BETDAQ INSIDER: The biggest week in the horse racing calendar unsurprisingly brought significant action to the exchange, including a pair of huge priced XSP winners.
The Headliners
Polar opposite trades head up our Cheltenham In Numbers graphic as an outsider won the Kim Muir whilst the much fancied Benie Des Dieux could only play second fiddle to Honeysuckle to the detriment of many customers’ pockets.
XSP Value
There could only be one chart topper in terms of XSP value during the four day festival last week, and even though it came in the third last race of the week, it was definitely worth waiting for. With a rather fitting name, It Came To Pass won the Foxhunters at an astounding starting price of 243 on the exchange. Compare that to sportsbook punters across the different operators only getting 66/1 at the off and you notice the undeniable value available on the exchange. One Betdaq customer was lucky enough to have staked £2 on the XSP winning just short of £500!
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Heading into the festival, arguably the most talked about horse in the build up was Paisley Park, the odds on favourite to claim the Stayers Hurdle on Thursday. However, it wasn’t to be for Emma Lavelle and Aidan Coleman, but to the surprise of many, it wasn’t the likes of Apple’s Jade or Summerville Boy who came out on top, but instead 50/1 shot Lisnagar Oscar. Once again the sportsbook SP’s could not compete with the exchange, as anyone who backed Rebecca Curtis’s outsider at the off would’ve gotten 112.0.
One more XSP story from Cheltenham came in the shape of Indefatigable winning the final race of the meeting, at an XSP of 34.99, which was successfully backed by one punter with a stake of £25, winning them close to £850 in the process.
“Big Price” Watch
Outside of the XSP prices, there was still plenty of trading going on amongst punters at eye-catching odds, and none more so than in the second race of the festival, the Racing Post Arkle. Put The Kettle On got Henry De Bromhead on the board early at Cheltenham at an SP of 16/1, a middle of the road price that was trounced by the exchange. Two trades in particular stood out, at prices of 29.0 and 30.0, returning winnings of £5,635 and £5,800 respectively.
Despite Premier League action being halted there was still some football going on over the weekend, which didn’t go unnoticed by one exchange player who enjoyed a massive priced win on the Brazilian league. Backing Oeste to beat Botafogo 3-0 looked set to be a losing bet with the home side only leading 2-0 heading into injury time at the Arena Bareuri. However, winger Bruno Lopes popped up in the 94th minute to double his personal tally for the evening and in doing so, won a customer nearly £300 after backing the correct score at 148.06.
Odds On Backers
The opening race of Day Four of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival will forever be remembered for all of the wrong, unforuntate reasons, as the much fancied Goshen looked set to win at a canter until falling at the last under Jamie Moore. The win that never was seemed so certain, that only a small amount here or there was traded at prices as short as 1.02 and 1.03, only for the unthinkable to then unfold.
Champ’s remarkable comeback win in the RSA saw money traded on Minella Indo at 1.08 before ultimately finishing second ahead of Allaho, whilst in the first race of the meeting, Abacadabras saw his price go to the realms of 1.10, 1.12 and 1.17 before losing out in a pulsating battle with Shishkin.
