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April is the month when the turf Flat season starts to hit full stride and for many punters the fixture that lights the blue touch paper is the Craven meeting at Newmarket in the middle of the month.

Before sampling the breezy delights of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course, however, there’s the small matter of the ever-expanding Grand National meeting at Aintree that begins with a cracking card on April 6.

In recent years Aintree’s prestigious three-day meeting has begun to rival Cheltenham’s somewhat bloated four-day fixture for thrills and spills, and there’s little doubt that the highlight of the Merseyside racing calendar offers three days of top-class racing culminating in the running of the world’s most famous race on the final day.

As racecourses go, Cheltenham and Aintree are chalk and cheese: where the former is twisty and undulating with a punishing uphill finish, the latter is long and flat and essentially sharp in nature, and given the two contrasting course configurations it takes a good horse to win a race at the Cheltenham Festival and then do the same at Aintree.

Exactly a year ago at Aintree that’s exactly what Fota Island managed to do when adding the John Smith’s Red Rum Handicap Chase to the Grand Annual Chase that he had won in such superb fashion at Cheltenham just over two and a half week’s previously.

Not surprisingly there will be plenty of horses from this year’s Grand Annual that will be seeking compensation on Merseyside including Andreas, an early casualty in the Grand Annual when a well backed favourite and Green Tango, who made strong late headway in the same race despite seeming unsuited to Cheltenham. Aintree’s flatter track should suit.

In the Betfair Bowl Chase on the opening day, Cheltenham also-rans boast a healthy record and Gold Cup failures Monkerhostin and Beef Or Salmon could well be among those bidding to banish the blues of a poor Festival run, while the versatile Impek, a runner-up in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, may compete and is already a winner over slightly shorter on this sharp course earlier in the season.

In the big juvenile event, the John Smith’s Anniversary 4-Y-O Hurdle, several key players from Cheltenham’s Triumph Hurdle seem likely to figure including Fair Along, the Triumph Hurdle runner-up, who has already won a race over course and distance, along with Afsoun, who was under the weather in the Triumph, and rates a strong fancy.

On the second day – April 7 – the big race is the John Smith’s Melling Chase, and since its inception in 1989 this race’s roll-call of winners has featured the top chasers in training, who have successfully stepped up in trip after excelling at their specialist distance of two miles.

Remittance Man, Viking Flagship, Katabatic, Martha’s Son and Moscow Flyer are just a handful of past two-mile champions who have added this valuable prize after being crowned two-mile champions with a victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Newmill, this year’s shock Queen Mother hero, won’t be running at Aintree but Kauto Star and Dempsey may line-up for this prize. The former, who was a warm favourite for the Queen Mother, fell early in that race bringing down the well supported Dempsey. If they have recovered from their tumbles, they should go close, while Irish raider and course winner Fota Island will be a likely contender too.

The unique Grand National fences come into play for the John Smith’s and Spar Topham Chase on the second day, and sound-jumping and well-seasoned campaigners do well in this hurly-burly contest, while in the John Smith’s Mildmay Chase it pays to look for a fresh horse that hasn’t endured the rigours of running in Cheltenham’s Royal & SunAlliance Chase, a race that tends to spoil their chances at Aintree.

Grand National day features the big race itself that stands alone as the major betting race of the year. The 2006 contest is dominated by Clan Royal, a runner-up in 2004 and last year’s easy winner, Hedgehunter. Since the course was modernised in the early nineties and the fences made easier and the landing sides raised, the classy and better horses have come to fore and dominated the event. Indeed, the National now has the look of just another long-distance steeplechase but one with plenty of history attached.

All eyes will be upon the fillies in the Shadwell Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes on the second day of Newmarket’s Craven meeting on April 19, but sadly in recent years this race has supplied few serious pointers towards the 1,000 Guineas, while further Classic clues may be on offer in the Craven Stakes for colts on April 20, the meeting’s final day. In 2004 the Barry Hills-trained Haafhd became the first colt since Tirol in 1990 to complete the Craven-2,000 Guineas double.

The search for Classic pointers switches to Newbury on April 22 when the Lane End Greenham Stakes takes place over 7f. In recent seasons Turtle Island, Celtic Swing and Victory Note have all landed Classics after scoring here and backers should pay this race plenty of respect in the colts’ Classic reckoning.

The Spring Cup Handicap at Newbury on April 22 is another race worth a second glance. Horses that have run well in the William Hill Lincoln during the previous month have an excellent record here, and any that come from Redcar following a prominent showing in the first big Flat handicap will surely warrant close consideration.

