Thursday, February 27, 2003
LADBROKES PRICES FOR CHELTENHAM SPECIALS
Ladbrokes has priced up Top Owner making the Mighty JP McManus their 15/8 favourite. With top runners such as Like-A-Butterfly, Le Coudray and Baracouda to name but three he looks a worthy favourite. However there are plenty of claims for the other owners with David Johnson clearly having plenty of bites at the proverbial cherry.
Top Owner (Win + Place Prize Money)
15/8 Mr. J.P. McManus
5/2 Mr. J. Lewis
5/2 Mr. D. Johnson
4 Mrs. J. Magnier
All 20 Races Must Take Place (Win Only, Singles Only)
Ladbrokes shall be offering further specials each day towards the build up to the Festival.
West is Best? ? Which group will train most winners at the festival?
5/6 Group A M Pipe / P Hobbs / P Nicholls
5/6 Group B J O'Neill / N Henderson / H Knight
Dead Heat Rules Apply
Good Things?
Rhinestone Cowboy (Champion Hurdle), Moscow Flyer (Q. Mother), Best Mate (Gold Cup)
How many points will the above three horses get? 5/2 0-5 pts, 8/11 6-10 pts, 11/4 11-15pts 5pts Win, 3pts 2nd, 1pt 3rd
All Three Horses Must Start In Respected Races
Top Jockey at the Cheltenham Festival
6/4 T McCoy, 5/1 R Walsh, 6 M Fitzgerald, 6 N Williamson, 10 R Johnson, 10 L Cooper, 12 B Geraghty, 16 J Culloty, 20 T Murphy, 25 P Carberry, 40 Bar Singles only, win only. Prices to Lift Trophy, All in Run or Not
Irish Trained Winners at the Cheltenham Festival
0 winners 12/1, 1 winner 6/1, 2 winners 7/2, 3 winners 7/2, 4 winners 4/1, 5 winners 11/2, 6 winners 8/1, 7 winners 20/1, 8 winners 25/1, 9 winners or more 40/1
11/8 Under 3, 7/2 Exactly 3, 11/10 Over 3
All Races At Festival Must Take Place
Top Trainer Groups - Which group will earn the most points over the 3 days?
13/8 Group A M. Pipe / H. Knight
7/4 Group B J. O'Neill / P. Hobbs
7/4 Group C P. Nicholls / N. Henderson
5pts Win, 3pts 2nd, 1pt 3rd
All in run or not. Dead Heat Rules Apply
All 20 races at festival must take place
LINGO BEING TARGETED AT FREEPHONE STANLEY LINCOLN
Jack Ramsden, husband of trainer Lynda Ramsden, today revealed that Lingo is an intended runner in the £100,000 Freephone Stanley Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday, March 22.
The North Yorkshire-based Ramsdens have already been victorious in the first major turf Flat race of the season, courtesy of 1993 hero High Premium, who proved half a length too strong for Mizaaya.
Lingo, who has been allotted 8st 4lb for this year's renewal, is currently a 20/1 chance with the sponsors to give the Ramsdens their second success.
"Lingo has done very well [over the winter]," enthused Jack Ramsden. "He's currently doing sufficient work to enable him to run in the Lincoln."
The four-year-old enjoyed three successes in 2002. His first victory came at Town Moor on Freephone Stanley Lincoln Day in the equivalent of the seven-furlong March Handicap Stakes, beating Northern Nymph by two lengths.
Two months later Lingo justified favouritism in a Pontefract handicap over three furlongs further, easily accounting for Alrida by four lengths, and he travelled south to Epsom Downs in June for the third victory, winning another 10-furlong handicap by two and a half lengths from Systematic.
Lingo's win at Pontefract came on good to firm ground, while the going was soft when he scored at Epsom Downs. Asked if their charge is suited by all types of ground, Ramsden replied: "I should think so, although he might need it soft over a mile."
On the gelding's last two outings of the 2002 campaign, he was stepped up to a mile and a half.
"Lingo didn't appear to quite stay 12 furlongs," Ramsden continued. "I don't think he's fast enough to win the Lincoln although it won't do him any harm to run there and we're hoping for the best."
