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Latest Profit & Loss Figures
A 9/1 winner of the Irish Grand National on Easter Monday, two winners on the opening day of the Aintree Festival, I backed a 66/1 place (SP 50s but not given as a recommendation) in the Foxhunters, the 1-2 in the Topham (both recommended at 9/1) which paid an exacta of £100.30, Saturday’s Nap of the Day won half the track at 11/4, a short list of six including the 1-2 in the National.
Yet week ending Sunday, 12 April, produced a loss of -£5.35 to a £1 level stake.
It was our first losing week since the week ending 11 January, so you could argue we were due, but it was hard to stomach, and can anyone tell me how Dryburgh (7/1 at Nottingham) and/or Tupero (5/1 at Catterick) got beaten on Wednesday!
An enjoyable but frustrating week, and our winning run had to finish sometime…but not National week!
Latest Profit & Loss for the week ending Sunday, 12 April 2026
- Cumulative profit since August 1, 2022: +£1,552.57
- Week ending Sunday, 5 April: -£5.35
- April 2026 to date: +£6.05
- Year 2026 to date: +£162.36
- Year 2025 ended: +£312.73
- Year 2024 ended: +£364.90
- Year 2023 ended: +£469.27
- Period 1/8/22-31/12/22 ended: +£243.31
(All figures to a £1 level stake)
Charlie McCann’s Tips - Thursday, 16 April
The opening day of the Craven meeting, and already an enormous track bias on the Rowley Mile.
The winners came out of stalls 5, 2, 5, 1, 1, 3, 2 on Tuesday – stalls stand side - and it was a distinct advantage to be drawn low on the straight track.
In the circumstances, you can mark up a couple of performances from those swimming against the tide, including Crazee Icon – drawn thirteen of thirteen - who is one to follow next time possible back against her own sex.
3:35pm Newmarket - Hidden Force
The stalls are in the centre on the final day, so the hope is that there is no track bias for the Group 3 Craven Stakes, the highlight of the meeting.
Hawk Mountain escapes a penalty for his Group 1 success in the 1m Futurity Stakes at Doncaster on heavy ground back in the autumn and Aidan O'Brien suggested in his stable tour in the Racing Post that:
"He'll be trained for Epsom or France, but listening to the lads, he could go for the French Derby and have a trial for it. He'd be very comfortable at a mile and a quarter and is a very good horse."
On what is likely to be fast ground, Hawk Mountain could just be done for a change of gear over a mile, and he may have to make his own running. O'Brien has never saddled the winner of the Craven Stakes, and the fact that he is running a Group 1 winner suggests he wants to add the race to his magnificent CV.
Hawk Mountain is obviously not devoid of pace – he impressed when making all over a mile on good ground on his second start – but I wonder if connections were hoping for slower ground, given that he obviously acts so well with cut in the ground.
Hankelow had the run of the race when making all in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes over 7f here back in October, but you could have thrown a large blanket over the first five and I would be surprised if he were good enough although Karl Burke described him in a stable tour as:
"A proper high-class colt who's really starting to work and look well."
Charlie Appleby has saddled the winner of the corresponding race three times in the last seven years, and his unbeaten colt HIDDEN FORCE must improve for the switch to turf, but he has looked a potential star in winning both starts at Kempton over the winter.
The Frankel colt has plenty to find with Hawk Mountain on official figures, but he looks an out-and-out miler who is one of several realistic Guineas contenders the yard has this spring. Talk Of New York and Cerro Blanco enhanced their classic claims on Tuesday, and the hope is that Hidden Force can maintain his unbeaten record.
Recommendation: Hidden Force - 11/4 with Coral
2:35pm Ripon - Urchin
URCHIN looked as if he would fall out the back of the screen when coming under pressure four furlongs out at Ripon on his sole juvenile start over a mile, but responded gamely to finish third over what looked an inadequate trip.
There is plenty of stamina in his pedigree, and he will stay further than this 1m3f trip, but this looks a good starting point, and Sam James is likely to want to make it a decent test from what looks a good draw in stall one.
There are no prices available at the time of writing, and apologies if the selection is too short, but he has the potential to be a decent middle-distance/staying handicapper this term and comes from a good family.