At Ayr on the same day there’s the Scottish Grand National to whet the appetite. One thing’s for sure and that’s any horse which has run in the Aintree Grand National must be avoided as such runners have an appalling record in the Scottish equivalent.

In 2004 Northern-trained Ryalux recorded a popular success and if the ground turns soft at the West of Scotland track plenty of folks will be rooting for another northern runner in Ossmoses, a strapping grey and stout stayer who all but landed the Midlands National over a similar marathon trip at Uttoxeter last month.

Twelve months ago trainer Paul Nicholls failed by a whisker to win this race with Cornish Rebel and the same trainer’s lightly-raced Ladalko has been kept fresh for this valuable prize. The Nicholls yard may also run Desert Quest, the County Hurdle winner, in the Scottish Champion Hurdle while Monet’s Garden, a runner-up in the Arkle Trophy Chase, bids to land a three-mile novices’ event at Ayr.

The curtain comes down on April’s busy and varied month with the mixed jumps and Flat card at Sandown on April 29. The Betfred Gold Cup is the jump season’s final big handicap and fancied runners from the Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson stables should be noted. The latter almost landed this prize plus a valuable bonus a year ago with Juveigneur and he could well become a serious candidate again.

Paul Nicholls should also be the trainer to watch in the Betfred Celebration Chase, with either Kauto Star or Andreas, two of the stable’s crack team of two-mile chasers, likely to land the honours. On the Flat the Betfred.com Mile Stakes is the highlight, and horses that ran well in Newmarket’s Earl of Sefton Stakes earlier in the month hold a good record in this Group Two contest.

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May ushers in the first Classics of the current turf Flat season, beginning with the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 6. All eyes will be upon the short-priced favourite George Washington as he bids to bring trainer Aidan O’Brien back-to-back victories in the colts’ Classic following Footstepsinthesands smart success twelve months ago.

In recent years the 2,000 Guineas has been the personal preserve of the Flat’s big battalions with Sir Michael Stoute, Saeed Bin Suroor and Aidan O’Brien dominating the race year after year with a succession of expensive blue-bloods.

This time around it’s the tight-lipped O’Brien who seems to hold all the aces courtesy of the aforementioned George Washington, a brilliant, if at times temperamental, colt who swept all before him as a juvenile and sets out this season to prove he’s not just a two-year-old wonder but can mix it with the best and come out on top as a three-year-old.

Only Barry Hills and Dermot Weld have broken the big boys’ monopoly of the 2,000 and this year it’s Marcus Tregoning who has been cast in the role of party-pooper as he bids interrupt the top guns by training Sir Percy to land the opening Classic. Regarded as the best horse that he’s ever trained by his astute handler, last season’s Dewhurst winner is sure to go close in a race that will be run to suit his talents.

On the same day Newmarket stages the Palace House Stakes, a Group 3 for up-and-coming sprinters and the fast-improving Reverence well be an interesting runner while over at Haydock, the jumps stages a last hurrah with the valuable William Hill Swinton Handicap Hurdle, and Philip Hobbs could hold a strong hand here courtesy of Wellbeing and Motorway, two progressive and late-blossoming timber-toppers.

On Sunday May 7, it’s the fillies’ turn to strut their stuff in the 1,000 Guineas where Gololphin’s Silca’s Sister, Ballydoyle’s Rumplestiltskin and Race For the Stars will do battle with John Gosden’s Nanina for the fillies’ Blue Riband. On the same day Breeders’ Cup hero Shirocco is likely to come up against Sir Michael Stoute’s late-developer Hard Top and the evergreen John Porter winner, Mubtaker, in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket. Spring gallop s reports have singled out the Stoute horse for top honours.

Chester’s prestigious three-day meeting follows hot on the heels of Newmarket and the Derby hopefuls will be on show in the MBNA Europe Bank Chester Vase (May 11), with the fillies taking centre stage in the Weatherbys Bank Cheshire Oaks on May 10. Barry Hills has a superb record on this turning track and any horse he runs in the previous two races will be worth close inspection.

On Wednesday May 10 the totesport Chester Cup is the meeting’s big betting race and recent Newmarket winner Mikao set down an early marker for this big staying prize. Four-year-olds often run well here and trainer Barry Hills boasts an excellent record. Friday, May 12, closes the Chester meeting and the feature race for the older horses is the Blue Square Ormonde Stakes landed last year by Day Flight.