The Ramsdens are likely to be further represented at the Freephone Stanley Lincoln Meeting.
"We normally have two or three runners there every year and I hope it will be the same this season," added Ramsden.
Eddie Creighton today revealed that he is hoping to become the first Spanish-based trainer to win the Freephone Stanley Lincoln. His Lord Protector is currently priced at 33/1 with Stanley.
"The Lincoln is definitely the target for Lord Protector and we head for Doncaster now as long as we get in there," he commented.
A maximum of 24 runners in this valuable event may mean that the five-year-old, who is on a mark of 8st 1lb, might have to line-up in the consolation Freephone Stanley Spring Mile, run the day before, Friday, March 21.
Lord Protector joined Creighton, who trains at Mijas Racecourse, over the winter, following his victory in a 30-runner seven-furlong Newmarket handicap in October.
"Lord Protector has only run three times for me and, after finishing third and second, he won a mile conditions race last weekend at Mijas in what was his prep race for the Lincoln," explained Creighton. "He won easy enough by a couple of lengths and we won't run him any more until Doncaster."
This was the third victory from 23 starts of the Nicolotte gelding's career and his
win at Newmarket came on good ground.
"I don't think that he needs good ground," continued the handler. "The track here at Mijas is testing enough and he seems to like it. He seems to have handled it well here so I wouldn't be too worried as long as it's not heavy at Doncaster."
Lord Protector finished a creditable five and a half length seventh to Zucchero in last year's Lincoln when trained by David Arbuthnot.
Asked if his charge could improve on that performance this time, Creighton replied: "We hope so - he seems to be in great form and he's wintered well here. He's absolutely sparkling at the moment so I don't see why he can't run a good race if he gets the right draw."
After the forfeit stage on January 21, 134 of the record 137 original entries for the Freephone Stanley Lincoln went forward. The second forfeit stage is next week on Tuesday, March 4.
CHANNEL 4 REPORT IMPROVED AUDIENCE FIGURES FOR RACING
Channel 4 Television is delighted to announce a big increase in audience figures for THE MORNING LINE and CHANNEL4 ATTHERACES, which endorse the channel's commitment and successful marketing of the sport.
DAVID KERR, Channel 4's Head of Sport, commented: "There is no question regarding THE MORNING LINE's future on Channel 4. Audiences have risen to 600,000 in recent weeks and this is almost a 25% increase year-on-year. The show appears to be gaining popularity once again and it remains the racing programme that appeals beyond the traditional racing audience.
"Saturday's live racing audiences have also risen over 10%, which is very strong when you consider that attheraces's digital channel has taken some of our viewers with their simulcasting of our races. If you include attheraces 's audience figures, which can be up to 100,000 for big races, there's an even bigger increase in the amount of people watching our coverage, which is tremendous news for the sport and its sponsors. We've been refreshing our shows with a number of ideas in recent weeks and this is a great reward for everyone's efforts."
THE MORNING LINE
Date Average 000's AverageShare % y-on-y(000's) % y-on-y(% share)
Jan 03 442 8.2 +14% 0%
Jan 02 387 8.2
Feb 03 543 8.8 +33% +19%
Feb 02 408 7.4
Overall The Morning Line on Channel 4 for Jan/Feb 2003 has seen:
+24% increase in audience figures and +10% share
Peaking at over 600,000 for strong Saturday racecards
Also, Channel4 attheraces audiences to date have seen:
+11% increase in audience figures and +1% share
Peaking at over 1.1milion for principal races
Channel4 attheraces 2003 schedule includes 92 days on-course action, some 500 races and over 250 hours of programming.
Channel 4's racing team include ALASTAIR DOWN, MIKE CATTERMOLE, JOHN FRANCOME, LESLEY GRAHAM, SIMON HOLT, GRAHAM GOODE, LESLEY GRAHAM, JOHN McCRIRICK, JIM McGRATH, TANYA STEVENSON and DEREK THOMPSON; plus regular faces from attheraces channel 418.
For old articles (from 1st March 2000) go to the Newslink
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