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Latest Profit & Loss Figures
Five losing days and we were staring down the barrel of a losing week (-£8.50 up to Sunday) despite 7/2, 5/2, and two 7/4 winners on the week.
The week was turned around on Sunday, however, when both suggestions Staffordshire (14/1) and Twentydontgo (15/8) scored (over 42/1 double), producing a profit of £15.87 on the day, and the week ended on Sunday, 15 February, with a profit of +£7.37.
Latest Profit & Loss for the week ending Sunday, 15 February 2026
- Cumulative profit since August 1, 2022: +£1,476.34
- Week ending Sunday, 15 February: +£7.37
- February 2026 to date: +£28.37
- Year 2026 to date: +£86.13
- 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 - Tuesday, 17 February
Newbury had 6mm of rain on Sunday, and conditions were described as a mix of soft and heavy for today's meeting, but there is a dry forecast, and after the weekend, I am loathe to predict just how soft the ground will be. A mix of good to soft and soft, I would suggest.
2:15pm Newbury - Old Cowboy
Quebecois has been put in as the odds-on 4/9 market leader for the 2m Novice Chase, and he would be giving 9lbs to OLD COWBOY if this were a handicap, rather than receiving 7lbs, which he does this afternoon. He is thus over a stone "well-in" with the selection, but the Nicholls' trained seven-year-old has never raced over the minimum trip over jumps, although he did win an Exeter Bumper and was considered good enough to race in the Festival Bumper.
It is possible that Harry Cobden takes Quebecois into the lead, and he doesn't see another rival, but he was not stopping when runner-up over 2m4f+ at Cheltenham on soft ground last time, and I was impressed with Old Cowboy when he won over course and distance back in December.
He was taken off his feet earlier in the piece but still held every chance when falling two out at Kempton last time over 2m4f, and his course form reads 3-3-1. His win here earlier in the season came on good ground, but he goes on soft, and he will have the race run to suit with Quebecois and Personal Ambition, who is blinkered for the first time by Ben Pauling, likely to make it a decent test.
I thought the 5/1 about Old Cowboy on Monday morning was a fair price.
Recommendation: Old Cowboy - 5/1 with Paddy Power
2:45pm Newbury - Fouroneohfever (Each-Way) (Nap)
For much of the race at Southwell last time, I wondered if Kielan Woods thought there was another circuit to go as he was lobbing along in the peloton aboard FOURONEOHFEVER (Each-Way) (Nap) whilst leader Desertmore News went further clear and he still had 13l in hand at the line.
Having fallen first time out over hurdles, it was in all probability an intelligent ride by Woods with the five-year-old having an enjoyable experience after his fall on hurdles debut, and he jumped well in the main save one small mistake at halfway.
A four-time winner on the flat – currently rated ninety-three - who goes on all ground, it is possible that connections have one eye on handicaps in the future, but I hope he is ridden more positively this afternoon, and this long home straight should suit.
Dan Skelton's Giantsgrave – like Quebecois – drops back to the minimum distance for the first time, having been a beaten short-price favourite (2/5 & 11/10) in both hurdles starts to date over an additional half mile.
He weakened from two out at Ffos Las last month, which suggests this drop back in distance will suit, and it will be fascinating to see whether he again comes in for sustained market support. He, too, won a soft ground Bumper from the moderate 109-rated maiden hurdler Douglas Hyde when he looked a stayer to my eyes.
Lancelot Allen won a Bangor-on-Dee Bumper on racecourse debut and took his chance in the Festival Bumper – beating just one home but within 20l of the winner Bambino Fever. He makes his belated seasonal/hurdles debut this afternoon, but we know he can go well fresh, and he is one to note if the market speaks in his favour.
Mulinas beat Grade 1 winning hurdler Potters Charm in his sole point-to-point but was weak in the market when pulled up – again over further – having been too keen at Doncaster returning from a lengthy absence last month. He cost connections £50,000 from the Maxwell dispersal sale and is likely to be a different proposition with the run under his belt.