The run of Classic trials continues at Lingfield on May 13 with the Letheby and Christopher Derby Trial and the totesport.com Oaks Trials respectively for the real things at Epsom the following month. It isn’t just the Classic colts and fillies that are in the firing-line at Lingfield because the Surrey course also stages the totesport Victoria Cup, a closely fought and always influential 7f handicap that frequently throws up a Royal Ascot winner or two.

Over in France the following day, May 14, the European Flat season raises the volume with the Poule de’Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) and the Poulai d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) on the same card at Longchamp.
Ballydoyle and Godolphin have begun to target these two important races in recent seasons and their runners should be respected, but Criquette Head-Maarek’s Quiet Royale will be fancied for the ‘Pouliches’ after a satisfactory spin in second at Longchmap the other day.

Flat racing’s domestic caravan rolls on to York for their three-day Dante meeting and the potential Oaks fillies will run in the Musidora Stakes on May 17, the meeting’s opening salvo which is now a Wednesday on account of the fixture moving forward by a single day.

On May 18 the Derby hopefuls will run in the Dante Stakes and it’s worth recalling that in recent times, North Light and Motivator, the last two winners of this race, have gone on to glory at Epsom in just over three weeks’ time, while looking a little further back in the race’s illustrious history, it’s worth noting that Shahrastani, Reference point, Erhaab and Benny The Dip all went on from the Dante to Derby success.

This mile and a quarter Group 2 contest has clearly become a key Classic trial in recent seasons and mustn’t be missed. There’s sure to be a host of top-class performers in contention on the Knavesmire and Sir Michael Stoute has the best contemporary Dante record with two winners and three placed horses.

On the same day as the Dante keep a close eye upon the outcome of the Hambleton Stakes, a valuable mile handicap that has a habit of throwing up the winner of the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot the following month especially if the Hambleton winner is trained by Sir Michael Stoute.

The final day of the Dante meeting sees the stayers take centre stage in the Yorkshire Cup, a useful pointer to the rest of the campaign’s leading staying races. Alan Swinbank’s stable star Collier Hill, a winner of the Irish St Leger last season, is a likely runner and may well be capable of surprising more fancied horses.

On May 20 it’s the turn of the season’s crack milers to unleash their firepower in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and this has been a good race for Saeed Bin Suroor and the boys in blue in recent seasons, and it would be no surprise to see them land this Group1 event with Proclamation, who is surely heading for the top after joining Godolphin on the back of a brilliant three-year-old season.

In France the following day Longchamp’s Prix d’Ispahan always draws the top mile and mile and a quarter horses and this a race that mustn’t be missed as a key pointer to some of the season’s top races over this classic ten furlongs.

The month of May rounds off with the Irish 2,000 Guineas on May 27 followed by the Irish 1,000 Guineas on the following day. Both these valuable races tend to go to horses that have raced in the equivalent events at Newmarket and inevitably British trainers hold an excellent record in both races.

Finally, Sandown’s two-day fixture at the very end of the month is always informative with the Henry 11 Stakes for top-notch staying horses on May 29 followed on May 30 by the Temple Stakes for sprinters over the minimum trip and the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes in which trainer Sir Michael Stoute boats a useful record. Any runner from his yard should be noted carefully.

