Saturday of the Breeders Cup is one of the most compelling days racing of the whole year. You may not know a lot of the American horses but trust me these are the very best athletes for their racing conditions in the world. With the exception of the turf races, where European horses tend to dominate, even on their Chester Racecourse type track, the dirt horses you see are honed through breeding, training, nutrition and tactics to be the very best of their species ad any time you witness the echelon of a culture its always exciting.

Here is a quick guide as to what to look for in the feature races.

7.05 Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies – She’s a Tiger has an amazing attitude and loves to force the pace – does she really stays this trip and can Gary Stevens get he fractions right – he went too early on her when she was run down by Secret Compass and I don’t think Gary will do that again. Artemis Agrotera looks like an improving progressive horse with kick and will stay. Rosalind was second to a very good horse and covered lot more ground so we need to upgrade that performance and Sweet Reason was overcome by Artemis which suggests she may be second string. It’s an exciting race of gifted fillies. We will make our decision tomorrow.

7.43 In the fillies and Mares Turf this looks like a great opportunity for Dank from Sir Michael Stoute’s Yard and I only see the draw of 1 and Ryan Moore getting trapped on the fence and perhaps Andre Fabres Romantica, if on a going day as the main dangers. Of the Americans Marketing Mix brings a good speed figure to the party.

At 9.43 the Boys Juvenile is equally as exciting as the Girls. Havana is the short favourite with some amazing Speed Ratings but question the trip and a not sure he truly stays. Perhaps he looks tired at the end of his races as he has gone so quickly. If he does stay then they wont beat him. Looking over his shoulder I the tough and impressive BondHolder but the signals from Doug O’Neils barn are not good. We Miss Artie looks progressive and improving at the right time of year and is tough, Tap it Rich won on debut and who knows what his improvement will be in race two. Its a big ask for one so inexperienced. Strong Mandate would have been very short but for a 10 length beating by Havana and if D Wayne Lukas can work out what happened there then he might be in the reckoning. A star will emerge form this race.

10.22 Breeders Cup Turf – Fascinating between The Fugue and John Gosden returning to his old stamping ground and Point of Entry. Throw in Magician, off for a long time but loved the tight turns of Chester, Little Mike, Indy Point, a Southern Hemisphere Grp1 Derby winner from Argentina and you have a quality field. I still think its a two horse race and the way The Fugue travels on this ground if William Buick has the luck in running he will win. If not Point of Entry wins.

11.40 Breeders Cup Mile – Turf. Wise Dan – Horse of the Year, runs here. Is he over the top with a second last time out or was I just the artificial surface that beat him. Back on grass he is immense. Olympic Glory for the Hannons, who have a woeful Breeders Cup record line up against him and if he reproduced his Champions Day run he would win but that efforts of that race and shipping to America must be a concern. Hughes says e feel great. if he does he’s a real contender as he is tough. Za Apoproval will be thereabouts, as always but things have to go wrong for the principals for him to win and so for the rest. Another great Race.

12.35 Breeders Cup Classic

I will write more on this in its own piece but here are the key players. Game on Dude, Mucho Macho Man, Declaration of War, Palace Malice and last years winner Fort Larned. I am looking forward to writing about it let alone the race.

I hope this gets your pulse racing as just a taster and it all kicks off tonight.

All races are being streamed live on BET 365 and we will be putting up their prices n our special Breeders Cup pages.

Breeders Cup 2013 – Santa Anita

With the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, a racecourse surrounded by Palm Trees and almost perfect 70 degree sunshine there are very few places in the world where you can race in such wonderful surroundings. However for the British faithful who have travelled either as supporters, trainers or jockeys to compete in this showcase event this weekend there is a lot to do between now and Saturday night. For the travelling faithful there’s a lot of eating, drinking and punting to be done. For connections there is a lot of worrying to make the big day with your charge in rude health, taking on the very best horses in America. Just 5% of your best and you simply cant win. Its that competitive.