The Wincanton double for Venetia Williams on Saturday will likely lead to a flood of winners for the yard in the next month or so, and a market move for her French import Let's Love would be significant on his first start since finishing third in a three-year-old hurdle in the French provinces back in November 2024.
Recommendation: Fouroneohfever (Each-Way) (Nap) - 8/1 with bet365 (3 places)
3:55pm Newbury - Havaila & Jupiter Des Bordes
The 3m handicap chase is a cracker, and it is a race I must play in as I think the two at the head of the market, Brave Kingdom (5/2) and Major Fortune (3/1), are short enough in such a competitive heat, and I am backing HAVAILA (11/2) and JUPITER DES BORDES (25/1).
Paul Nicholls trains Brave Kingdom, who is 5lbs lower than when scoring over course and distance back in December 2023, and ran his best race since that success when second at Taunton last time, although, in my opinion, this is a deeper race, and he will have to improve again to go one better today.
Major Fortune could be called the winner from four out at Wincanton last time, but he edged right at some of his fences, and I thought the race fell apart. He is only 5lbs higher this afternoon, and there will be many who will suggest that the first-time cheekpieces brought about the improvement in the eight-year-old. He certainly looks as if he should make a much better chaser than hurdler, but Wincanton was his seventh chase start, and he needs to improve again to follow up.
Havaila finished second to Leave Of Absence over course and distance back in March from a 4lbs lower mark - the winner is now rated 19lbs higher in the weights – and has only raced twice since. He finished second at Plumpton last spring and third in a valuable 3m4f handicap at Windsor last month on his belated seasonal reappearance.
He had a hard race at Windsor, and he is a candidate to "bounce," but he travelled like a horse well ahead of his mark last time – jumping wasn't flawless – before he ran out of puff from two out. He has been raised 2lbs for that effort, but if over those exertions, he holds outstanding claims.
Jupiter Des Bordes is 25/1 and he, too, ran in the same Windsor race as Havaila. He raced more prominently than Havaila and did not look too happy on the track, but he, too, ran very well for over three miles, and he is just too big a price, at least in my eyes, to go unsupported.
Recommendations: Havaila - 11/2 with Paddy Power & Jupiter Des Bordes - 25/1 with Paddy Power
Cheltenham Festival Antepost Seclections
Coral Cup - Sonigino
I have been inundated – well, two – with requests for an antepost selection for the forthcoming Cheltenham Festival and, with the meeting now just four weeks away and many of the major bookmakers going non-runner no bet (NRNB), I have decided to dip my toe in the water.
A rating of 131 was needed to get into the Coral Cup in 2025, and SONIGINO is rated 132 and is 11lbs lower in the weights than when sent off 16/1 for the Martin Pipe of 2025, when he carried 11st 10lbs but disappointed on heavy ground.
His Cheltenham record isn't great, 8-4- PU, but his fourth in the Greatwood Hurdle of 2023 from a 5lbs higher mark is very good form. However, I thought he ran a terrific race at Musselburgh last time when he jumped and travelled like a very well handicapped horse under Freddie Gingell, but failed to stay three miles. His penultimate run at Sandown has been given a boost by the subsequent win of runner-up and stablemate Henri The Second, who is now rated 11lbs higher in the weights.
Only three nine-year-olds have won this famous race – without Coral sponsorship this year, of course – since its inception in 1993, although there has also been one ten-year-old. The statisticians will tell us he can't win, but at 66/1 non-runner no bet, I am prepared to take a chance, given he looked a different class to the rest of the field on his last start on good to soft ground before the petrol gave way in a slowly run race.
He is guaranteed a better pace to chase at Cheltenham, and do remember Paul Nicholls napped him as his best chance of a winner at the two-day meeting at Musselburgh, and the Ditcheat trainer had three winners over the two days.
Paul Nicholls has won the corresponding race only once, with Aux Petit Soins, owned by the late John Hales. The executors of the late Hales also own Sonigino in partnership with Ged Mason and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Note that in 2015, you had to be rated 138 to get into the race, and it is possible that Sonigino is not rated high enough to qualify. At 66/1, with money back if he does not get a run, that is a chance worth taking. Good to soft ground would be ideal.
