WHEN you’re trying to stay off the booze for a month, you sometimes feel the world is conspiring against you. Last night images of lovely looking red wine being poured into over-sized glasses seemed to be on every TV advert. And then it didn’t really help my resolve when my other half poured a glass of something (even Baileys looks tempting when you’re denying yourself alcohol). So when poring over today’s racing it was no real surprise that the standout horse was ….ITSTIMEFORAPINT (1.20 Musselburgh).

On a serious note, this improving eight-year-old looks to have a strong chance of following up his recent course and distance win when he outstayed his rivals and showed a good attitude. He has been raised 6lb, which seems fair enough, but there might be more improvement to come. He is 4/1 favourite at the time of writing in a fairly competitive heat.

ROCKAWANGO (3.00 Musselburgh) is not one to risk the shopping money on as he has two ways of running but he clearly has the ability to win this comfortably if deigning to put his best hooves forward. He is thrown in on his best form and hopefully Lucy Alexander can coax the best out of him.

Strait of Magellan (12.20 Musselburgh) has been backed into odds-on to make a winning debut in the opening race but CROCKETT may be worth a small each-way interest, He has some decent bumper form before being disappointing on the flat and he has been nibbled at in the market this morning.

The ground promises to be very testing at Ludlow and it should suit THE COFFEE HUNTER (1.00 Ludlow) in the first race. He ran well at Newbury in similar conditions although he did not seem to quite get home. A furlong less today and the sharper track should suit. St Saviour represents the formidable Hobbs/Johnson axis but is no value on his debut.

Finally GOOHAR (2.10 Ludlow) looks reasonably treated to get off the mark over fences after two promising runs and his price (around 6/1) looks better value than Cloonacool and Ink Master.

Meanwhile, the growth of sports betting seems to hold no bounds. It is not surprising really as it is an exciting way of potentially making money because the basics can be mastered pretty easily.

Bettors can develop their own methods and style and then perform some demo betting to try things out. A fairly new player in the sports betting market is NetBet, which is also offering £50 free to new customers. Its sportsbook includes ante-post prices for future big races including the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National.