With the nights now slowly beginning to draw in we can be forgiven for having one eye focused on the forthcoming National Hunt season, which will be with us in no time whatsoever.

The season starts proper around the middle of October, but who are the trainers we should be latching onto this time? Who are the people that are going to be landing the spoils in the big name races?

Let’s take a look at five trainers you should have on your side this 2019/20 National Hunt season:

Nicky Henderson

Five time Champion Trainer Nicky Henderson is one of the most famous and successful trainers of the modern era. Henderson took out his license in 1978, having been the assistant to Fred Winter, before moving to Seven Barrows in 1992.

Henderson has a Cheltenham Festival record second to none, having sent out no less than 60 festival winners, 7 of which have been in the Champion Hurdle. See You Then registered a hattrick in the race in the 1980’s, a feat he almost managed to emulate with Buvuer D'Air most recently.

Henderson has trained some of the best jumpers in recent years, dominating the two mile division with Sprinter Sacre and Altior. He has also enjoyed Gold Cup success on two occasions with Long Run in 2011 and Bob's Worth in 2013.

Despite having trained over 2000 winners the race that still eludes Nicky Henderson is the Grand National. His first runner in the race was in 1979 with Zongalero, which so far is the best placing he has ever managed, when the horse finished runner-up by just one and a half lengths to Rubustic.

Henderson’s best horses for the 2019/20 season include: Buveur D’Air, Altior, Might Bite, Verdana Blue, Charli Parcs, Top Notch, Apple’s Shakira, We Have A Dream, On The Blind Side, Ok Corral and Santini to name but a few.

Paul Nicholls

If you thought Nicky Henderson’s statistics were impressive then just wait until you read those of  Ditcheat handler- Paul Nicholls.

Since setting up there in October 1991, Nicholls has trained 123 Grade One winners, 45 Cheltenham Festival winners, Cheltenham Gold Cup winners, 10 King George VI Chase winners and he has sent out over 3,000 winners.

Horses such as See More Business, Kauto Star, Denman, Master Minded, Neptune Collonges, Tidal Bay, Silviniaco Conti and Big Buck’s have all contributed to Nicholls winning 11 trainers’ championships in the last 13 years.

Nicholls will be going into battle once again this season with high class horses like Cyrname, Politologue,  Frodon, Clan Des Obeaux and Topofthegame and who would bet against him making it a 12^th trainers’ championship with ammo such as that.

A final tally for the season of 135 winners and over £3.3 million prize money is probably the finest achievement the Ditcheat team has managed.

Nigel Twiston-Davies

Nigel Twiston-Davies' operation is run from Naunton in the Cotswolds.  Twiston-Davies' is the only current British trainer to have saddled two Grand National winners, Earth Summit in 1992 and Bindaree in 2002.

He is also the only current trainer to have won the Grand National more than once and all five races over the national fences races at Aintree.

He has also tasted Gold Cup success with Imperial Commander in 2010, who won the Ryanair Chase the year before and has amassed over 1500 winners. He is also very much part of the Cheltenham Festival landscape having trained nearly 20 winners at his local course.

Twiston-Davies’ most celebrated and proud moments have been watching his two sons on the racetrack. Sam won the Christie's Foxhunter Chase on Baby Run at the age of 17.

William, also on board Baby Run is the youngest jockey to have won the Foxhunter Chase at Aintree, when he was just 16-years-old.

Horses to look out for from Grange Hill Farm this season include:  Ballybolley, Bristol de Mai, Calett Mad, Go Conquer, Good Boy Bobby, Splash Of Ginge, Tintern Theatre and Wholestone and some of them may even figure in the Grand National betting at this early juncture.

Philip Kirby

It’s been 12 years now since Philip Kirby set out training in 2007 in Richmond, North Yorkshire and his operation has become one of the North’s leading training bases with a fantastic team behind him and some lovely horses.

Big-spending owner Darren Yates has moved all but one of his horses, who include Blaklion, Don Poli and Interconnected out of Kirby’s yard this summer, but Kirby still has plenty of high profile horses in his care such as Lady Buttons, December Second, Little Bruce and Top Ville Ben.

Lady Buttons, owned by Jayne and Keith Sivills, has really put Kirby on the map in recent seasons.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post in a recent interview, Kirby said: “She’s been brilliant for us, We’ve had her since she was a foal. She won her Bumper and has just got better and better.

“She managed to win a novice hurdle when not right and that’s when she went wrong and did a tendon. Keith and Jayne gave me as much time as I needed to get her right.

“It’s hard to keep sound ones (horses) sound. It’s even harder when they’ve had a problem.

“But she’s had a real clear run now. She’s a very, very athletic jumper – that’s the main attribute.

“She’s quick, brave and has lots of scopes to go with it. She’s very clever.”

We predict another big season for Kirby this year.

Venetia Williams

Many have Venetia Williams down as a trainer who only has winners when the weather and the going are atrocious but she is very much more than a one-trick-pony.

Throughout her career, Williams has won many of the top races but none more so than in 2009 when Mon Mome romped home to victory in The Grand National. She became only the second woman in history to achieve such a feat.