Antepost Recommendation: Sonigino - 66/1 with bet365 (NRNB)
Brown Advisory Novices' Chase - Wendigo (Each-Way)
My second Cheltenham Festival antepost selection is WENDIGO (Each-Way) at 7/1 (non-runner no bet) for the Grade 1 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at 2:00pm on Wednesday 11th March.
The selection finished fifth, beaten 8l in last year's Grade 1 3m Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle and is held by the mare The Big Westerner, who finished a two-and-a-half length second to the Willie Mullins-trained winner Jasmin De Vaux. The mare is considered the chief threat to Wendigo, but at the time of writing, the Henry De Bromhead yard remains quiet by their own lofty standards, although they do have a knack of getting them right for the big day.
I do not think The Big Westerner will shorten from her current odds of 5/1, and she has the alternative of the Mares' Chase, although connections have nominated the 3m trip of the Brown Advisory as her Festival target.
Wendigo has only won two of his four chase starts, but he has only had his optimum conditions – 3m on a left-hand track - once previously, and that resulted in a facile 22l Kelso success last time, although that was an uncompetitive heat that saw him returned at 1/5.
I came away from the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day thinking the first two, Kitzbuhel and Thomas Mor, would never beat Wendigo again, as the latter was ill at ease on the fast ground and right-hand track. The winner blotted his copybook at Sandown when coming down at the open ditch in the home straight, while the second must go right-handed, and he is due to run in the Reynoldstown at Ascot this weekend.
Wendigo would have finished a couple of lengths closer to The Big Westerner at Cheltenham last year had he not got involved in scrimmaging – great word, I should use it more often – after two out in the Albert Bartlett, and this sound jumper goes on all ground, although soft or good to soft would be ideal.
Final Demand heads the market at 7/2 and is one of the reasons I am keen to have a bet in the race, as I was unimpressed with his Limerick Grade 1 success at Christmas, and he again looked laboured when third at Leopardstown to stablemate Kaid d'Authie at the Dublin Racing Festival over 2m5f+. He did win his sole point over 3m and a 2m6f Grade 1 Novice Hurdle, but he has never run over three miles under rules.
I appreciate Willie Mullins – who has saddled the winner three times in the last five years - should know where he stands with Wendigo through Kitzbuhel, but I am putting a line through the selection's Kempton run. I would take Wendigo and The Big Westerner over Final Demand and Kaid D'Authie, that is for sure.
In the last decade, only one horse (Lecky Watson 20/1 in 2025) has been returned a double-figure price for this Grade 1 Novice Chase, and there have been five winning favourites.
Recommendation: Wendigo (Each-Way) - 7/1 with bet365 (NRNB)
*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 June
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.
Merry Monty (Seven-year-old trained by Chris Down)
Merry Monty looked the type to improve for the switch to fences, and he shaped with considerable promise on his chase debut at Exeter over 2m 3f on New Year’s Day, giving every indication that he would improve again when stepped up in trip.
The gelding showed his first form when runner up - also at Exeter - on his penultimate start over timber when he jumped his hurdles as if he had been previously schooled over fences. He is likely to be nudged up the weights from his mark of eighty, but he would have won at Exeter granted another twenty yards, and I will be disappointed if he isn’t bordering on three figures by the end of the season.
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.
Diamond Ri (Four-year-old trained by Joe Tizzard)
Diamond Ri tanked through a Warwick Bumper on his racecourse debut to score by a long-looking thirteen lengths. The winning time was five-and-a-half seconds than the first division half an hour later.
The Tizzard yard does not have too many Bumper winners, but the yard can dare to dream over the summer that they have something to go to war with as a novice hurdler next term. His win came on soft ground, and his action and breeding suggest plenty of cut will suit going forward. Not one for the short term, but one for next season.
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.
You can follow Charlie McCann on Twitter for more racing insight.
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