Pat Cosgrave has a 44-66 (28%) strike rate overall for William Haggas this season, rising to 6-14 (43%) in the last 14 days, so his sole ride of the day for the yard on Thursday, Biologist in the 5.45 at Chelmsford, must be of interest. The daughter of Flying Childers Stakes winner Sir Prancealot started favourite on her racecourse debut at Lingfield in June, but lost 10 lengths at the start and was always tailed off. She showed a little more promise on her second start at Nottingham in July but, having suffered an interrupted passage, was eased in the closing stages, eventually finishing fifth of eight, beaten three lengths. She failed to improve on that effort when stepped up to 6 furlongs over course and distance 11 days ago and, on the face of it, has something to prove in first-time blinkers.

However, it’s far too soon to be writing her off just yet and, while William Haggas is 0-3 with juveniles at Chelmsford so far this season, Pat Cosgrave has an 11-36 (31%) strike rate on 2-year-olds for the yard in the same period, for a level stakes profit of 16.56 points. Biologist may be one of Haggas’ lesser lights, but the statistics are highly persuasive and, as the most experienced runner in the field, she warrants an interest.

Selection: Chelmsford 5.45 Biologist to win

The biggest shock of this weekend’s racing came when legendary jockey Frankie Dettori rode Wicklow Brave to victory in the Irish St Leger at Curragh, overcoming the overwhelming favourite Order of St George. Having been offered as the 11/1 outsider in the betting tips among bookmakers beforehand, Dettori’s decision to send his mount out from the front certainly paid dividends for Willie Mullins’ horse, with the Irish trainer more commonly associated with big jump racing wins rather than a flat racing Classic.

Aidan O’Brien’s Order of St George went into the race in fine form having won his last six races, however his incapability win at Curragh capped off what was a disappointing weekend for the Irishman. Having the day before seen favourite Idaho be unseated in the English St Leger at Doncaster, his disappointment was confounded having earlier in the day on Sunday been beaten into second by his son Joseph, in what was the 23-year-old’s fist Group One winner as a trainer. Intricately was seen at 25/1 in the horse racing tips from bookmakers Coral pre-race, and true to their word, the horse which was being ridden by Joseph’s brother Donnacha, claimed success in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, from Hydrangea in second place.

Both Order of St George and Wicklow Brave may not have to wait long to renew acquaintances, with the duo expected to both be a part of the field at November’s Melbourne Cup at Flemington. The two are currently offered equal odds of 16/1 at Coral, along with Stayer’s Cup at Glorious Goodwood winner this year, Big Orange. In what is likely to be a fiercely competitive race, the likes of Idaho, Protectionist and Housesofparliamant will be among the European contingent looking to claim victory in Australia.

As far as an American challenge is concerned, recent winner Da Big Hoss is currently offered horse racing odds of 25/1 at Coral. However, American horse is required to travel through Europe in order to reach Australia, due to them having to be quarantined in England beforehand. If owner Harvey Diamond can overcome such a logistical headache, then the four-year-old recent Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs winner could well be heavily backed among racing enthusiasts.

I’ve been having a bit of a lazy one today and have been looking at some of the biggest horse racing wins in recent years, from a punters perspective. It turns out, understandably, that the biggest wins wins are via multiple bets (accumulators) . Perhaps the best known accumulator win in recent times is the Frankie Detori’s ‘magnificent seven’, where Frankie’s seven rides of the day ALL managed to win and some of his biggest fans/followers had backed the lot.  Darren Yeats from Morecambe was the biggest beneficiary of this freak event with a staggering win of £550,000 from a meagre £59 bet.

Not to be outdone, others have won more from even smaller bets. According to the Telegraph, in 2008 a 60 year old man took home a cool £1,000,000 as result of an 8 horse acca that started with a horse called ‘Isn’t That Lucky’ and ended with aptly named ‘A Dream Come True’. Unbelievably, his win should’ve actually been £1.4 million, but William Hill cap their wins a a million pounds. How nice of them! A WillHill spokeman said of the win “It earns him a place in history as the world’s first betting shop millionaire. Even a scriptwriter couldn’t have dreamt this one up.”

Before we get our head in the clouds though, let’s realise that people can move just as fast in the opposite direction. The prime example has to be Terry Ramsden, whose post office worker to prominent race horse owner rags to riches, story ended in disaster. His net worth took a serious hit as a result of one too many flutters on the horses! At the height of his betting, he placed £1m on a single horse and is thought to have lost a total of £58million to Ladbrokes alone.

If you’re at a loose end after reading all of that (like me!), are clambering for the aforementioned riches (like me again!) and also happen to be into a bit of bingo or lottery fun on occcasion, you can buy and check Online lotto numbers here. Some of the  jackpots are so huge that if you won it’d send your head spinning (Canada LottoMax – CA$55 million, Australia Powerball $6 million, SuperEnalotto €135 million). Of course I’m not at all greedy myself, so a few million will do ;).

In the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes (2.30) at York on Thursday, Fair Eva has won both starts over 6 furlongs in impressive fashion and can complete a hat-trick. The Frankel filly made a seamless transition to Group company when drawing clear to win the Princess Margaret Juddmonte Stakes at Ascot by 4 lengths last month and, although the third and fourth, Dainty Dandy and Tallulah Rose, have let the form down since, she couldn’t do much more than beat them easily.

Fair Eva has already been installed a favourite for the 1,000 Guineas and joint-favourite for the Oaks so, while her odds (8/15) are prohibitive, she’s fully expected to justify favouritism en route to better things. The Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on September 11, could be her next prot of call, according to trainer Roger Charlton. National Alexander, whom she beat by 4 lengths on her debut at Haydock in June, has since won in Listed and Pattern company, so the form looks exceptionally strong.

Selection: York 2.30 Fair Eva (8/15) to win