

How about learning from you mistakes Jamie?



I'll just add that I didn't back this particular horse though Frank Spencer has cost me plenty in the past and wouldn't be in a list of my favourite jockeys.

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Bookmaker Bonus

We've all seen them, the juicy carrot the big online bookies dangle in front of us to get us to sign up to their site. The cash bonus or the free bets all look very tempting but are there any catches? and is everything as it seems?

Let's find out....

We'll start with the 'big 3' today and a couple of other big names before moving on to a few well known but not as large firms tomorrow.

Ladbrokes

They have nothing on their website to inform you of any horse-racing offers but they have plenty of free cash match-ups for their Poker and Casino sites. A very poor showing from Britain's biggest bookmaker and it makes you wonder why anyone would choose to bet with them. Still if you can't resist the lure of the Magic Sign I have managed to find a link that gives you £10 sign-up bonus with no strings attached. Simply click below....

http://www.ladbrokes.com/sports/10GBP/index

Corals

The same as Ladbrokes with no featured horse-racing offers but they do have a football promotion running at the moment where you get a free £10 bet when you place 4 £10 football accumulators. This is available to all customers old and new. There are also free cash match-ups (to £50) in their casino section. With a reputation for the worst Prices available and very few incentives it's a wonder they're still in business in the present climate where so many other firms offer so much.

William Hill

My favourite of the 'Big 3' and the best sign-up offer available from any of them. You can get a FREE £25 bet with no strings attached from the the link below..

http://news.williamhill.com/promotions/25-free-bet-for-new-william-hill-customers/

Simply place a wager with William Hills and when that bet has been settled they'll give you the £25 into your account. Don't forget to put the bonus code in when registering for the account though and you have 7 days to use the free bet token.

William Hills have also followed the recent trend of the online bookmakers in offering Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish early price races.

They also have a whole page on their website dedicated to the daily promotions they run

http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/EN

and today's horse-racing freebie is a £5 Straight Forecast on the 6.50Kempton if you bet £20 on the 4.15 Epsom. Better than nothing I suppose!

BETFRED

The self proclaimed 'King of the Bonuses' and rightly so. First up is a very generous £50 free bet sign-up bonus for all new customers. Simply open your account, place a bet and Fred will match your stake with a free bet up to £50.

Like Hills he also has a page on his website devoted to the current promotions and has some very good sports related offers running at the moment...

http://www.betfred.com/promotions/promotions.htm

For those of you who like betting the more exotic multiple bets you'll have to go a long way to beat Fred who gives a 25% bonus on all correct Lucky 15/Yankees, 50% Lucky 31/Canadians and a whopping 100% bonus to all correct Lucky 63's and Heinzs when using his super bonus races.

He only guarantees early odds on certain races of the day.

Paddy Power

The Irish firm is strongly challenging Freds crown as the bonus king with plenty to offer and some of the most extensive betting opportunities available in cyberspace.

They're currently offering the standard £25 match bet to all new customers where they simply match your initial stake with a free bet up to the value of £25.

http://www.paddypower.com/bet

They've taken the guaranteed odds that one step further by offering best odds guaranteed on all early and board prices for greyhounds and horses. Simply put, if you take a price and the horse/dog wins at a bigger price you get paid out at those odds. So if you bet with Paddy always take the price!

They also offer Money Back Specials throughout the day and they pay out on both winners in an amended result.

BET365

Seemingly, the largest of all online offers running at the moment they claim you can get £200 betting for free but obviously like most things that look too good to be true there are a few catches in the small print.

http://www.bet365.com/extra/extra.aspx?ContentPath=Promotions%2cOpenAccountOffer_UK is where you can get the latest info on this offer

but basically, they match your first bet up to £50 (so far, so very good). Then after placing your first free bet when you have placed a further 5 qualifying bets of £5 or more you will qualify for a second free bet, to the same value as your smallest qualifying bet, up to a maximum of £50. This then repeats for a further two times meaning in theory £200 is available in free bets.

It is a great offer and if you bet to larger stakes it's £200 free cash but be aware if you drop below the £50 stake for any of your bets this will become the value of your next free bet.

e.g. You open the account and bet £50 you get a £50 free bet. Your next 5 bets are £50, £100, £50, £20 and £200 they then count the smallest bet as the qualifying stake for your free bet, in this case £20. But it is still free money and worth it even if you bet in fivers.

They also offer guaranteed prices on all horse and greyhound races, they don't enforce 5p Rule 4 deductions and have a great further free bet offer for all customers old and new....

