Author Archives: Peter Willis

The Boxing Day 3.00 from Kempton Odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on December 23, 2010 – 5:44 pm
Filed under Betting, News

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Tony McCoy will ride hot favourite Kauto Star in Boxing Day’s King George VI Chase from Kempton.

Mcoy was delighted to be given the opportunity to ride the 5/6 shot in what could prove a record-breaking FIFTH King George title for the 10-year-old French horse.

“I’m very excited, it’s every jockey’s dream to ride a horse like Kauto Star,” McCoy told BBC Radio 5 live racing.

“What he has achieved, winning four King Georges and two Gold Cups and many other races as well, you can’t not look forward to riding him.

“Trevor Hemmings, who owns Albertas Run, was very kind to give me the opportunity to ride Kauto Star instead of Albertas Run, so thanks to Trevor for that.

“You always want to ride the best horses and he is the best horse. If he puts up anything close to his King George performances before then he’ll win.”

With Kauto Star such a hot tip for the 3 mile race with a £114,020 purse, which will be shown live on Channel 4, you are really looking to place among the other riders.

Long Run is 6/1 at William Hill and Forpadydeplasterer, who has finished second in his last five run outs, is 10/1 at Boyle Sports.

The best of the rest of the field of 11 riders, for which the going should be soft to good in places, sees Nacarat is a 12/1 shot at Ladbrokes and Riverside Theatre joins him at that price with Bet365.

But it is hard to see any of the other mounts wiping the smile off McCoy’s face at present and it looks like he’ll be celebrating Boxing Day with another winner under his belt.

The 2.35 at Ascot odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on December 17, 2010 – 12:47 pm
Filed under Betting, News

The bookies have got Aegean Dawn as the favourite to take the Ladbroke Handicap Hurdle in the 2.35 at Ascot tomorrow – should the race beat the big freeze.

NJ Henderson’s 5 year-old has won on his last four outings and is 5/1 at William Hill to lift the £84,495 pot in the 2m race.

He heads the field of 21 runners and with the going expected to be good to soft when the covers are lifted, he’s much fancied in the early betting.

But Ascot officials are worried that the snow could put Saturday’s whole race card in doubt.

“Saturday looks quite difficult. The main snow, with some 7cm being suggested, is not forecast until Saturday but is expected morning time, which will be a big problem,” the clerk of the course, Chris Stickels, told the Racing Post.

The race is scheduled to be shown live on Channel 4 with Oscar Whisky and Mille Chief the other contenders at 7/1 at Paddy Power.

Toubab is in with a shout after winning his last show and is at 10/1 at Bet365 while Get Me Out Of Here seems to have fallen off the pace recently and is at odds of 11/1 at William Hill.

Best odds on Bothy, who could show, are 11/1 at VC Bet and you can get odds of 12/1 on Salden Licht at Paddy Power.

There are a clutch of decent horses in the mid-range of this Class 1 meet that could all pull off something of a surprise including Recession Proof at 20/1 with Boyle Sports, Tito Bustillo also at 20/1 at William Hill and Karasenir out at 33/1 at William Hill.

The 1.55 at Cheltenham odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on December 10, 2010 – 4:19 pm
Filed under Betting, News

You don’t have to be a criminal genius to back the favourite in the Grade 1 Keith Prowse Hospitality Tingle Creek Chase at Cheltenham – it’s already Master Minded.

The 7-year-old Clive Smith horse is odds on at 4/5 at William Hill to take the race, which will be televised live on Channel 4.

The going is good to soft for the 2m110y race and Master Minded has his eyes on the £34, 206 winners’ purse after romping home by 16 lengths in his last ride at Ascot on the 20th November.

Jockey AP MCoy is riding him out this time and he will face competition from Gauvain. But at 13/2 at Blue Square, it looks like the bookies can only see the French-bred Paul Nicholls trained Master Minded taking this one.

Twist Magic is 6/1 at Paddy Power and Kalahari King 8/1 at Blue Square, and either could spring a surprise.

Somersby is 8/1 at William Hill with Petit Robin also eights at Ladbrokes to complete the middle pack.

I’m so Lucky is 16/1 at Paddy Power, Oiseau de Nuit is 50/1 at Blue Square and Mahogany Blaze is 66/1 at Bet365.

Kinkeel is the long shot that completes the runners with a bumper 500/1 price at William Hill.

Master Minded won the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2008 and 2009 and has earned £735, 629 in winnings in his career so far.

Get on him to add to that pot tomorrow.

The 2.55 at Southwell odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on December 3, 2010 – 7:20 pm
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Never mind Santa Claus – Get your cash down on Love Delta in the 2.55 at Southwell and all your Christmases could come at once.

The 3-year-old Mark Johnston-trained American horse is out at 7/1 in the odds, but with a second-placed finish in his last run out at the course, he could be one to watch.

Earlsmedic is the hot favourite in the 6 furlong totepool A Better Way To Bet Handicap at 9/2, while David Barron’s Ingleby Arch is also being tipped for success.

The 7-year-old loves to run on fibresand and trainer Barron said: “It’s his preferred surface – he’s no good on anything else really.”

