Author: Russ

Thursday Review With 10 runners declared on Friday and 18 on Saturday this weekend looks certain to be the busiest in terms of runners from Somerville Lodge for many years. Having been slightly out of form since Royal Ascot , the runners this week have performed as expected and back in form – so it…

Thursday Review With 10 runners declared on Friday and 18 on Saturday this weekend looks certain to be the busiest in terms of runners from Somerville Lodge for many years. Having been slightly out of form since Royal Ascot , the runners this week have performed as expected and back in form – so it…

5 horses head to post on Thursday the start of a 72 hour period which could see between 25-30 runners from the William Haggas yard. Whichever angle you look at the data for his horses running at HQ in July the results equate to being among the worst strike rates for Somerville Lodge, across the…

I think it’s fair to say that few people see the sense of meetings at Newmarket, Ascot at York running concurrently on Friday and Saturday this week. It is what it is, and it kicks off on Thursday with the start of the 3 day July festival at Newmarket.. Before then on Tuesday and Wednesday,…

Three Somerville Lodge trained horses head to the unique undulations of Ripon on Monday each facing the trials and tribulations associated with the course for the first time. Whilst I don’t expect any to win with the huge weekend of racing that lies ahead from Thursday, it is important that, unlike a majority of last…

Last Wednesday followers were advised that there was reason to believe that the William Haggas runners were running below form and I would not be backing any runners until more encouraging signs were seen. That proved the right decision. Unfortunately from the point of view of the up coming Newmarket July meeting, nothing has changed…

Throughout his 35 year training career Willian Haggas has remained true to his Yorkshire routes and at the heart of his list of annual targets are the main prizes at York . In 2025 he was the leading trainer at the track and next Saturdays John Smiths Cup is high on his wish list of…

The stable form is still in a slump with Al Maslool a silly price at odds on to win on his 7th start, a well beaten 3rd at Nottingham on Thursday. He will be off to the Sales in a week’s time. A team of seven from Somerville Lodge is sent to post on Saturday…

A best ever Royal Ascot and the Group 1 win of Almeraq was the highlight of a month for the yard but from my betting angle it will be remembered for a significant number of horses that were backed off the boards and beaten out of sight. Over the 30 years of following the Haggas…

There is no doubt that there is now a real issue backing horses trained at Somerville Lodge that are seen as potentially well handicapped. Here are the market moves over the past 14 days for horses in handicaps and listed races that fit that bill of being potentially well handicapped/improving horses (I have not included…