If you back a winner on BBC or Channel 4 at 4/1 or bigger they give you a free bet to the same stake on the next live TV race. If that wins then you qualify for another free bet and so on. I think this is probably the best offer available on all websites at the moment and the best online bookies to bet with...

http://www.bet365.com/home/default.asp?

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TV Three

A rare midweek outing for the BBC Racing Team as they visit Epsom and for those who are interested here are my 3 for the TV....

3.05 I'm going to chance my arm with one of the best 1m 4f all weather horses Millville in the hope that he can transfer some of his top class form over to turf. He's rated 111 on the AW but just 87 on grass and therefore meets most of his AW opponents on much better terms. He didn't disgrace himself in his two previous visits to the track and given that he has won off a rating of 93 at York earlier in his career and the softish ground will be in his favour he may be worth a small punt.

3.40 I've read and heard some good things about the David Elsworth trained Ouster and in what looks like an open race he'll be the selection.

4.15 I had a look at this race yesterday and despite the slightly negative comments from the Racing post spotlight man I'm still confident of a good run from Hawaass

Good luck,
Gavin.

Online Bookmakers....

In previous posts I've mentioned how I place the bets in the Bonus Ball competition using Free Bets garnered from various online betting sites (meaning I now have an account with just about every bookmaker trading!) and with most of the firms nowadays enticing new customers with these freebies it can be quite profitable to accumulate some of these offers. So I thought, starting tomorrow, I'd take a look at some of the sites and find the best New Customer Bonuses available along with any other 'specials' the relevant site may have.

I know most people use Betfair these days but the site, though excellent, does have it's drawbacks and sometimes it can pay to use a 'normal' bookies to place your bets. And if you're going to place a bet you might as well get something for your custom!

I'll be looking at the cash backs, the bet matching, the bonuses, the special offers, the loyalty programs and any small print that might come with these offers and which might not make all as good as it seems.....

(I would like to point out that I have no association with any of the bookmakers that will be featured and won't make anything out of it should anyone decide to take up one of the offers. My impartiality is assured.)

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SANDOWN TRENDS GUIDE

For those of you not put off by last weeks Newmarket meeting you can try again with Sandown's bet365 Meeting. I've done 3 flat races and the big Handicap Chase and you can download it now without the selections or wait until Thursday 7.30pm when it will be fully completed.

Or you can have a look now and then get it again Thursday with the selections. The choice is yours. Click below when you're ready....

Sandown Free Trends Guide

KEMPTON TODAY

Early last week I was really looking forward to Paul Cole saddling a runner in the Spring Cup but unfortunately his horse didn't make the cut and I ended up doing my money on the race. However, one of the horses I backed, Whistledownthewind, ran a nice race and was staying on well at the end. He's bound to be stepped up in trip next time and is worth keeping an eye out for.

The horse that Cole had entered for the race runs in today's 4.20 Kempton and will be carrying a few of my pounds. Dubai Dynamo won the Redcar 2yo trophy in 2007 and ran 4th in last years Brittania Handicap at Royal Ascot. He's dropped a fair bit in the weights since then after a poor end to the year but if he's fit to do himself justice he should run well today.

Another horse I'll be having a little each way way on is Mohawk Star in the 5.20 Kempton. A dual course and distance winner last August he also had a few places in the Autumn before being packed off for a break. He made his comeback a couple of weeks ago at Kempton when racing without his much needed visor and with the head piece re-fitted plus that run under his belt I'm hoping he can go well at a decent price.

EPSOM WEDNESDAY

A horse I really fancy for tomorrow is the Mark Johnston trained Hawaass in the City and Suburban Handicap (4.15) at Epsom. A very well regarded horse who hasn't had too many visits to the racecourse he was mugged close home on his seasonal bow. His victor that day Ladies Best re-opposes but will struggle to confirm the placings at the revised weights and with Frankie Dettori onboard I make this horse my bet of the day.

Whatever you decide to do,
Good luck,
Gavin.

Many thanks....

We, and I know I speak for Matt as well, have been overwhelmed and touched by the level of support we have received over the last 24 hours from our dear readers. Unfortunately due to the large amounts of comments and emails we have received it won't be possible to reply to you all individually but I would like to thank everyone who has responded for their kind, warm and most welcome words. It really is much appreciated.

And before drawing a line under the matter and moving on I'd just like to make two points absolutely clear...

Firstly, criticism I can take and anyone who reads the blog or subscribes to any of our products is entitled to contact us and express their opinions. In fact I welcome constructive comments as I certainly don't profess to know everything about racing and even after over 20 years in the game I'm still learning. If anyone wants to put me straight on a few things or offer some 'advice' then I'm big enough and ugly enough to take it.