That doesn’t mean we should not get involved, in fact quite the opposite. Its a must. So how do the UK & Ireland chances look on Day 1. In truth we might scrape a winner to get us off the mark but I cant see much past that. London Bridge (8.45) looks to be completely outclassed in the Marathon. It looks like Jo Hughes and Paul Blockley fancied a trip to America and that this was the best way of getting the tax man to pay for Paul’s convalescence after his recent heart operation. Its not the trip, it could be the dirt (an unknown) but its definitely the class. I hope the horse runs well as I like connections but this really is a bridge too far.

Outstrip will start as favourite in the Juvenile Turf for Colts (9.25) and rightly so. We farm these turf races and he is top draw after his win on Future champions day. However don’t rule out Wilshere Boulevard. His was a good run on ground he didn’t like at Longchamp, to finish fourth and I can assure you there won’t be a hint of soft in the going when they line up tomorrow night.

At 10.50 Al Thakira for Marco Botti is joined at the starting gates by Chriselliam for Charlie Hills. I find the form of both confusing and whilst they are no doubt good animals there just might be an American filly capable of taking this race off them,although its not obvious form the betting. With big fields and tight tracks on the turf, luck comes in to play and I don’t think either has a lot in hand to compensate for bad luck in running. For that reason they both look a little shorter than I would like. Vorda for France was very impressive over 6f at Newmarket and if this trip and ground suits then Olivier Peslier might well be right with his assertion that she is a super star waiting to happen but as the likely favourite at 4/1 there looks to be too many guesses about her form for me to be happy at that price.

Its an exciting night to kick things off and our tips will be up by 3.00pm tomorrow on the website so look out for more information and lets see if we can make some money for the big day on Saturday.

Rugby League – World Cup 2013.

The Rugby League World Cup 2013

The tournament is upon us and the first salvos have been fired. It’s great that the BBC has the broadcast rights as it means that a wider audience has access to this great game. I have always admired the courage of these players who face each other and collide with tremendous impacts time after time whilst controlling and creating exciting moves with the ball. They are immensely brave and immensely talented. So what do we make of this “World challenge”.

Its simple really. Australia win it. 2008 wont happen again. Not because they are that much better than England or New Zealand, they just think they are and sometimes that’s enough. England can compete and quite often do for long periods of the game but they just make too many mistakes. Similarly New Zealand who have exciting play makers, who are used to NRL pressure week in week out will compete but they don’t have the depth across the pitch and it takes a career best for them to record a win against Australia, which is what they did in 2008.

As a betting medium this is a tough one. We have already seen with Italy vs Wales, or should I say Australia C versus Wales, that you simply cant get a handle on these teams until you know who is playing and finding out squads and players names is difficult. The RLWC official site is to intent on selling tickets and provides almost no useful information save the actual squads. Such is the dearth of opinion about this World Cup that even journalists have no idea what to write and google is bereft of quality information for the punter.

However that doesn’t mean we cant make some money. If we work hard and prepare for each match we should be able to eek out some cash in these minor games before we get to the finals. We struck in the first game taking England plus 14 and its bets like this that we will be concentrating on.

I would really like England to win this and I will be cheering them on. The problem in my book is that Steve McNamara simply isn’t our best coach and whilst he is there I don’t think we can play to our full potential. If we did, we can run the big guns close. We need a plan to win and I didn’t see it in our opening game and I don’t see how we can bring one together now. Australia’s first game was always the place to beat them and for the first half while they found their feet we had them rocking. Problem is they will get better and better now. That was our chance to top the group and get the easy beat semi final and we missed it.

What do I expect to happen? Group A, Australia, RU- England 3rd Place Fiji, Group B New Zealand RU Samoa 3rd place France. Group C Italy, Group D Wales.

Semi Finals : Australia vs Samoa, New Zealand vs England

Final : England vs Australia

Winner : England (just joking) – Australia.

