A Wiseguy Christmas

 It's job done for another year here at Wiseguy HQ. It's like taking candy from a baby but it isn't going to get any easier with the withdrawal of much of the Best Odds Guaranteed inducement as the bookies find it unsustainable. That helped a lot in recent years as they fell over each other to get our business but the good times couldn't go on getting better forever.

Boxing Day racing is one Christmas thing that retains its old-fashioned attraction although the entirely understandable decision to vacuum up all the big hurdle prize money with Constitution Hill while he remains a flawless racing machine takes any betting potential out of the likes of the Christmas Hurdle. Before then, Famous Bridge who won entirely as expected last time out looks worth keeping onside at Haydock on Saturday where 7/2 is a very fair price. The Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot is full of question marks and West Balboa is favourite because it has less obvious questions to answer. The biggest one is the Skelton stable's not entirely convincing strike rate this autumn and so it's not obvious.

One might say the same about Allaho being fav for the King George with Bravemansgame already beaten twice this season when he shouldn't have been and Shishkin becoming quirky. 7/4 about Allaho up against those two at their best wouldn't be any sort of bet and I'd still rather have 3/1 but, if he's genuinely back as good as he was when helping himself to the Ryanair, he might not have much to worry about anyway. 

At Leopardstown, Facile Vega will be confidently expected to land the odds on as he makes his way to all the top novice chase prizes in the New Year.

I'm afraid there are no spectacular attempts to land big odds among those suggestions. I'll let the bookmakers play me at my game, not try to play them at theirs. There is no reason to give back another carefully compiled year's profit. I will take sufficient ammunition into 2024 to do it all over again, not very excitingly but, I'd like to think, reliably.