But, and this is what I was trying to get across in yesterday's post, what I don't need is abuse, swearing or threats made against me when I tip a loser or two. Losers do happen and anyone who's been reading this blog for a while will know that better than anyone!

We can't possibly make you rich over night (and we've never promised to be able to do this) but hopefully we can help you make a better informed selection when you do want a bet and give you some sort of chance of making a profit in the long term.

...and the other point I'd like to make clear is that I never even thought of not carrying on with the blog. A few people got the impression that these recent incidents may have me packing up my laptop and giving up but unfortunately for you long suffering readers, there's no such luck! I know these emails were sent by a very small minority, and they've probably moved on now, so hopefully we can get back to normal and carry on trying to find the next big priced winner.

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WINDSOR

Not much happening today but you know Summers on its way when Windsor stages the first of its popular Monday evening cards. It's one of the few tracks I've not visited in the South and maybe as a few readers have suggested we could arrange a night out one evening this Summer at the Thameside track. A sort of readers night out with a chance to meet the Nag3 and Geegeez brains trust and put your thoughts to us face-to-face.

I'm sure Matt would be up for it (gambling, horses and alcohol pretty much makes it a cert!) and if anyone else is interested I'll have a look into making it happen.

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If anyone's looking for a stat based bet today they could do worse than back Desperate Dan in the 3.50 Wolverhampton. Tom Queally has a 100% record when riding for Andy Haynes at Wolverhampton for a level stakes profit of +£30.

I'll be back tomorrow as I have a horse for Epsom on Wednesday in one of the big handicaps. Until then,

Good luck,
Gavin.

Gavin is steaming.........

I wasn't planning on posting this weekend but various comments and emails have surprised, and even annoyed me, these past few days. A number of people, obviously with very short memories, have been rubbishing my Trends Guides on the basis of a few bad results over Newmarket last week.

I offered the information for free and believe me it takes a long time to research and put together these guides. I feel just as bad as everyone else when the results don't meet expectations as I back them all myself and want them to win just as much as you do.

As Matt said so succinctly, 'We are NOT, I repeat NOT clairvoyant, magicians, alchemists or soothsayers'. Anyone looking for every horse to be a winner will be very disappointed as I certainly can't guarantee that! There will however be good days; Something Wells, Madison du Berlais, Niche Market are just a few recent ones to go with some not so good days and it's just a case of taking the rough with the smooth. If you can't accept that then please don't back these horses, especially with money you can't afford to lose.

The guides are there to help evaluate the likeliest winner by forming a profile of the type of horse that has won the race in the past. Unfortunately it works better in some races than it does in others and some years you simply get a horse win that defies all the stats and trends i.e. Mon Mome was the first French Bred Grand National winner for a hundred years!

Patrick Veitch the pro-punter, whose book was serialised in last weeks Racing Post, puts it best when he says it's important to remember that at the end of the end, all you are doing is backing a load of horses running over a field. You can work out in your opinion what the likeliest winner is going to be but there are a lot of factors that are totally out of your hands.

With that in mind I'll take a look at the selections and results from last weeks guide to see where it did go wrong as, I am the first to admit, the results were less than satisfactory...

Free Handicap.

Ouqba the winner scored well on the trends grid with 5 yes's but the June debut onwards stat was quite strong and he was eliminated because of this. The final selection Courageous ran terribly, as the on-course betting suggested it would, as did most of Brian Smarts horses last week. When compiling the likeliest trends winner trainer form is not something taken into account and is one of the factors out of our control.

Nell Gwynn.

Fantasia had a perfect trends profile and as I pointed out was well clear on official ratings but I honestly thought she would be a 1/2 or even 1/3 favourite. At the time of compiling the guide there was no betting available and had I known the likely SP she would have been the selection. I went for an each way shot that nearly paid off with 25/1 Arabian Mirage just getting collared in the last 50 yards for third. Fantasia won like a 1/3 shot.

Fielden Stakes.

Derbass was the only horse with a perfect trends profile but clearly didn't stay.

Abernant Stakes

The Bin Suroor stable also looks to be struggling in the early season and Hatta Fort ran accordingly. The winner Tax Free was eliminated on the grounds of his age but the trends for this race aren't that strong and it wasn't a great surprise to see a non-trends horse win. When you have to rely on trends of the 10 out of 12 or 8 out of 10 range you are open to these sorts of results.

Craven

The highlight of the guide with a strong recommendation for the winner Delegation and the only two horses with perfect trends profiles finishing 1st and 2nd.

Earl of Sefton.