Recommendation: Urchin - 11/8 with bet365
6:00pm Hereford - Insurrection (Nap)
INSURRECTION (Nap) was given a poor ride by Gina Andrews in the Kim Muir last time on a doubtful stayer, given she rode the horse out wide, where he jumped and travelled well until his stamina gave way going to two out.
All three of the nine-year-old's career successes have come righthanded – including a hurdle success here – although he remains 2lbs above his last winning mark. He is one of two rides on the night for Harry Cobden, but this is the reason he is at Hereford and the forecast good ground is ideal.
Sherborne has won his last couple, but his latest Ascot success fell apart, and an 8lb rise looks harsh, although he, too, enjoys going right-handed.
Black Hawk Down has never won beyond 2m1f but remains feasibly treated with just a 3lbs rise for his latest Chepstow success. He is another who enjoys going right-handed and will appreciate underfoot conditions despite his latest win in South Wales coming on soft ground.
A cracking race, but I remember Insurrection being backed off the boards at Musselburgh on his penultimate start, and he went well for a long way out in lane six at the Festival last time.
Recommendation: Insurrection (Nap) - 7/2 with bet365
*Betting odds correct at the time of publication. All odds are subject to changes.
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Charlie McCann’s Horses to Follow
Last updated, Monday, 30 March
Anniversary (Four-year-old trained by Ralph Beckett)
Blindedbythelights has form figures since winning at Newbury in June 2023 of 2-2-4-2-2-2-2, and his handicap mark has risen from sixty-eight to a mark in the early nineties, given that he finished second at Kempton from a mark of eighty-eight in the Queen’s Prize at the end of March.
His profile hardly strikes you as being one to have onside going forward, but he is lightly raced for one of his age, and I have always thought there was more to come from the flashy gelding.
He was very well supported at Kempton, however, whereas Anniversary was weak in the market with blinkers reapplied by Ralph Beckett, and the jury is still out as to whether he truly stays two miles.
The stable’s inmates ran well in defeat on the opening weekend of the turf season, and this four-year-old has not won since beating the subsequent Goodwood Cup/St Leger winner Scandinavia at Newmarket on his racecourse debut as a juvenile.
There is a 1m6f handicap at Newmarket on the Sunday of the Guineas weekend at the beginning of May and that would strike me as a suitable target for the gelded son of Sea The Moon who may have races such as the Copper Horse Stakes at Royal Ascot as a mid-summer target although he would have to win to get into the race as the bottom weight was rated ninety-five last year.
At the time of writing, Anniversary is rated ninety-one, but you would imagine he will be eased at least 1lb for his Kempton run. He will need to win to sneak into the bottom of the handicap if the Royal meeting is a realistic target.
Blue Bolt (Three-year-old filly trained by Andrew Balding)
Blue Bolt was beaten more than 5L on her racecourse debut over 7f at Southwell on debut but she has looked a different proposition on turf, with that experience under her belt, winning both starts over a mile at Windsor and Newbury.
Her latest success in a valuable Novice under Colin Keane suggested she was ready for a step up in grade and she holds an entry in the listed Coral Distaff on Eclipse Day at Sandown.
Her Group 1 entry Matron Stakes at Leopardstown in September suggests connections are taking it slowly slowly with this daughter of Blue Point - no entry in next week’s Falmouth Stakes - but I am convinced she is at least up to listed level.
Keane was jockey up on the filly as soon as the entries were announced and both turf wins have been gained on good or faster ground. There is a possibility of a shower on Wednesday morning, but the forecast is set fair for the rest of the week.
Gunship (Three-year-old trained by James Ferguson)
Gunship was not guaranteed on breeding to appreciate the step up to a mile-and-a-half at Royal Ascot and so it proved with the dual tapeta winner fading from two out in the King George V Stakes.
It is possible that the Sea The Stars colt will always be a better horse on the all-weather, but he travelled as well as anything save winner Merchant at the Royal meeting. We will know more about his long-term prospects after his next start which is likely to be at Newmarket on the Friday of their July Cup meeting.
That bet365 sponsored contest is one of the hottest three-year-old 10f handicaps of the season and he needs ten to come out to be guaranteed a run, but he remains a colt with plenty more to come, and his next start should tell us whether his best days lie solely on an artificial surface.
