Hogan And The Academy Awards

I had the Academy Awards on for a couple of hours before I fell asleep last night.

One of the things I made sure to watch was the In Memoriam tributes where the ceremony honours those who passed away within the past year.

I thought it was splendidly done. I must have dropped off shortly after that, but woke up to find out who won the remaining Oscars.

Upon searching through news, it stumbled across something I should have actually been on the ball about.

There are a few wrestling news sites covering the fact that Hulk Hogan wasn't mentioned in last night's tribute.

The fact I hadn't even noticed it should speak volumes. It's not something I was looking out for, but - with all that said - I find myself in two minds about the exclusion, whether it was intentional or not.

Yes, I state this knowing fully well how Hogan's star fell late in his life due to things he was caught saying on a hidden video. 

I've gone back-and-forth on this today. Hogan should have been included.

He was likely going to be a major star in professional wrestling. However, Hulk Hogan's first step into being a cultural emblem of the 1980s (and beyond, but let's just argue for the 80s only) was through his appearance as Thunderlips in Rocky III.

Rocky III - the second sequel to a film which won a trio of Oscars including Best Picture, from ten nominations, in 1977.

There are other Hulk Hogan films that followed. I'd be a fool to argue he should have been mentioned based off those titles, but - the one that makes the case the most is the one which drove him to the mainstream dance.

Hogan's wasn't the only name missing from the list, however. Other prominent exclusions were Robert Carradine, Richard Chamberlain, James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane and Brigette Bardot.

John Alford Dies

As a Grange Hill and London's Burning fan, I was obviously intrigued to see John Alford back in the news over the past few years following allegations of him sexually assaulting teen girls. 

The former actor was found guilty of those crimes and was jailed earlier this year. That, I thought, would be the last I'd read about him for some time.

Well - it didn't turn out like that.

Last night's news announced that Alford was found dead in his cell on Friday. 

I don't have much to say. I was obviously stunned to read it. 

It's hard to write anything positive about John Alford knowing how his life turned out. And the lives his actions affected. 

What I will say is this: his character of Robbie Wright was always there as the sidekick to my all-time favourite: Ziggy Greaves. So, it's somewhat difficult for me to think of Alford but not remind myself of all the shenanigans Ziggy would get up to during that era of the high school drama. 

Cheltenham Festival 2026 Betting: The Aftermath

Here's how Cheltenham 2026 went for me.

The last three days were annoying, but that's obviously because things kicked off so well on Tuesday.

As you can see, I spent a total of £51.30 across the week. I returned £190.12. Therefore, I was up by £138.82 once all was said and done yesterday evening.

It's annoying that the luck didn't carry through from Wednesday into Friday. However, it's difficult to say that Cheltenham was a betting failure when I walked out in the black.

I cannot even consider it bittersweet. I came out ahead. That's great. 

But - if only I had more than one great day!

Cheltenham Festival 2026 Betting: Day Four

I'll be straight up with you - Microsoft Copilot has been worked to the bone this morning to the point where it has made a bunch of errors in the final furlong of the picking strategy I have asked it to follow for me.

The AI program had given me horses for incorrect races, so I told it to hang things up for the day. I'll run with my own choices using the top three from 100-run simulations Copilot ran for me today before the late errors became prominent. 

1:20 Triumph Hurdle
Proactif

2:00 County Handicap Hurdle
Murcia

2:40 Mares Chase
Panic Attack

3:20 Novices Chase
Thedeviluno

4:00 Gold Cup
The Jukebox Man

4:40 Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase
Its On The Line

5:20 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle
Air Of Entitlement

Results

Today turned out to be another crap one in regards to winners.

The only win came in the final race of the day when Art of Entitlement took the Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle. Before that, I had a 2nd placed finish for Its On The Line in the Hunters. 

Panic Attack finished third in the Mares Chase.

The £12 total stake turned into a £10.57 loss.

Cheltenham Festival 2026 Betting: Day Three

After the brilliance of Tuesday, and yesterday's implosion, I'm back for another day of Cheltenham 2026.

And so is Microsoft Copilot. 

I've once again asked the AI program to select a horse from each race. 

Below are the seven picks it has chosen for today's race card. I've made an important change with today's betting in that I've split the selections up so I have four horses in a Lucky 15 and the rest in a patent. 