Stenson Closes out the golf season – Hang on the new one starts this week!

So that was it the end of the PGA Tour just 3 weeks ago with Henrik Stenson taking away a small country’s worth of GDP in cash after having the type of year in money terms that I don’t think even Jack dared dream about and possibly not even Tiger – well maybe Tiger.

So its on again this weekend, The Frys.com Open at CordeValle kicks off the 2014 season. A par 71 course that goes 35 out and 36 back. The weather forecast seems good and we are all hopeful that this tournament will continue unhindered by rain or thunderstorms. So what type of player wins this event at this time of year?

Its fair to say one of the lesser lights will probably win because that’s pretty much whose playing. We need someone who drives the ball straight and long, the course is nearly 7,400 yards, obviously they have to be able to putt and they should have either proven themselves under pressure or not be under any at all because they are new to the game and see this as an added bonus. ie. nothing to fear.

There is a new reason to win this tournament, I mean apart from the money and that is that for the first time the winner of these fall events will now automatically qualify for the Masters, something that hasn’t happened before. And of course there’s those all important Fedex Cup points up for grabs!!!.

Its time to look through the fields, see who looks fresh and strong at this time of year and see if we can find four against the head that can play well for us this weekend. I have got my eyes on these six at the moment, Tim Clark, John Huh, Gary Woodland, Bryce Molder, Billy Horschel and Hideki Matsuyama and we will see where the value lies in the morning.

Our tips will be up tomorrow by 10.00, in time for kick off.

The Grand Final – All the W’s

A weekend where winning for Wigan and Warrington would be wonderful. That’s about as much alliteration as I have in me and in truth this game is bigger than any literature stamps. But does that mean it’s Sean Wayne who gets the victory. Whatever the result it crowns a season that fulfils dreams and creates icons.

Warrington have most to lose if that makes sense. It is they who have failed to deliver in the play-offs and it is they who will really feel the pressure. There is no doubting they are a supremely talented Rugby league team and I feel that Tony Smith has sculpted every position so that they are capable of delivering his rugby dream. They play the type of game we would like to watch every weekend. Its fast, aggressive and contains highly skilled ball handling right across the park.

The forwards led by Adrian Morley, in probably his last league game are immensley powerful and very quick with Chris Hill and Gareth Carvell constantly off loading in the tackle and makings yards after the collision . They dominate the line and they make playing the ball quickly look ridiculously easy, when it truth that is now one of the hardest areas to deliver. Because of that forward play Higham, Monaghan and the evergreen Briers seem to always have time to make exciting and damaging decisions that gain more yards per play than any other team and their ability to link with the stand off, Grix (the most improved in the league), second rower, Ben Westwood and the dynamic centres means they are always creating breaks and chances to score.

So having made a compelling case for this squad, why should they be worried about losing the final – simply because they haven’t won one and they just find ways to lose big games and that’s what this is – a big game.

So what about Wigan. Well I have written time and again how important Sean O’loughlin is to their balance but so far they have filled the gap and triumphed. Truth is I don’t think they have played a team that have the fire power that Warrington have and occasionally when under pressure Wigan just run out of ideas.

It’s also former man of Steel, Sam Tompkins last game before moving out to Australasia and he wont want to leave with a loss. If Wigan are to win then he has to have a big game. The kind of game that Rob Burroughs had for Leeds in 2011 when he almost single handedly won the game. Tompkins is capable of doing that, the thing is Warrington know that and I think Smith will make sure Westwood doesn’t let him out of his sights.

Josh Charnley is an international quality winger and occasional full back when required, Pat Richards is playing his last game and he has been one of Wigan’s great kicking wingers, right up there with superboot Frano Bottica where conversions are concerned. Farrell and Flower are tireless workers in the second row and make few mistakes but they don’t often explode in to a game, whereas Harrison Hansen can tear a game apart either for you or against you depending on his mistakes or brilliance.The key to Wigan will be if their forwards can create space and time for Matty Smiths amazing kicking game and to see if Michael McIlorum can run with the ball to punch holes in the middle of the park to spread it for his talented wingers.