The form of his previous three quarters of a length defeat of War Hawk at Newmarket has been franked by the runner up who has since won at Chester and Epsom. He would meet Gunship on 6lbs worse terms if they both faced the starter on the July course.
Midnight Tango (Two-year-old trained by Ed Walker)
Midnight Tango really ought to have won the listed Empress Stakes at Newmarket (July) at the end of June when Kieran Shoemark tried to come from last to first on the wrong side of the track. She passed six of her seven rivals in the last couple of furlongs, and I wonder if the jockey will consider it one that got away.
She has only got a modest Hamilton success to her name, but she is held in some regard by Ed Walker, and she is up to at least listed class. It would be no surprise if she landed a Group race between now and the end of the season with something like the Lowther at York’s Ebor meeting under consideration.
Charles Darwin (Two-year-old trained by Aidan O’Brien)
The “lads” at Ballydoyle nominated Albert Einstein as their Coventry horse over 6f at Royal Ascot after making it two out of two in the Marble Stakes at the Curragh. That left Charles Darwin as their Norfolk representative after his fluent Naas win at the minimum trip.
When Albert Einstein was a late defector ahead of the Coventry, connections gave Gstaad the green light to run on the opening day and left Charles Darwin in the Norfolk rather than “upgrade” him to the Coventry which is widely considered the premier juvenile race of the meeting.
Gstaad duly bolted up by 3l in the Coventry while Charles Darwin landed Thursday’s Norfolk by more than 2l hitting the line hard and giving every impression he would relish another furlong. Aidan O’Brien, it would appear, already has the three best juvenile colts in Europe and it will be fascinating to see how connections keep them apart.
If there is a batting order at present, you feel the yard consider 1) Albert Einstein 2) Charles Darwin and 3) Gstaad. Charles Darwin has the physique of a four-year-old let alone a two-year-old and a crack at the Group 1 Nunthorpe over 5f at York in August was muted given the weight-for-age allowance juveniles receive against their elders.
I would prefer the son of No Nay Never to step back up to six furlongs next time, but you get the impression that Albert Einstein will dictate and be campaigned as the yard’s number one until results say otherwise.
As a half-brother to the yard’s dual Group1 winning juvenile Blackbeard, Charles Darwin is not guaranteed to train on next term, but I am convinced he will win at the top table between now and the end of the season.
Aeronautic (Four-year-old trained by Joseph O’Brien)
The lightly- raced Aeronautic finished fifth in the 1m6f Copper Horse Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot for Joseph O’Brien who endured such a frustrating week.
The stable had four winners in Ireland on Saturday, and most of their Ascot team ran terrific races in defeat with six finishing in the first four of their respective races.
Aeronautic was no match for French Master at Ascot but ran a cracking race on the quickest ground he has encountered to date. He was beaten less than 4l in the Copper Horse over that mile-and-three-quarter trip and I wonder if connections will consider dropping him back in distance at some time given how well he travelled on that occasion.
After just six career starts the son of Gleneagles has a big race in him between now and the end of the season. The Ebor and Melbourne Cup were races connections may have had in mind for the gelding had he won at Ascot, but I am still convinced there is a big pot to be had with the gelding this term and he won’t go up the weights for finishing fifth.
Classic Encounter (Three-year-old trained by George Boughey)
Classic Encounter was weak in the market, then backed near the off at Newcastle on his first start for George Boughey and belated seasonal reappearance.
He was squeezed out at the start of that hot Novice contest before making good late headway into a never nearer fifth over a mile.
That should have blown the cobwebs away, and I expect him to be more forcefully ridden next time. He will get further than a mile and looks the type to win a maiden/novice on turf in the short turn while he may be eased a couple of pounds from his mark of 82.
He is very much one to keep onside in the months ahead.
Charming Whisper (Three-year-old trained by Charlie McBride)
I appreciate you can go skint backing horses who have been unlucky, but I feel Charming Whisper should have won his last four races for Newmarket handler Charlie McBride.
