Horse racing is risky but you have too bet risky at times especially a/p and a lot of talk about value.
So I'm taking the risk and I've done Constitutional hill 5/1 for the champion hurdle.
For me that is 5/1 is good value
I read this with interest - yes, racing is risky, but I'm not sure you have to bet risky, or at all, ante-post, and there are literally thousands of other races to bet on each year.
I don't mind betting on whether a horse will handle a new surface, a new trip, a different type of track, or even simply be good enough, IF the price is right.
But none of the above applies to Constitution Hill.
This long-running thread is now all about his perceived well-being and the ongoing accuracy or otherwise of what his trainer says about him.
You've betting on chat, gossip, flannel, not what you can see with your own two eyes.
And what little you can actually see with your own two eyes is an appalling gallop at Kempton earlier in the year and a distinctly underwhelming one at Newbury just the other day.
"5/1 is huge IF he's back to his best" - yes, I know, everyone knows, we've all seen what he can do, but you're not just betting on his manifest superiority at his peak, you're betting on a whole load of subsequent imponderables that have arisen, many being reported on by a trainer manifestly clinging to hope because he's at an age where he will never have a horse like this again.
There may be better 5/1 bets running at Southwell, Sedgefield and Tramore this afternoon.
One last thought: I'd rather "look very silly" nine times, then back a 10/1 winner the tenth time - do the maths - than follow the herd.