On balance I don’t think at this stage I would be telling you anything the experts haven’t written and if it goes on the night like it looks on paper then Warrington win. The thing is they don’t play these games on paper. It’s at the field of dreams, Old Trafford and Sean Wayne has the chance to carve his name on the Wigan Icon list and what a list it is.

I said before the play-offs started its about bottle and I know Wigan have got plenty of that.

Its Arc Weekend – A truly International World Class Race

The World Class credentials of this race are stronger than ever and as evidence of this just have a look at the betting. Japanese, French, German, Japanese, Irish and British, covers the first 7 in the betting. It has always been a great race but there was a time when trainers with good horses thought about this race after they had already planned a long season. Now with £2.2 million on offer and the international focus from a breeding perspective, the race is almost number one on any trainer in the Northern Hemispheres agenda with a horse good enough to dream of taking part.

What does that mean for us who like a punt. Well quite a lot. It means we have to evaluate races across Europe and Japan, it means we have to equate times, form and tracks from different parts of the globe and it means that we end up with a tasty smorgasbord of wonderful animals from which to choose.

That said, its not the easiest of tasks to find the winner and this far out with so many evenly matched horses, things like the weather, the last minute health of horses, horses being supplemented and of course the French racing authority, are all unknowns. However now is the time to start forming opinions and things to be considered this weekend are :

1. Can Treve become one of only a handful of 3yr old fillies to win this great race. Her trainer says she fears only the Japanese favourite but history says this is a big ask.

2. As impressive as Orferve was visually when he quickened to win his Arc trial, as that was the slowest pace on the day of the Arc trials, did he just easily beat horses he should have beaten and was he unlucky last year in the Arc or simply not good enough.

3. The performance of Novellist in the King George was astounding, he gave nearly a stone to Trading Leather and on ground that people thought was too quick for him ran a time 5 seconds faster than standard. Was that the reason why his next win in Germany looked below par or was it that Trading leather simply isn’t very good.

5. Is Kizuna in the same league as Orfevre as a live Japanese winner, after appearing to scramble home at Longchamp and will the extra 2 furlongs suit – its not certain on pedigree.

6. Are Ruler of the World, Intello, Flintshire and Al Kazeem, all Group 1 winners this year, simply bit players in this cast of stars or does one of them still having something to offer that we haven’t seen.

6. Was the run of The Fugue at York, so impressive, on its favoured quick ground, a case that if the rain stays away, we have found a lively 20/1 chance?

7. And what about the St Leger winner – will Leading Light make the pace and can it go quick enough to see stamina become the suit most required to win this race.

8. With so little between all these great horses, which jockey will make the right decision at the right time and will it come down to luck and those notorious French Stewards. It could do if there is no pace in the race as they all fight for space in a slowly run race. It can be a real dog fight in the last two furlongs.

I would be amazed if I haven’t mentioned the winner in the questions raised above and if you are going to have a bet then you need to see which one of these horses most answers the questions posed above.

In the days ahead I will be looking through race trends, reading trainer comments and watching the French Bureau of Meteorology very closely and all the time trying to get under the skin of this superb World Class race. I cant wait but enjoying the build up is as much a joy as the 3 minutes it takes to run the race.

Get working on it if you want to really enjoy this outstanding spectacle. For the record my first bet will be Novellist at 11/2 with Corals. I think we will look back at the King George and see that was an astounding performance. I think the ground did jar him up just a little and the performance took a little out of him for his next run which is why it was perceived as slightly below par. His trainer says he has never been better after the rest and with so many unknowns he is the best value as he goes on all grounds and seems to have more ticks in more columns and he has Johnny Murtagh on board. Not that I love him as a jockey or think he is better than the rest – no he’s much the same as the others and he is very good – I just think he is lucky in big races and lucky is better than good any day.

