Horse racing bets: how to win, watching the best horseracing stables

Anthony Nwohiri

Contents

1. Godolphin

We usually use the term “stable” to describe horse trainers. But sometimes, by trainers, we mean the owner only. Such is the case with Godolphin (United Arab Emirates). This is a true global horse-owner empire. Godolphin is headed by UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

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The main racehorse trainers at Godolphin are Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor. In Britain, Appleby’s horses are mostly on show. Here is a little statistics about Charlie Appleby as of the day this article was written: 16 horses have performed over the past two weeks, five of which won and another 6 won prizes.

Stable jockeys working at Godolphin can be recognized by their noble blue jacket. Since this season, one of the best young riders in Britain, William Buick, has been performing in the colours of the Arab company. Arab sheiks also use the services of promising beginning jockeys Shane Gray and Ali Rawlinson.

Every spring, the public curiously awaits two-year-old beginners from Godolphin – they quite often win from the first try.

2. Richard Hannon

Another stable, whose two-year-olds are almost automatically emerging as the favourites, belongs to Richard Hannon. This trainer is in his second season of his career, but there is already a lot of hype around him. The reason is simple: Hannon inherited the stable from his father, Richard Hannon, Sr., who earned his reputation for decades and is even still in the business, helping his son.

Hannon, Jr. did not disappoint – in his first season at the helm, he won the title, Champion Trainer. This title is awarded to trainers whose horses win the biggest prize. And in this season, Hannon is also the absolute favourite for the champion title.

The Hannon stable has always been famous for its two-year-old newcomer. Both the father and the son have experienced eyes – they buy only the best racers and, as they say, “know how to prepare them”. Hannon’s horses deserve special attention when three-time champion flat jockey Richard Hughes is on the saddle. He is the main rider for the Hannons and has long been a family member literally speaking – married to the sister of Hannon Jr. (in horse racing in general, if you look closely, each person has someone as a relative).

3. Mark Johnston

Mark Johnston horses are popular all year round on grass and synthetic tracks. He works with his pets near Midlem, a village in Yorkshire. His training base is regarded as one of the most advanced in Britain.

This year, Yorkshire pubs are buzzing – Johnston brought a good set of two-year-olds. This became evident in the first day of the smooth grass season on March 28: the three debutants from Johnston won at three different racetracks, beating a number of serious favourites. Hopefully, this lucky streak won’t end here!

Joe Fanning is a constant jockey for Johnston. If trainer Mark Johnston has several horses, look at which one he gave Fanning and you will conclude that the main hopes of the stable are pinned on Joe Fanning.

4. Hamdan al Maktoum

Well-known horse owner Hamdan al Maktoum is UAE Minister of Finance and brother of Godolphin’s founder Mohammed Al Maktoum (remember when I said that in horse racing, all are somehow related?).

Today, Hamdan al Maktoum’s stable boasts of over 500 horses that perform around the world. The horses have won the most prestigious races of the planet, such as the French Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, the Australian Melbourne Cup, the American Breeders’ Cup Classic and world’s most expensive race Dubai World Cup.

The last season turned out as one of the most successful in history for the al Maktoum’s stable. It is expected that this season, the lucky streak will continue – a pair of beginner two-year-olds from this Arab sheikh has already secured impressive victories in Britain. The public are also expecting victories from al Maktoum’s stars: Muhaarar, Estidhkaar, Faydhan.

Al Maktoum stable is known for blue jockey uniform with white epaulettes and striped blue-white helmet. A constant jockey for this owner is super-pro Paul Hanagan.

The best Al Maktoum racers are trained in Britain by the above-mentioned Richard Hannon, as well as John Gosden, Ed Dunlop and Roger Varian.

5. Aidan O’Brien

Aidan O’Brien is the best-known horse racing trainer in Ireland, a permanent Champion Trainer title holder in smooth horse racing in the country since 1998. With his horses, he has won the most prestigious races in Britain many times, the so-called “British classic races”: 2000 Guineas, 1000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, Oaks, St. Leger.

Only O’Brien’s horses have worn the Derby five times. Over the past five seasons, O’Brien horses have earned over 26 million pounds in prize money in Britain and Ireland. There are other impressive facts that would take a long time to tell…

However, the main thing for now is that this season, O’Brien’s horses are the favourites for all the five classic races. In the Derby quotations, six of the first seven favourites are his! It’s possible the Irish coach will win all the major British trophies this year.

Conclusion: the public should watch out for O’Brien horses in prestigious horse races. This applies not only to the aforementioned “classic” races, but also to any race, whose title has the word Group.

This season, O’Brien began working with Ryan Moore, one of the best jockeys in Britain. This rider is worthy of close attention always – on any horse!

Good luck to the spring-summer season!

Also read other articles by Zhanna Zaytseva, a horse-racing commentator on British races, for Bookmaker Rating: “Betting on horse racing: how to find a winner in the arrival card”, “Horse Racing: betting strategies and types”, “Betting on horse racing: where to find information”, “5 incredible wins in horse racing bets: the history of winners”.

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