“There was no point in running him on summer ground as he’s getting on and we didn’t want him to hurt his joints, so we gave him a couple of runs at the back-end to bring him back for the winter.

“The old boy seems in good form but he’s quite high in the handicap nowadays.”

You can get odds of around 5/1 on him at William Hill.

Harlech Castle is at 6/1 in the 11 horse race for a purse of £14800.00 added in the Class 2 meet.

Imprimis Tagula and Mister Laurel join my tip Love Delta at 7/1, with Cape Vale at 8/1.

Nightjar looks off the pace at 10/1 along with Great Charm and Hard Rock City, who finished 8th from 20 runners last time out, is at 20/1.

33/1 shot Alhaban completes the field, but Love Delta could be the one to watch in the race. Back it each way at Paddy Power.

Bolton v. Blackpool odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on November 27, 2010 – 7:30 am
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Owen Coyle’s Bolton are the Premier League surprise packages this season and the will look to cement their top five spot with the visit of Lancashire rivals Blackpool.

Coyle has no fresh injury concerns and will stick with the side that thrashed Newcastle 5-1 last weekend while Blackpool have been dealt a blow with the news that striker Marlon Harewood will be out of action for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.

The Tangerines will also likely to be without Ludovic Sylvestre and Chris Basham.

The two clubs famously contested the Matthews FA Cup Final in 1953, but don’t expect a repeat of that 4-3 thriller.

You can get odds of 4/7 on Bolton winning the game at Bet365 while a surprise Blackpool win will get you odds of 5/1 at Stan James. A draw is 13/5 at William Hill.

If you fancy Bolton top-gun Johan Elmander to stretch the net during the game, he’s highly fancied at 11/10 at Bet Fred, with his dangerous team-mate Kevin Davies also tipped to hit the target at 11/8 at Boylesports.

Blackpool have won three times on the road this season, but have conceded 16 goals on their travels – the most in the Premier League – so their defence can expect another bombardment from out of the floodlight’s gleam at the Reebok Stadium.

But if the Seasiders can pull off a surprise victory, you can get odds of 16/1 at Blue Square of them sneaking it 2-1.

Fighting Fifth odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on November 26, 2010 – 3:45 pm
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You don’t need to see for miles to observe that the smart money is on Binocular in tomorrow’s Fighting Fifth hurdle.

With snow and frost covering the North East, the popular race has been switched from Newcastle to Newbury and Binocular is way ahead in the betting at 4/5.

He finished a disappointing fifth in the race last year, but jockey AP McCoy is confident of a better showing this time out.

“I’d be hoping he puts up a better show than last year.” McCoy told PA Sport.

“It’s not a walkover, as you’d expect of a Grade One, but at the same time I wouldn’t like to be swapping him for any other hurdler at this time of the year.”

The race, which goes off at 12.25 with the going good to soft-soft in places, is over 2 miles 100 yards with five runners.

Irish horse Peddlar’s Cross can also feature highly in the race and will be at around 5/2 in the betting.

Trainer Donald McCain is pleased that the race has been restaged at such short notice and reckons that the unbeaten novice could have a good showing.

“It won’t really present any travel problems for us as we’re pretty central and Newbury is a bit closer than Newcastle. We wouldn’t send him overnight, though, as he’s not that kind of horse,” he explained to PA Sport.

“We just had to hang on for a bit as we didn’t quite know what was going on, but he’s just worked and he went well so it’s all systems go.”

Starluck is at 4/1, Nearby at 16/1 in the betting and outsider Bygones of Brid will bring a price of around 100/1.

Rangers v. Manchester United odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on November 24, 2010 – 4:00 am
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Manchester United will walk out into a blue cauldron in Glasgow tonight as they face a Champions’ League Battle of Britain at Ibrox.

Red Devil’s boss Sir Alex Ferguson is under no illusions as to the hot reception that his side will receive from the stands at Rangers.

He will look to the leadership skills of experienced players such as Rio Ferdinand  and Nemanja Vidic to guide United another step closer to the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

With players such as Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney also back in contention, United will prove menacing on the break.

They are 4/5 to get the win at Betfred, with Rooney 5/4 to mark his return by hitting the back of the net at Bet365.

Dimitar Berbatov is likely to lead the line with the volatile Scouser and is 6/5 at William Hill to find the target.

But the volatile atmosphere could go against ‘Gers manager Walter Smith’ s side as they will be roared forward by the passionate crowd – and they need a win to keep their slender qualification hopes alive – so they will be vulnerable to the counter-attack.

The Scottish champions are 7/2 to pull off a victory at Boylesports and you can odds of 2/1 at Blue Square for Kenny Miller celebrating scoring for the light blues.

A draw is 12/5 at Paddy Power, but you have to fancy the Old Trafford outfit to turn on the style in this game, a Reds’ 3-0 win would net you 12/1 odds at Bet365.

X Factor winner tips

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Posted by Peter Willis on November 20, 2010 – 3:57 pm
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The great British public are renowned for getting behind an underdog and cheering them on.