Williams regularly finishes in the top ten trainers in the country, often reaching the top five. Recent stars like Aso, currently compete at the highest level alongside her hardy perennials such as Houblon Des Obeaux  and Yala Enki.

You can expect to be seeing plenty of Venetia Williams’ runners contesting all the big races throughout the new 2019/20 season and undoubtedly picking up one or two of them.

NB-If you happen to have a bet on who will finish as the top NH trainer this season then you can work out your potential winnings here on our handy betting calculator.

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

Success at the US Open brings many things. There’s fame and fortune - Grand Slam prize money is enormous - but perhaps most crucially, you join that illustrious list of players to have won the tournament.

Being a Grand Slam champion is what every aspiring tennis betting player dreams of.

It’s hard to imagine what that moment feels like - a lifetime on tennis courts, leading to that Grand Slam victory. Some players are fortunate enough not to just experience it once but make a habit of winning Grand Slams.

Their adulation with each victory barely seems to wane, such is the desire for victory, and with every successful fortnight, their place in tennis’ history books becomes more significant.

The US Open is the final Grand Slam opportunity of the calendar year. Failure here leaves several months to wait before giving it another go in Melbourne at the start of 2020.

Here are a few players who, instead of dwelling on disappointment, had those months to enjoy the glory of US Open victories…

Chris Evert

Chris Evert dominated the US Open throughout the 1970s. The Florida-born right-hander won four consecutive US Open titles between 1975 and 1978 before losing the final to Tracy Austin in 1979.

Evert bounced back immediately, however, winning her fifth US Open title in 1980. Just two years later, a record sixth US Open crown followed.

Two final defeats to Martina Navratilova in 1983 and 1984 prevented a seventh US Open for the American, but she continued her astonishing US Open record with three more semi-final and two more quarter-final appearances before her final tournament in 1989.

In Evert’s first 16 US Opens, she was never eliminated before the semi-finals. A remarkable achievement for a sensational player.

Serena Williams

What is any list of this ilk without Serena Williams?

The only player to have won as many as Evert’s six US Open crowns, Williams suffered a controversial loss in the 2018 final to Naomi Osaka, which was her first defeat in a US Open final since 2011.

Serena won three in a row between 2012 and 2014, building on her second and third triumphs in 2002 and 2008.

It was 1999 that stood out for the greatest to play the game. Williams hadn’t made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam when she won the 1999 US Open. That set the platform for her to become the iconic figure she is today and introduced Serena Williams to the world.

Two decades later, she’s still going strong and is one of the favourites in 888’s sports betting to win the 2019 US Open.

Steffi Graf

In the way the 1970s belonged to Evert, Steffi Graf took control of the US Open – and much of women’s tennis – through the late 1980s and 1990s.

Her first US Open title came in 1988, completing a Golden Slam. Graf defended her crown in 1989, but had to wait until 1993 for her next US Open glory.

Then in 1995 and 1996, Graf elevated her level again. Going from one of the best to absolutely unstoppable, Graf won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in both ’95 and ’96.

Only Serena and Evert have more US Open titles than Graf. Her five total is more than Monica Seles and Venus Williams combined.

Jimmy Connors

Jimmy Connors’ long career means he holds a lot of records. One such title is the most US Open titles won by a men’s singles player, which he shares with fellow all-time greats Roger Federer and Pete Sampras.

Connors competed in 22 US Open fortnights, reaching seven finals and winning five of them. Connors’ first came at the end of a magical 1974 season – which started with his first Slam in Australia and finish as the reigning champion in Paris and New York.

Overtaken for the best male tennis player title by Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Connors’ place among the greats is still without question, and his US Open victories are a large part of that.

Roger Federer

In the Open Era, no other male tennis player has won five straight US Open titles. That’s what Roger Federer did between 2004 and 2008, a run that came to an end in 2009 in that epic final defeat to the vastly talent Juan Martin del Potro.

Peculiarly, the US Open is the only Grand Slam Federer hasn’t won since 2008. After losing the 2009 final, the brilliant Swiss had to wait until 2015 to make the last two, though that again ended in disappointment against Djokovic.

Well supported in New York, Federer will be eyeing a record-breaking sixth US Open this September. Even after turning 38 years old, Federer remains one of the top three in the world.

Beating Djokovic is a big ask, but that epic Wimbledon final will give Federer hope he can topple the Serbian.

Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras’ career, like others on this list, was kickstarted by a triumphant US Open.

It was 1990 when Sampras announced himself as a genuine Grand Slam contender, making it past the fourth round for the first time in his career and cruising past Andre Agassi in straight sets in the final.

The victim of one of the most memorable shock results at Wimbledon, Sampras’ time at the US Open wasn’t without disappointment.

The big-serving American lost three finals, including 2000 and 2001 before his glorious 2002 finale when he again defeated Agassi to lift his fifth US Open and 14^th Grand Slam of his decorated career.

Better remembered for his Wimbledon supremacy, that shouldn’t downplay Sampras’ record in New York where he boasted an 88.75% winning percentage.

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*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*