Disgrace and the title chase keep us enthralled

What a weekend of rugby league we have just had. Firstly the utter debacle of Hull who simply didn’t turn up against the Giants on Thursday. What a shambles, former old boy Gary Scholfield said in his article that every member of the team was a “disgrace to the shirt”. Well maybe that’s a bit harsh but we understand the sentiment. We did say that if Hull couldn’t stop Brough, Robinson and Grix they would get murdered and Hull couldn’t and they were destroyed. Should that have happened in the now professional ultra competitive Super League that Sky keep telling us we have, I don’t think so. Problem is the gulf between those that can play to the level required consistently and those who just make up the numbers is still as wide as it ever was and that brings in to question even more a top 8 at the end of the season. That play off debate aside until next year, well done to Paul Anderson and his team who didn’t have long to enjoy success, as the Warrington Wolves who finished second in the league decided at the Club Call they would take them as their choice to beat to get through to the final. Some consider that disrespectful to the league leaders, some call it logical, having beaten them three times in the normal season. Either way Tony Smith wont be held responsible for the decision as he refused to take part in the process (one he simply hates) and left it to the board of directors to choose on the night who they would play in the semi-final – a decision by Smith that looks like costing the club £10,000 as the League take a dim view of dissent within the ranks.

Was it the right decision by the board of Directors? I think the Giants would have been my choice and the reasons are again down to proven finals class. You have to make the decision based on which of the two games that the Giants have played in the play-offs was most like finals football and for me there is only one answer. It was the game against Wigan where the Giants simply couldn’t cope with the speed of play and power that the Warriors exerted, something that on balance Warrington are equally capable of and for that reason it has to be Warrington to beat Huddersfield on Thursday. We will look at the betting angle on Thursday and see how we play it. My current thoughts are that the Wire are worthy favourites for the game.

The game of the play-offs was St Helens/Leeds and followers of the Betting Agency did well with St Helens + 6 but my heart went out to St Helens as yet again it was the boot of McGuire and his 1 pointer that go them through to the next round. Can Leeds pull it out of the fire again against Wigan? Not if Wigan play like they did against the Giants but that for me is not certain. Finals at this stage are about 50% mental as both sides are so evenly matched and Leeds simply believe in themselves, which carries them so far year after year. My heart says that Leeds can keep the dream alive with pure belief because that the world I live in but my head says that Wigan are younger, faster and stronger (and I’m not). For that reason I think the romance is over for Brian Mc Dermotts team this week. However people like me having been writing this rubbish about Leeds for the last 4 years. One day one off us will be right – is it this week, well my money says it is but it will be a cracker.

Either way don’t go out on Thursday or Friday these games are just too good to miss.

Play-off Rugby – It’s about class, defence and bottle!

What a great weekend of play-off rugby league football (if you consider Thursday night the start of the weekend). And if you followed us in over the weekend you are many points up in your punting and that’s what we want.

We predicted an upset in the Huddersfield, Wigan game and I really think coach Anderson paid for his lack of big match build up to this game. I know they get another chance this weekend buts it’s hard to create momentum and he must be worried that Wigan simply wanted it more than his team. The Wigan line speed was electric and they simply didn’t allow the Giants to play. The other problem was that the Giant playmakers have not often experienced that level of intensity at the play of the ball and both Grix and Danny Brough seemed to struggle to come up with ideas as the pressure told on their forwards. It’s hard to make big plays when there are massive opposition shirts in your face. The scoreline of 22-8 was a fair reflection of the game, however I also think a lot of things went Wigan’s way during the night (they do when you are playing well) and that ability to play at this level is something that Huddersfield are going to have to learn to cope with quickly or they will leave the competition next weekend.

The best performance of the weekend, from a spectacle view point, was no doubt Warrington and we said, when we tipped them to win, that they play their best when not everything is at stake. This game with its hatch door chance for the loser meant that the Warrington playmakers did so without fear and when they can do that they are too much for anyone in the league. Similarly their opponents, Leeds, are never the same as when they have no escape route. It will be a different Leeds side that turns up next weekend against St Helens on Friday night at Headingley.