The Lucky 15's stakes are 30p each-way. I've opted for:

1:20 - Carrigmornaspruce

2:40 - Jetara

3:20 - Ballyburn

4:00 - Banbridge

The Patent gamble is for 45p each-way. The selections are:

2:00 - Regent's Stroll

4:40 - Kikijo

5:20 - Jeriko Du Reponet

I have also used the free £2 bet on Jetara £1 each-way because the selection has the longest odds. 

Results

Another abysmal day. I had two horses place, but they were in opposing multiples.

Regent's Stroll finished third in the Handicap Chase while Banbridge's third place , in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle. The results returned 95p for the patent and 69p for the Lucky 15.

Copilot? More like Kamikaze pilot.

Cheltenham Festival 2026 Betting: Day Two

Realistically, after yesterday's good results, I believe I should enter today's Cheltenham betting with low expectations. 

With that stated, I've done the same thing as yesterday. I've given Microsoft Copilot all of the races for today and it has simulated the results. I have then asked it to pick one horse from each race pointing out I'd like a mixture of value and sensible plays.

Here's what it has given me.

1:20PM Supreme Novices Hurdle
Sober 13/2

2:00PM Novices' Chase
Kaid D'authie 5/1

2:40PM Premier Handicap Hurdle
Kateira 9/1

3:20PM Cross Country Chase
Desertmore House 6/1

4:00PM Queen Mother Championship Chase
Marjborough 10/11

4:40PM Grand Annual
Be Aware 4/1

5:20PM Champion Bumper
The Mourne Rambler 7/1

Just like yesterday, all seven of these selections have been placed in a Super Heinz worth £12 in total. As well as that, Sober is the selection I've used as a £1 each-way punt from a £2 free bet. 

Results

Dire.

That's the best way to describe today's results.

The Super Heinz didn't work at all. I had only one winner, and that was The Mourne Rambler in the Champion Bumper. By then, all was lost because I needed at least two wins for any sort of return. 

Here's how each horse did in order: 16th, Fell, 6th, 8th, 7th, 12th, 1st.

Back tomorrow.

Cheltenham Festival 2026 Betting: Day One

It's Cheltenham Festival week, so - as per usual - I plan to place bets on each race and share my picks and results here on the blog.

With all that said, I've decided to go in a different direction this year. I haven't bought, nor read, any of the Cheltenham Festival guides I check out in the days and weeks before the meeting. 

The new direction, for at least this year (depending on how it goes!), is to run with results from simulations I ran with Microsoft Copilot.

I gave the AI program the information for all of today's races. It ran each horse against each other and it came away with its own order. To be frank, I was unhappy with some of its predictions. I sensed it was simply running the order by their odds. 

So, to shake things up, I requested Copilot to select one horse from each race 'using a mixture of value and sensible plays'.

Here's what it came up with:

I dislike a few of these. The one I am not keen on whatsoever is 'The Mighty Celt' to win the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. However, all of these bets are each-way, so - at 18/1 - I would  consider myself fortunate if the horse places.

All seven horses have been combined into an each-way Super Heinz. The results will be added later today.

Results

What a day!

Four horses won. The other three placed. I turned £12.00 into £187.05.

The winning horses were:

Old Park Star (Supreme Novices' Hurdle)
Kargese (Arkle)
Lossiemouth Champion Hurdle)
Madara (Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase)

As I wrote above, I wasn't keen on The Mighty Celt. I suppose my instinct was spot on because it finished in sixth place. Fortunately for me (and Microsoft Copilot), the betting website I used paid each-way finishers to six places. That was a flukiest win I've had in a while.

Well, it was the flukiest win until the last race of the day when Iceberg Theory finished fifth in the National Hunt Challenge Cup. The each-way terms paid to five places for that race.

The third horse, in the list of each-way covers, was Jagwar which came close but finished in second place in the Ultima.

Speaking of Jagwar -  I also had a free £1 each-way punt at 3/1. That gamble returned 60p. It's included in the overall returns.

After one day, I am £175.05 in profit. 

It's more than safe to say Cheltenham 2026 will be a winning festival for yours truly what ever happens over the remaining three days.