A significant scratch card win, you’d think, would be enough for most. Bill Morgan though, displayed a midas touch when he won a significant cash windfall while in the act of demonstrating his previous win during a segment on local news. Talk about lucky!
Celebrate Royal Ascot with top racing-inspired slot games
Horse racing is one of the world’s oldest and best-loved sports. Over six million of us enjoy a day at the races every year, and we spend an estimated £4.3 billion on bets alone. But the racecourse isn’t the only place you can place a cheeky flutter on the horses these days. You’ll now find a wealth of horse racing-inspired slot games to play online.
Spin alongside eight-time champion jockey Peter Scudamore in NetEnt’s Scudamore’s Super Stakes. Enjoy classic pub fruity vibes with a racing twist in IGT’s Champion Raceway. Or ride away with one of three big jackpots in Ascot: Sporting Legends, Playtech’s new release for 2019.
If you want to find out more about these and other top racing slots or online slots real money usa, check out our guide below. Rest assured it’s been put together with the help of the experts at Bgo online casino, to celebrate the arrival of Royal Ascot this month. All the slots included can be played at home on your PC, or on the go on your smartphone.
Have fun, and we wish you the very best of luck!
BHA – Building a Brighter Future for our Sport, our Horses and our People?
In the days when the Jockey Club still governed and regulated horse racing in Britain, John Francome once referred to stewards as ‘Cabbage Patch Dolls’. The former champion jockey was, of course, likening the voluntary referees to the line of soft-sculptured, potato-faced toys that were ‘adopted’ by small children worldwide in the early Eighties. He may have had a point but, in any case, the Jockey Club ceased to have any responsibility for running the sport over a decade ago, following the merger of the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA), to form the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), in July, 2007.
However, the latest ‘refereeing decision’, as it was described in BHA statement, and its supposed justification has, once again, put the stewards – many of whom are still voluntary – at odds with racing professionals. On Sunday, January 26, 2019, stewards at Uttoxeter fined Worcestershire trainer Henry Oliver £140 for waving his arms at his steeplechaser Burrenbridge Hotel, who was mulish at the start of SWUK Steel Decking Handicap Chase. Oliver himself described the fine as ‘petty’, although he added, ‘The same steward had me in for a horse at Bangor recently and told me I was running it over the wrong trip, so I don’t know why the stewards don’t train the horses themselves.’
Another former champion jockey, Sir Anthony McCoy, went a stage further, branding the decision ‘embarrassing rubbish’, while the subsequent assertion by the BHA, later retracted, that horses race ‘of their own free will’, left reigning champion trainer Nicky Henderson ‘in despair’. Barbury Castle trainer echoed that sentiment, describing the BHA as ‘becoming a laughing stock’ and expressed his annoyance at ‘being dictated to by people who seem to have no understanding of the horse.’
In light of the recent figures on equine fatalities, which revealed that 202 horses died on British racecourses in 2018, at a rate of 0.22% per runner – the same as recorded in 2014 – Brant Dunshea, Chief Regulatory Officer at the BHA, has called for a consolidated effort from the racing industry, as a whole, on the safety issue. However, if recent performance is anything to go by, the BHA seems as woefully out of touch with contemporary horse racing as the Jockey Club ever was. What Mr. Dunshea & Co. need, first and foremost, is a mighty public relations effort to restore confidence in their competency and expertise.
What this Grand National Winner did Next
The Grand National is, of course, the most celebrated steeplechase in Britain, if not the world. Despite various safety changes over the years, the Aintree marathon remains the ultimate test for horse and rider, a fact that appears to be reflected by the subsequent performance of Grand National winners, few of whom ever win again. With the 2019 National just around the corner, we’ve had a look at the National heroes of the last decade or so to see how they fared in their later careers, at Aintree and elsewhere.
Comply Or Die (2008) – Subsequent Wins: 0
Joint favourite when winning the National and second, off a 15lb higher mark, in 2009, but failed to trouble the judge in ten other starts, including two more Nationals, in 2010 and 2011.
Mon Mome (2009) – Subsequent Wins: 0
The first 100/1 winner since Foinavon, but fell at the fourth last in 2010 and, after a lengthy absence, was pulled up in 2012. All in all, in eighteen starts following his National win, he was placed just three times.
Don’t Push It (2010) – Subsequent Wins: 0
Famously a first National winner for jockey Sir Anthony McCoy, trainer Jonjo O’Neill and owner John McManus and third on his return to Aintree the following year, but unplaced on five other starts.
Ballabriggs (2011) – Subsequent Wins: 0
A second National winner for owner Trevor Hemmings, after Hedgehunter in 2005, but only sixth in 2012 and failed to complete the course in 2013. Placed just once in six starts following his National win.
Neptune Collonges (2012) – Subsequent Wins: 0
Last gasp National winner, under 11st 6lb and, at the age of eleven, was immediately retired.
Auroras Encore (2013) – Subsequent Wins: 0
Like Neptune Collonges, already an eleven-year-old when winning the National, at 66/1, but pulled up when attempting to become the first horse to complete the Grand National – Scottish Grand National double two weeks later and raced twice more, without success.
Pineau De Re (2014) – Subsequent Wins: 1
Another successful eleven-year-old, but raced on for two more seasons, and did manage to win another race, albeit over hurdles, before retirement beckoned.
Many Clouds (2015) – Subsequent Wins: 3
A third but, tragically, ill-fated National winner for Trevor Hemmings. Shouldered 11st 9lb to victory at Aintree and won three more races, but collapsed and died from a pulmonary haemorrhage after winning the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham.
Rule The World (2016) – Subsequent Wins: 0
The first novice to win the National since 1958, having twice recovered from a cracked pelvis to do so. Ran just once more, without success, before being retired.
One For Arthur (2017) – Subsequent Wins: 0
The first Scottish-trained winner of the Grand National since Rubstic in 1979. Missed the 2017/18 season with a tendon injury, but returned to training in 2018/19; unseated rider on both his first two starts, which does not augur well for his long-term aim, which is, once again, the Grand National.
Tiger Roll (2018+2019) – Subsequent Wins: 3
A second National winner for trainer Gordon Elliot, after Silver Birch, despite having previously been described by his owner, Michael O’Leary, as ‘a little rat of a thing.’ Still only a nine-year-old, the Authorized gelding made a promising reappearance on the Cross Country Course at Cheltenham in December, 2018, followed by three wins in 2019 including the 2019 Grand National. He’s attempting a record breaking three in a row in 2020.
