Author: Russ

It is difficult to remember a weekend when Somerville Lodge were sending so many improving horses to post on the same day. The following runners would normally be considered investment opportunities: Ascot 2.10 Crown Of Oaks 3.15 Tenability 3.50 Abloom 4.25 Binhareer Haydock 2.25 Valiancy 3.00 The Reverend 3.35 Sky Majesty Kempton 2.35 Magic Box…

The ground at Haydock looks to be just on the soft side of good which is no problem for assessing investment opportunities. At Ascot however it looks to be bordering on Heavy which is more problematical, thankfully they race at the Berkshire track on Friday before the most interesting runners from Somerville Lodge head to…

The ground at Haydock Park looks likely to be good to soft, although with showers focused it could change too soft by post time. The Somerville Lodge team sends 3 horses to Lancashire starting with Gaspacho in the 3.00. This is his racecourse debut so as always a watching brief only, even though he is…

The Haggas operation is so successful because of its patience and meticulous planning. Those of you that have followed my 2025 Diary of a Season on a daily basis will appreciate now how they function. Haggas has announced that he will have between 40-50 older horses (4yo+) in training next season. By my calculations they…

William Haggas rarely sends out 3yo handicappers within 7 days of their previous run but does so with Mamma Maria who was disqualified when landing a 3pt bet for us on Friday evening, although we were paid out under FPP bookmakers rules. I think she won despite the make up of the race being against…

At this time of year there is a consideration to be made with 3yo Fillies running in class 4 and lower handicaps. There are two angles: 2. They have won a race or two, secured a decent paddock value and are continuing to race in the hope they can add another victory. The likes of…

Somerville Lodge start the week with two entries one in the 2.30 at Carlisle and one at Windsor in the finale at 7.30. I fully expect both to win. Ceiren Fallon goes to Carlisle to ride Hardy’s Hero who was an impressive winner at Haydock despite drifting in the market. The stiff 6f track will…

It’s been another season where we have turned a profit every month and a very decent ROI. Although the period from the last race on the Friday of Royal Ascot until the end of the Goodwood festival was a roller coaster that I hope is not repeated. It began when our bet of the meeting…

Genuine Soft Ground at Sandown increases the chances of the Haggas runners but as usual the Market has hugely overreacted. 1.50 Headmaster – 8/1 – 10/3 The gamble at Goodwood was indeed based on the feeling that the horse is a group horse in a handicap. That explains the view that the run can be…

The Haggas team found a perfect opportunity for Mamma Maria to break her maiden tag in what was a poor 0-70 handicap against some largely out of form rivals. We landed a nice touch from 3/1 into 11/8. However everything that could go wrong did go wrong and she scrapped home by a neck. Drawn…