There were a lot of horses qualifying for this race which made it hard to come up with the final selection. 4 horses were left and Tazeez was eliminated purely on breeding grounds. It wasn't a great stat to use but was implemented to narrow down the field. For those of you using the guide as an aid to picking your own winners you may have stuck with him. The final selection I gave, Twice Over, looked the likeliest winner on the trends but, not for the first time in his career, was very disappointing.

And there we have it. For those reading between the lines, and not sticking rigidly to the selections I made, it might not have been a total disaster as a number of the winners were highlighted somewhere along the line. For those backing my selections blind then yes it was bad and I can only apologise.

If you're not put off by the results last week then you can get another 4 race FREE guide for this weekends Sandown Meeting that includes the Classic Trial and Bet365 Handicap Chase.

If you have signed up for any of the guides so far then you don't have to do a thing. I'll be emailing later this week with details of the download link.

If you haven't yet sampled one of the guides then simply register by clicking below;

FREE SANDOWN TRENDS GUIDE

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Bonus Ball Bet.

From the 5 horses yesterday we had 2 non-runners and a 9/2 winner which means the prizepool is now nearing the £100 mark with still 2 more bets to come.

To get your hands on this totally FREE money then simply send a number 1-49 to

quiz@nag-nag-nag.co.uk

Match the Bonus Ball in the main Lottery Draw on April 29th to scoop (or share) the cash.

It'll only take a minute and could give you a nice boost to your betting bank. There's absolutely no catch whatsoever. I use free bets given to me by various online betting firms to place the bets and give you the winnings. It's a real win-win situation.

Good luck,
Gavin.

Sad news....

I was saddened to read yesterday of the passing away of one of racings more colourful characters Sir Clement Freud. His Saturday column in the Racing Post was always a good read where, following a similar course each week, he mixed culinary tales with gambling adventures, with the odd joke thrown in for good measure, and all written in his inimitable style with great humour.

Apparently 9 days short of his 85th birthday Sir Clement Freud was a grandson of the famous physcologist Sigmund Freud and in what can only be described as an eventful life he was at one time or another a writer, journalist, broadcaster, restaurateur, nightclub owner, Liberal MP, food critic, jockey, racehorse owner and a lot more besides (he even appeared on the cover of the Wings album Band on the Run). No matter his occupation though he was always a gambler at heart and his tales of fortune and woe are legendary.

And incidentally, the name of one of the horses he owned in the 1990's was a certain filly called Nagnagnag!

She gave him one of his best wins as an owner when winning a handicap at Epsom at the Derby meeting in 1995 and one can only marvel at the brilliance of a man who can come up with a name like that.

R.I.P Sir Clement Freud.

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I won't be able to post tomorrow as I'm stuck in the betting shop all day so I'll take this opportunity to have a look at Saturday's racing in advance...

SPRING CUP (2.35 Newbury Saturday)

I told you at the beginning of the week that I always back a certain trainer in this race regardless of the horses form as he has such an amazing record in the race. Unfortunately, his intended runner this year didn't make the cut so won't be running but for future reference if Paul Cole runs a horse in the Spring Cup, BACK IT!

Looks like we'll have to use the trends to try and pick the winner instead....

- The last 12 winners were all 4 and 5 year olds

Flipando, European Dream, Spectait, Benandonner & Lucky Dance are therefore too old

- 11 of the last 12 winners had a maximum of 17 career runs

Extraterrestial (26) Medici Pearl (23) & Majuro (30) have raced too much

- 1o of the last 12 winners were drawn 11 or higher. Since 2001 the race has been run on the straight mile and 7 of the 8 have been drawn 11 or higher (all 8 drawn six or higher)

I'll just knock out those drawn 1-5 for now and they are; Jaser (1), Boscage (2), Jack Dawkins (3), Slugger O'Toole (4) and Charm School (5)

- No winner in the last 12 years has been officially rated 100+

Mawatheeq, Mias Boy & Alarazi all just miss out

- 10 of the last 12 winners were either making their seasonal debut or ran in the Lincoln / Spring Mile at Doncaster

Eliminating Cordell, Fanjura and Arabian Spirit

Which still leaves us with 6 and we're now going to have to take a few 'dodgier' decisions to whittle that number down.

Going back to the draw I'm going to raise the stall number to 11 and strike out Manassas in 9.