A winner of two-mile handicaps from marks of 72 and 74 in June, the gelding has met trouble in-running from his last couple of starts over the Bunbury Mile and at Brighton - not convinced he was in love with the track - and I feel he is more than capable of defying his current rating of 80.
A stiff mile on good or faster ground are his optimum conditions, and he is one to keep on the right side of in the short term.
Ride The Thunder (Two-year-old trained by Roger Varian)
He cost 400,000 gns as a yearling and went into my tracker when recovering £1700 of his purchase price when finishing second in a Doncaster Novice to God Of War - had previous experience - on debut over seven furlongs.
I appreciate that the Varian yard lacks consistency, but I will be disappointed if this inmate does not go one better next time. The step up to a mile is likely to suit going forward, although 7f looks his trip in the short term.
Jagwar (Five-year-old trained by Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero)
Jagwar ran with the choke out at Uttoxeter in their competitive 2m 4f handicap hurdle last weekend and a blunder two out put paid to his chance. He was beaten 10L at the line, but he travelled like a well-handicapped horse for much of the race and the hope is that he will eventually cut out the jumping issues that have blunted his progression to this point. He was dropped 1lb to a mark of 118 by the handicapper after Uttoxeter.
Better ground should suit this spring and I wonder if he might be worth a try back at the minimum trip. The conditional jockeys’ event at Aintree might enter calculations at next month’s National meeting.
Frederick Daly (7lb Claimer)
It is rare to be as impressed with a jockey, especially one who arguably won by too far, having his first ride under rules. Still, I was blown away by the quiet style of amateur Daly, who rode Golden Shot to win the amateur riders’ event at Ffos Las on Monday for Sir Mark Prescott. As Ian Bishop might have said: “Frederick Daly - remember the name”.
The 16-year-old was as polished in his postrace interview with Sky Sports Racing as he was in the saddle, and he suggested that he would spend little time as an amateur and would soon be turning professional.
His 7lb claim is likely to prove very popular when that happens. However, you get the impression that his father, who I remember as a former assistant trainer in Newmarket, and Sir Mark Prescott will manage his progression diligently as he works through his claim.
It might be daft to draw such conclusions after just the one ride, and he never had to get serious on the 29L winner, but there was just something about his style that suggested he was no ordinary amateur jockey. I, for one, will be monitoring his progress and will take note to see if other trainers book the jockey for similar contests in the short term.
Royal Rhyme (Three-year-old trained by Karl Burke)
Goodwood was largely a disappointment, with the rain putting a dampener on proceedings on and off the track. The week was summed up when the last three races were abandoned on the Saturday as the rain returned in spades.
On the track, the highlights were the continued brilliance of Paddington in the Sussex Stakes on Wednesday, but he must play second fiddle to Royal Rhyme, who showed himself to be a Group horse when running away with what is invariably a competitive three-year-old handicap.
The handicapper has seen fit to raise him 13lbs to a mark of 108 for his six-and-a-half length romp, while his winning time was three seconds quicker than that clocked by Al Husn in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes later in the card. His record on soft ground reads played three won three, with those successes coming by an aggregate of 12 lengths.
He remains one to keep on side granted soft ground this autumn. His stablemate Triple Time, likely to reappear at Deauville on Sunday, did us a huge favour when landing the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot at 33/1. Royal Rhyme is currently the same price for the Champion Stakes with Ladbrokes and Coral at Newmarket in October. Granted soft ground, he certainly won’t be that price if he faces the starter.
About Charlie McCann
Seven years as talkSPORT racing correspondent/tipster who recently spent over a decade as Director Of PR/Communications for a couple of leading igaming operators.
Failed cricketer - I regularly bore people, myself included, with the story about how I caught Imran Khan when 12th Man for Lancashire v Sussex as a youth - former National League Basketball player - once scored 72 points in a game - and lifelong and long-suffering Everton supporter.
Many of my old friends - and I mean old - would tell you I was a better footballer than a cricketer - but cricket was my first love.
Horse racing has long been my passion - ironic as I’ll never pass the vet again as my sports injuries have come back to bite - with my specialism handicap chases over jumps and 1m+ handicaps on the level.
I have met many of the great and good in the game and consider myself to have been very fortunate. Please always bet within your means and never chase your losses.
Be Lucky.
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