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December usually means the King George at Kempton for the racing fan, but the traditional centre-piece of the Christmas programme is merely the climax to a thrilling month’s racing that begins at Sandown with the two-mile spectacular that is the Tingle Creek Trophy on Saturday, December 2.
Shocks are a rarity in this Grade One contest and even though many of the familiar faces will be missing from this valuable event, it’s safe to say that backers should stick with those horses towards the head of the market.
In the absence of leading two-mile lights such as Well Chief, and Newmill, this may well be an excellent opportunity for Voy Por Ustedes, last season’s top two-mile chaser and Arkle Trophy hero, to establish his claims for the two-mile chasing crown.
His trainer, Alan King, has long earmarked this race as an ideal starting-point for his stable star and with agility and the need to travel up with the pace a priority at Sandown, Voy Por Ustedes has plenty in his favour. Ashley Brook, last year’s runner-up, may also be in opposition and it’ll be intriguing to see how he fares after missing most of last season through injury.
The Tingle Creek isn’t the only top two-mile chase on the agenda at Sandown because the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase is also a key feature of Sandown’s cracking December 2 card. There’s already a wealth of talent in the two-mile novice chase division and it would be no surprise to see Fair Along, a most impressive winner of the Independent Newspaper Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham contest this prize and put his Arkle credentials on the line.
Remarkably five of the last eight winners of the Henry VIII ran in the Independent Chase at Cheltenham while trainer Paul Nicholls has also been responsible for two of the last seven winners and whatever he runs from his Ditcheat stable should be noted. The same is true for Alan King’s Barbury Castle yard and My Way de Solzen, a most impressive winner on his Lingfield chase debut, would be another top-notch contender.
Sandown’s Saturday card wouldn’t be complete without a bookies’ benefit in the shape of the William Hill Handicap Hurdle which has been a graveyard for market leaders in recent seasons. It is twelve years now since a favourite has landed this two-mile contest and the soundest advice is to stick with horses carrying a low weight that are trained by Gary Moore or Philip Hobbs and have run already in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham’s Paddy Power Open meeting. Both Mahogany Blaze and Verasi fit this bill.
On Sunday December 3 Ireland stages a couple of key races in their pattern calendar courtesy of the Drinmore Novices’ Chase and the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse, the latter being widely acknowledged as a stepping-stone to Champion Hurdle success and likely this year to feature Brave Inca and Asian Maze, two of Ireland’s leading candidates for top two-mile hurdling honours.
The best of the jumps action switches to Cheltenham on December 9 for a superb day’s racing that features the Boylseports.com International Hurdle (formerly known as the Bula Hurdle) as the meeting’s showpiece contest. Punters needn’t look any further than Detroit City the current Champion Hurdle favourite, for the most likely winner of the Boylesports. The Philip Hobbs-trained grey is rapidly developing into a course specialist at Prestbury Park and only last month he swiftly added the Greatwood Hurdle to the Triumph Hurdle he landed back in March.
The former contest has twice supplied the winner of the Boylesports and all being well the vastly improved Detroit City should make it three mainly at the expense of some inferior rivals. The Irish landed the race a year ago but any raiders from across the Irish Sea will be hard pressed to make it three recent winners this time around.
The Boylesports.com Gold Cup Chase is yet another change of name for a race that was once called the Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup, the Tripleprint, the Robin Cook and now this anonymous bookmaking mouthful. Sometimes progress has its limitations. Still, this is a cracking handicap and the trick here is to look for a horse carrying less then eleven stone that boasts wining form at the course, features towards the head of the betting and is trained either by Nicky Henderson or Paul Nicholls. Irish horses also tend to do well here.
Over at Lingfield on December 9 there are a couple of important novice events courtesy of the December Novices’ Chase and the Summit Junior Hurdle. The two highest-rated juveniles to win this event in the last three years were trained by Francois Doumen (the injury-prone Grand Seigneur in 1999/2000 and future Champion Hurdle winner Hors La Loi in 1998/9), and any horse sent over by the gallic raider must be respected while Oliver Sherwood has had this race in mind for some time for his smart youngster,. Marodima.
The countdown to Christmas begins at Ascot on December 16 with a top-notch programme that features the Long Walk Hurdle, the totesport.com Handicap Chase and the Ladbroke Hurdle. The later race is only in its infancy at Ascot and already Nicky Henderson has proved the man to be with having won the race recently with Chauvinist.
This time around he relies upon the well-regarded Tarlac, an easy winner over course and distance on his seasonal bow while Ireland’s Victram, a dab hand in this grade, also bids to add this race to his Imperial Cup success at Sandown in March. Ireland should also be strongly represented in the Long Walk Hurdle with trainer Dessie Hughes thinking hard about bringing over Hardy Eustace for this valuable prize following his easy win over slightly shorter at this course last time.
On Boxing Day, December 26, the King George VI Chase is always a race to savour and this year’s renewal may well see a small field and an odds-on favourite in the guise of Kauto Star, who has been elevated to superstar status in most quarters following an easy success against a bunch of declining forces at Haydock last time.
In a race that has been a corker for those punters that follow the market leaders 13 of the last 18 winners have featured in the top two in the betting Kauto Star is going to be very hard to beat but at least faces decent opposition in the shape of rising stars such as Monet’s Garden and Racing Demon who should give him a race over a course that rewards quick and accurate jumping and finds out any who slack in those departments. The former holds the best chance of overturning the favourite especially if he forces the latter to match him in the jumping department over the three rapid-fire fences in the home straight.
On December 27 Chepstow stages the Coral Welsh National, a severe test that is best left to those dour staying types that can plough through the Welsh mud. Light weights and previous winning form at the course will be a bonus and backers should look closely at any horse Paul Nicholls runs in the race while over at Leopardstown on the same day there’s the Paddy Power Handicap Chase, one of the main betting events at the big Christmas festival at the Dublin-based course. Look out here for Tony Martin’s Ross River, who is being trained to win this prize after finishing third in last year’s renewal.

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