6 of the last 8 winners had run 13 or less times so we will lose Huzzah, Cobo Bay and reluctantly Zaahid

Proponent and Whistledownthewind are the two left. Interestingly the last two winners of the Spring mile were dropping back in trip having ended the previous season running over a mile and a quarter. For this reason I am going to side with Roger Charlton's PROPONENT

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SCOTTISH CHAMPION HURDLE (AYR 2.50)

- Every winner since 1997 had raced within the last 2 months

Noble Alan is out. We'll keep Emmpat in for the moment as he recently ran on the flat

- and had won a race over 2 miles already

Harper Valley, Ski Sunday, Cybergenic & Oddshoes have not

- 11 of the last 12 winners had finished in the top 6 last time out (9/12 top 3 - 8/12 top 2)

Blue Bajan, Snap Tie, Sentry Duty, Takeroc & Take the Breeze were out of the top 6

- All of the last 10 winners (and 11 of the last 12) carried 10-13 or less

-The last 8 winners (and 10 of the last 12) were rated 133-146

- 11 of the last 12 winners had raced 16 times or less over hurdles
- Copeland in 2004 is the only winner in the last decade to have raced previously at Ayr

Culcabok has had 56 hurdle runs & Empaat 18 (plus a previous run at Ayr)

- 10 of the last 11 winners had finished in the top 2 of a class 3 or better handicap

Medermit has yet to race in a handicap and is therefore eliminated leaving two; Issaquah & Secret Tune who both look to have solid chances.

I'm inclined to go with Issaquah as only one 5-y-o has been successful in the past decade and he ran in the Serabad race at Ascot that has thrown up a few big handicap winners since. Just nailed on the line at Aintree last time by Culcabock he doesn't have anything in hand with that rival but a similar performance should see him in the shake-up.

Selection: Issaquah

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DONCASTER MILE (6.15) -
2006 race was run on the AW at Lingfield and is excluded from the stats

- The last 12 winners were all having their first run for at least 3 months
- 11 of the last 12 winners were 4 & 5yo's (exception was 7yo)

Blythe Knight fails on both trends. Dream Lodge, King of Dixie and Philario have run already this season

- 8 of the last 9 turf winners were all rated 100-114

and puts another nail in the coffin of Dream Lodge and Philario

- 11 of the last 12 turf winners had run between 1 and 14 times. 11 of the last 12 were British or Irish Bred (exception French Bred). 9 of the last 10 winners had won at the distance (exception runner-up)

Atlantic Sport fails on 2 of these 3 trends and is therefore ruled out.

This leaves two and both have strong credentials but with Unnefer lacking a win at a mile preference will be for Staying On who fits all the key trends.

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SCOTTISH GRAND NATIONAL ( AYR 3.25)

I had a look at this race on Monday along with the Irish National and will stick with my two choices from then; Chief Dan George and Merigo.

To all those readers who have these two doubled up with Niche Market....
The very best of luck to us all!

( If my bet is going to go down I just hope it's not at the hands of Brooklyn Brownie!!!)

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Bonus Ball Bet

From just one bet the Prizepool is already a healthy £69 and Saturday's attempt to boost the fund further will be resting on the following horses;

Proponent
Issaquah
Staying On
Chief Dan George / Merigo

5 x £2.50ew Singles + 2 x 10pEW Lucky 15's

Remember to stand a chance of winning the prize money all you need to do is send a number (1-49) to

quiz@nag-nag-nag.co.uk

Match the Bonus Ball in the National Lottery Draw April 29th and you will win.
Simple as that. No catch, no con, Just Cash!

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FRIDAY FUN

In anticipation of the correct result in tomorrow's Scottish National (please, please, please Value Scope pick something else!) it's time to get ready for another trip to Las Vegas. This should get us in the mood......



Good luck,

Gavin.

Carving out a Niche in the Market.....

Many thanks for all the comments and emails we have received here at Nag Towers following the stunning success of Niche Market in yesterday's Irish National. There were plenty of tales of bets placed at massive odds on Betfair and it seems lots of you are now eagerly awaiting the two horses in the Scottish National as we try and get the big race double up.

I really love it when it all comes together like that and to hear so many of you make money out of reading this little blog certainly makes writing it all worthwhile.

(For those who might be interested, I personally had £40ew at 50/1 with Corals and now have 2 x £10ew doubles on Merigo & Chief Dan George in the Scottish National coupled with Niche Market at 40/1. I feel another trip to Vegas is in the air......)

One last thing on the subject, anyone who subscribed to my Aintree Festival Guide may recall that I was very close to making Niche Market my Grand National selection in the '4 for Aintree' sheet but decided against it as he needed too many horses to defect before he would get a run. Ah well, I think it turned out okay in the end!

Right, let's see if we can take a bit more off those bookies......