St Helens have been playing very well of late and their eight try romp against Hull KR was very pleasing for coach Nathan Brown. I think his biggest smile was reserved for knowing that his ace, James Roby came through the game after such a long injury, in only his second game back, with flying colours. Roby is explosive and vital to his teams chance going forward and with him and Lance Hohaia both fit the Saints have talented play makers sitting behind an awesome pack. They will challenge Leeds in every department and we expect a cracker next Friday with the loser finished for 2013.

Let’s not rule Hull out of the picture just yet either. A lack of mistakes and a great defence wins play- off games and coach Peter Gentle mapped out a game that would do the job for Hull against Catalan. They will have to find a way to score if they are going to trouble Huddersfield but that defence was amazing on Friday. Time and again they turned away the Dragons with at one stage a 4^th set of six on their try line seeing no way through for the visitors. That intensity is what the Giants struggled with against Wigan and if Hull can repeat it we could see another upset on the cards on Friday. It’s interesting that their profile looks similar to that of the Baltimore Ravens last year in the NFL, they claimed the Super Bowl on the basis of an awe-inspiring defence. Perhaps Gentle could get no 52 Ray Lewis to come over and talk to his guys for this weekend and explain that defence can get the job done.

Two mouth-watering games this weekend and after we sift through the injury news from the weekend we will be up in plenty of time with our tips. Enjoy the build-up and spend some of your winnings from last weekend but keep some back for next weekend. There’s money to be made.

Who the hell is Simon Law?

A good question – well here is me……

I’m a self confessed sports nut, away from the racetracks of Britain, I follow Southampton FC through “thin and thin” and a season ticket holder, a big cricket fan and an anorak on sporting trivia that no one should really know!!

I have always had a keen interest in racing but growing up in a family which includes 2 jockeys and several horses, I could never really escape. I was also taught the fine art of punting from a very early age from a family friend who gave me a free bet every Saturday, so studying the Racing Post has been firmly embedded in me!

I have been fortunate to have gained some really good industry contacts over the years including trainers, bloodstock agents and owners and I have gotten to know a few of the jockeys from both the jumping world and the flat boys.

What I really love about racing is the fact there is always something new to learn, just because of the sheer nature and size of the operation. Although I have always enjoyed racing I only really used to take a strong interest if I had something at stake whereas the more I have learn’t the more I now appreciate the sport and can watch hours and hours of racing both live and highlights.

I am never more at home than at a racetrack and appreciate them all for their unique aspects, I was fortunate to visit Royal Ascot this year and it is an absolutely amazing experience, yet I am equally as happy soaked wet through on a damp Tuesday at Bangor-on-Dee such is my love and passion for the game.

In my columns I intend to deliver my opinion on the racing world and i wont hold back. I will speak to some of the jockeys, trainers and owners to hopefully point you in the right direction of a winner or two as well! I don’t expect you to agree with me on everything I write – this is a game of opinions and as long as you have had your bet you are entitled to your opinion so lets make my columns fully interactive and if you want to have a go at something I have written or yet another of my catastrophic predictions – then do it, either here in the forum or tweet me @sijlaw

Enough of the intro – let’s get punting

(The picture is of me dressed as a toff at Ascot)

Wigan will want it more than Leeds

Thursday 5th September 13

I think that Sportingbet will pay for going best price about Wigan winning tonight against Leeds. As much as I admire the unbelievable qualities of Leeds in playoff football I cant help thinking that Brian McDermott has his eyes on other contests and would be more happy playing Huddersfield in the first finals game than Warrington. Wigan need momentum to win games and for that reason I think they will be more primed tonight to win and go in to the finals with confidence.

Advised 5/8 Wigan to win with Sportingbet

Breeders Cup – The best Horses on the best day