Sean Trivass

Dirk van Duijvenbode dumped out top seed Luke Humphries on Day Two at the Hungarian Darts Trophy, as Gary Anderson delivered a virtuoso performance in Budapest.

The two-year-old trophy at Ripon is certainly one of the more interesting contests this afternoon and a race the Crisfords have targeted historically, winning four of the last eight runnings, the latest with Soldier’s Heart in 2024.

Archie Watson sends a decent raiding party to Chepstow this Monday and the one I am hearing good things about is the once raced Persian Gate, fifth and beaten six lengths on his Southwell debut but said to have progressed considerably since that outing.

Ross Smith claimed his second European Tour title of 2026 after thrashing Gary Anderson 8-2 in the Hungarian Darts Trophy final in Budapest on Sunday.

Empress Princess went into many a notebook after her promising debut second at Beverley earlier in the month, and although I suspect she will be even better over a sixth furlong, the 2.40pm at Ripon this afternoon still looks very winnable.

Al Widyan cost 50,000gns as a foal as a son of Havana Grey and he looked to me like a typical Andrew Balding newcomer at Newmarket when weak in the market and sent off an 11/1 shot before he ran exactly as expected to finish a seven and a half length fourth of five after weakening late on as if the race would bring about plenty of improvement.

Joud has to be one of the more interesting runners this afternoon when he heads off to Newcastle for the 2.45pm, and I will be watching the betting where he is concerned.

Michael van Gerwen will open his World Series of Darts Finals title defence against Lourence Ilagan, as Luke Littler goes head-to-head with Danny Noppert in Amsterdam.

Two on the all-weather for me this Thursday evening, starting at Newcastle with the 5.10pm, a class six handicap over six furlongs, and they don’t get much worse than that!

Sadly, the bookmakers have already spotted just how much Grand Pier has in hand ahead of the 5.35pm at Southwell, but if there was such a thing as a certainty (there isn’t), he could be it.