If after yesterday's race you who want some more trends based selections then you can download a FREE Craven Meeting Trends Guide containing 6 races by clicking below;

FREE CRAVEN MEETING TRENDS GUIDE

(Please note: By entering your email address you will receive details of my Trends Guide Publications only and nothing else. Your details will never be passed on or used for any other marketing purposes.)

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A race not included in the Trends Guide but one that I will be having an interest in is the Newmarket 1.50 as Native Ruler makes his racecourse debut. I mentioned this horse before I went away last week as one to look out for from the Henry Cecil stable and it's now time to see if he can transfer his gallops form to the racecourse. You can get 50/1 for him to win the Derby which may be worth a small interest before he runs tomorrow.

With the stable looking in good form for the start of the season a big run looks very much on the cards.

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As well as the Scottish National on Saturday there is another race I am really looking forward to and that is the Newbury Spring Cup. There's one particular trainer that just has to be followed in this race and after a few years without a runner I was very interested to see him with an entry this year. Regardless of form I always back this trainers runners in the race and I will let you know the name of the horse as soon as any firm starts betting on the race.

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Bonus Ball Prizepool

What a great start to the prizepool fund as I managed to find two winners and two placed horses in Saturdays BB Bet. With just under £70 already in the prizepool and three more bets to be placed before the draw I'm really hopeful of getting the fund past the £100 mark this month.

Remember this is a FREE draw open to anyone and takes just a few seconds to enter.

Simply send a number 1-49 to quiz@nag-nag-nag.co.uk and if your guess matches the Bonus ball in the National Lottery Main Draw on Wednesday 29th April you will win (or share) the total amount of the Prizepool.

This is FREE CASH waiting for some lucky readers to get their hands on!

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Finally, with the blog riding the crest of a punting wave at the moment I have a few horses that I'll be backing later today...

At Yarmouth, Henry Cecil has two runners

The unraced Hisaronu in the 2.20 and handicap top-weight Bouvardia in the 3.50

and then back to Fairyhouse where

Ebadiyan looks to have a golden opportunity to get back to winning ways in the 2.25.

The last one is Maucaillou in the 4.35 Fairyhouse and is a horse we here at Nag Towers were very keen on for Cheltenham. He would have been one of our strongest fancies of the week had he run there but having missed the meeting we'll be trying to get some compensation here.

Good Luck,
Gavin.

Happy Easter....

A very happy, if a little belated, Easter to all those readers who celebrate this Cadbury sponsored Festival.

One thing I don't quite understand about this weekend though, and perhaps a reader could help me out here, is why racing on Good Friday is a big no-no but on Easter Sunday we're okay to have a bet at any one of 3 meetings taking place in this country. I must be missing something here but that does seem very strange to me.

And as for the Bank Holiday Monday meetings, what have the racing authorities done to these cards? Echoing Richard Hannons recent rantings on the subject, I too remember (and not that long ago) the Kempton card staged on this day being one of the biggest betting days of the year and the Queens Prize one of the best early season handicaps to get stuck into. Now we're without TV coverage, subjected to poor racing and have nothing to separate this day from any other Monday. (Except for the Irish who seem to have the right idea and are staging some good racing over this weekend)

I think I'll start a 'Give Us Some Decent Easter Bank Holiday Monday Horse Racing (preferably on terrestial television), Please' campaign pressure group.

Anybody want to join me?

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After a couple of decent winners yesterday I may as well try and ride my luck and have a go at a National double. Starting off with the Irish version tomorrow....

- A similar story to Aintree with no winner in the last 12 years carrying more than 11-04

- and all 12 officially rated 136 or less

Which amazingly rules out every horse above Himalayan Trail.

- 7 to 9-y-o's have won 10 of the last 11 Irish Nationals

Which excludes the too old Himalayan Trail, Church Island, Justpourit, A New Story, Oulart and Newbay Prop plus the too young Pomme Tiepy & Poker de Sivola.

- 11 of the last 12 winners had won a Chase at 2m 4f+

Ambobo hasn't

- The last 9 winners had won a Chase over 3m +

Washington Lad, Breaking Silence and Skip Two are skipped too

- The last 11 winners had raced 13 or less over fences

Forest Leaves & Operation Houdini are therefore too experienced.

- The last 9 winners had all contested a Chase worth £45k+

Bella Mana Mou, Selection Box & Rebel Chief don't look up to this class

Leaving me with Niche Market and Emma Jane.

and now off to Ayr for the Scottish version this Saturday.

