Why all-weather surfaces are a boon for trainers and punters
Ever since Cheltenham in March, a recurring theme from the big racing festivals has been the caning taken by bookmakers.
A fistful of favourites duly obliged at Royal Ascot, Goodwood and York, and it would have been proper carnage had 33-1 chance Rule The World not arrived late to deny The Last Samuri, the joint favourite, in the Crabbie’s Grand National.
This is not a one-off, either. Cheltenham, so often a graveyard for punters in the past, has smiled benevolently on them in the last few years. So too Royal Ascot, where reputations born more of style than substance have been enhanced rather than punctured.
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- We know that times are tight - but racecourses really do need to step up and improve outdated weighing rooms
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