Like fish and chips, dodgy beach resorts and Kiss me Quick hats, it is an intrinsic part of the national psyche.

Just look at awful Irish pop twins Jedward’s mind-boggling meteoric rise after the last series of the X-Factor, which proved that being less than talented at singing is no bar to success off the back of the show.

And while woeful warbler Wagner has provided the irritation to Simon Cowell in this series, the public may continue to vote him through if only to see the pained expressions on the pop mogul’s face.

But they won’t back the novelty acts with cold, hard cash.

The real talent in this series of the X-Factor is Liverpudlian songstress Rebecca Ferguson, who hasn’t hit a bum note yet. Class will out.

The talented 24 year-old mum is 11/4 to win the competition behind favourite Matt Cardle, who is 13/8 at Paddy Power.

Ferguson is the finished article – her confidence is growing while she retains a cute vulnerability, her vocals are praised by the judges week on week and she has managed to avoid the media circus.

Cardle hasn’t been able to avoid some negative publicity from his past which may affect his chances in what is increasingly a teen-driven market.

It is exactly this which is boosting the chances of Cowell’s final remaining prodigies, young boy band One Direction.

Not only will the half-mast trousered music magician be putting all his energies into his act, but the teenage girls will be voting for the boys in their millions. They are 9/2 to win the competition outright at Betfred.

Irish singer Mary Byrne’s chances may have been affected by the fact that she’s very similar to Susan Boyle, and may be left kicking herself that she hadn’t beaten the Scotswoman to the mike. She is out at around 40/1 at Skybet.

Cheryl Cole’s mini-me Cher Lloyd’s fake urban cool may cost her votes and she is out at 12-1 at Bet365 while Katie Waisell’s bizarre antics, weird costumes and song choices have blown herself out of the running and she is the long shot left in the show at 150/1 at SportingBet.

Paije Richardson’s nice-kid-next-door personality is not what the judges are really looking for. They want an artist that can sell millions of records and the bookies don’t reckon that Richardson can do it either, placing him at 66/1 at Boylesports.

Wacky Wagner hasn’t been completely written off by bookmakers wary of the notorious English eccentricity and love of a loser and he’s 25/1 at Blue Square.

But the real money is on Cardle or Ferguson – and with Cheryl Cole mentoring the last two winners of the show, you wouldn’t put it past the Geordie pop princess to pull off a hat-trick of winners.

Arsenal v. Tottenham Hotspur odds

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Posted by Peter Willis on November 20, 2010 – 7:30 am
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The hotly-contested North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur provides the highlight of this weekend’s Premier League action.

If Arsene Wenger’s Gunners can blow away local rivals Spurs, they will move to the top of the table above Chelsea – if only for a few hours.

Wengers’ talented young stars have added a bit of steel to their game of late, with Everton’s Phil Neville admitting that they couldn’t be bullied in their recent 2-1 victory at Goodison Park.

For while the Gunners have always played attractive football, they have often been accused of lacking desire for the physical aspects of the game in the past.

Arsenal are hot favourites to win today’s lunchtime kick-off fixture at 8/13 at William Hill and you can get odds of  25/1 on Robin van Persie shooting himself into Emirates Stadium legend by banging in a hat-trick.

Harry Redknapp’s Spurs have slipped to seventh on goal difference behind Bolton and Sunderland and their League form has not matched the highs that they have reached in European competition this season.

They have been beaten four times on the road already this term, but with the goal threat from players such as Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe and Rafael van der Vaart they are 9/2 to pick up the win at Blue Square.

Passions are sure to be running high both in the stands and on the pitch and a draw is 13/5 at Blue Square.

The Ashes 2010 betting

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Posted by Peter Willis on November 19, 2010 – 4:43 pm
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England’s bid to retain The Ashes was given a boost ahead of next week’s opening test as Ian Bell hit 192 in their final tour game.

Bell smashed the Australia A bowlers all over Bellerive Oval in a 275-ball stand before the Warwickshire right-hander was finally caught by Ed Cowan at cover from a Steve Smith leg spinner.

Bell hit 22 fours and a six during his stand while Yorkshire pace bowler Tim Bresnan took three wickets – including those of Ed Cowan and Usman Khawaja with successive balls – as England’s final warm-up before the first Brisbane Test saw the hosts still 165 runs from avoiding an innings defeat ahead of tomorrow’s final day.

The Aussies are 10/11 at Blue Square to win this year’s series outright, with England 7/4 at William Hill to keep the trophy and a draw 5/1 at Bet365.

Bell is 14/1 at Betfred to finish the Series top batsman, well behind fancied Aussie Ricky Pointing at 13/2 at Betfred.

Bresnan is 33/1 at Blue Square to finish the Series top overall bowler, with Graeme Swann the 5/4 favourite at Paddy power.

Andrew Strauss is the favourite to be the Ashes first Centurion with odds of 5/1 at Sporting Bet with Simon Katich hot on his heels at 15/2 at Blue Square.

With the disastrous Pakistan Series behind them, England can look forward but the Australians will be keen to make sure that the ‘winging poms’ miserable record Down Under continues.