- The last winner of the Scottish National to have run in the Aintree version that year was Little Polvier in 1987!
- 10 of the last 11 winners were rated 132 - 143
- 8 to 10-y-o's have won 11 of the last 12 Scottish Nationals
- 11 of the last 12 winners finished in the top 5 last time out (all 12 top 6)

Leaves 9 of the 96 declared runners

- 11 of the last 12 winners had raced no more than 6 times that season

Sound Accord is out

- 11 of the last 12 had won at 3 miles or further
- 11 of the last 12 had raced within the last two months
- 10 of the last 12 winners had won a Class 1 or 2 chase

Companero hasn't had a recent run, Leading Contender, According to John, Flintoff and Hennessey lack the class over fences

- Horses who ran placed at the Cheltenham festival have a terrible record in the Scottish national

therefore excluding Nine de Sivola and leaving me with two

Chief Dan George and Merigo

I think I'll have 2 x 2 each way doubles on these four horses (8 bets)

Niche Market (33/1) and Emma Jane (11/1)- Irish National
Chief Dan George (8/1) and Merigo (12/1) - Scottish National

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If you want some more trends for the big races then you can get my FREE Craven Meeting Trends Guide from 7.30pm tomorrow. It's over 12 pages long and has extensive in-depth coverage for 6 of the key races from this Wednesday & Thursday's Craven meeting.

You can register below to get the download details...

FREE CRAVEN MEETING TRENDS GUIDE

Good luck,
Gavin.

I have returned

.....from 5 exceptionally good days on the Isle of Wight with the Grand National result now a distant memory.

I will just say that I knew my fate early last Saturday when I opened the Daily Mirror to see Value Scope had tipped Brooklyn Brownie. The worst tipster column in Great Britain has gone well over 12 months without tipping a worthwhile winner (despite offering two horses from the same race every Saturday of the year) and you definitely don't want him siding with your selection. Mind you, I don't think there was a tipster in the land who put Mon Mome up as the bet of the day

Today value scope puts the kiss of death on Fathsta and Great Charm in the 3.45 Kempton.

Free Trends Guide

Hopefully the Racing Editor of the Mirror reads this blog and directs Value Scope to my festival Trends Site to see how it should be done.....

I have another exclusive offer to all you Blog Readers in the shape of a special 6 Race Festival Trends Guide for the Newmarket Craven meeting. The 2 day meeting starts on Wednesday and I have compiled a 15 page trends guide to the main Guineas Trials taking place next week which will be available as a COMPLETELY FREE download from Monday night.

Using exactly the same trends, stats, facts and figures that are included in my full festival guides I'm sure you'll find something of use in this amazing free offer.

It will be available from 7.30pm Monday but you can register now by clicking below;

FREE CRAVEN MEETING TRENDS GUIDE

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Bonus Ball Bet

Time to kickstart the Prizepool Fund for this months BBB. I've got 4 horses today that should get us off and running

Extraterrestial 2.05 K

Born Tobouggie 2.40 K

Flowing Cape 3.45 K

Young Albert 2.25 H

4 x £2.50each way singles and a 20pew Lucky 15

Entries for the BBB (with a number 1-49) to quiz@nag-nag-nag.co.uk

Just one simple email and you could win (or share) the Pot. No catch, just cash!

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Saturday Fun

Due to my absence yesterday we'll transfer the Friday Fun and have some Weekend Whoopee!

As one of my favourite shows makes a welcome return to ITV tonight I thought we'd have another look at the first winner of Britains Got Talent and his incredible debut audition.
Piers Morgan's reaction is classic... 'Big bloke with dodgy teeth who works at Carphone Warehouse is going to sing opera! Oh dear'

Luckily, appearances can be deceptive.





Good luck,
Gavin.

Time for a quick break....

After spending the last 6 weeks, both night and day, tip tapping away on my laptop researching the trends and stats for Cheltenham and Aintree it's time to put the computer away before my eyes turn square for good.

It's also been a bit hard on the family as I've not had too much spare time recently so we're all off to the Isle of Wight for the next 5 days. With my mum and mother-in-law and 4 of my nephews coming along too it should be great fun and a nice getaway from the racing.

My computer is to be banished for the week so they'll be no posts until I get back but at least the racing's not up to much over the next few days and I'll be back in time for the Craven meeting at Newmarket.

Before I go though, I'll give you the name of one horse to watch out for from the Henry Cecil stable. He's currently burning up the Newmarket gallops and will probably be making his debut at the Craven meeting but should he make his debut beforehand make sure you look out for him. His name: Native Ruler

Until next Saturday,
Good Luck,
Gavin.

Aintree - Day 2

The most frustrating horse for me at the moment is Mamlook and he goes again today in the 4.55 Aintree. He's got stacks of potential but something always seems to happen to deny him that well deserved big prize. His latest effort saw him nearly get brought down just as the race was hotting up but today he's got his ground, he's got a trip, he should appreciate the track and barring any unfortunate accidents should run well. Tom Scudamore retakes the ride and he's 12/1 meaning I will of course be backing him accordingly.

If it all goes pear shaped (again!) I'll have to start saving up to back him for the Chester Cup.

The other horse that I'll be backing, and he may surprise at a big price, is Always Waining over the National Fences in the Topham. You can get 50/1 because of the 3 P's in his recent form but they have all come on his unfavoured soft ground. Back on a more solid surface and with the tongue tied I'm hoping this former Aintree course winner will run well and at that price it shouldn't cost to much if he fails.

Aintree Festival Guide

Hopefully everyone who bought the guide had a fantastic day yesterday with us tipping the first 4 winners at odds of 5/6, 2/1, 13/2 and 12/1!

The two handicaps were a couple of stat buster results but we were very unlucky with the run from Hernando Royale in the last. Critics are raving about the young jockey Rhys Flint and after watching this race it's easy to see why. After making a terrible mistake at the sixth hurdle he rode the horse for half a mile without a bridle and for 2 furlongs trying to get his feet back in the stirrups (not too easy on a horse going at full speed and still jumping hurdles). He got it back together and did remarkably well to coax the horse into 7th place. Both the horse and jockey are ones for the notebook.

The ratings and updates for today's racing are available now from the Members Area and include news of a 33/1 fancy in one of the handicaps.

It's still not too late to join in the fun as the guide will remain on sale until the first race tomorrow.

http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php


FRIDAY FUN

There can only be one video for today and that's got to be Red Rum winning his first Grand National by defeating the oh-so-unlucky Crisp. Giving 23lb to the greatest National horse ever was just too much and your heart has to go out to the gallant runner up....



Good luck,
Gavin.

Would you Adam and Eve it......

There were a few interesting stories in today's newspapers that you may have missed...

2 DAY CHELTENHAM MEETING?

Sources close to the Cheltenham Racecourse Committee have been reported as saying they are seriously considering running the Cheltenham Festival as a two day meeting from 2012. Two 14 race cards to be run on the Saturday and Sunday is the favoured schedule at the moment and comes in the wake of poor ticket sales last month. Will Norrapen said 'we're only considering it at the moment but it worked last year when racing was put back a day because of high winds and I see it as a major step forward for the race meeting. Not everyone can afford to take 4 days off to attend the races and this looks the perfect solution while providing great value for money'. Ticket prices have yet to be revealed but you can bet there will be a hefty increase.

1000 & 2000 GUINEAS TO BE RUN OVER 6F?

Problems at Newmarket Racecourse have raised the possibility of both the 1000 & 2000 Guineas being run over 6F this season. Apparently a pair of rare stone curlew birds have decided to nest at the 7f pole on the racecourse meaning there is a real chance that all the races at Newmarket will have to start at the 6f marker. RSPB spokesperson Izzy Makin-Fissup is reported as saying 'these are very rare birds and it is important that everything is done to protect both their well-being and their environment. Newmarket Racecourse have been brilliant and I'm sure racing fans will understand the need for these steps to be taken.' Looks like I might have to take another look at the form for the Guineas!

MAJOR BOOKMAKER TO ENTER ADMINISTRATION?

According to the Financial Times, Britains second largest bookmaking company are allegedly on the brink of collapse after a string of bad results. Spokesperson April Furle was quoted as saying 'It all started with Ray Quinn winning Dancing on Ice and then what with well supported Something Wells winning at Cheltenham and Jenson Button taking first place in the Australian Grand Prix things have just got worse. The good thing is we're still trading and hopefully a good National result will avert the need to call in the receivers'. Is it time to cash in those William Hill tickets?

MY WILL INTO 6/1 FOR NATIONAL!

In probably the most ludicrous story of the day, Boyle Sports have cut the Paul Nicholls trained runner My Will into 6/1 for Saturday's big race. A spokesman for the firm reported a mad rush to back the horse once Ruby Walsh had confirmed he will take the ride.

My Will 6/1 for the National? People actually backing him at those odds? Don't make me laugh. Who on earth would possibly believe such a blatantly made up story? We're not stupid, we all know it's April 1st!

Good luck,
Gavin.

P.S. On a more serious note, the Aintree Festival begins tomorrow and if you haven't already got a copy - The 70+ page Nag3 Trends Guide is still available and ready for purchase by clicking below....

2009 Aintree Festival Trends Guide

All the trends, facts, figures and race trials are included PLUS from 9pm tonight the first of the 3 updates will be available with all the ratings, news and Placepot perms for Thursday's races.