That was the week that was as they used to say for any “oldies” out there and a strange week too with some obscure results when the benefit of BETDAQ was never made clearer to me than when looking at my profit and loss for the seven days.
The long weekend from Friday to Sunday saw the best racing from Cheltenham but mine started badly when Pigeon Island did what most each way bets do and ran a brilliant fourth, one place away from a payout! His SP may have been 10/1 but I laughed in the face of those backward punters as I snapped up the BETDAQ 13.5, 13.0, and a little 12.5 to win plus plenty on at 3.8 the place only to watch him jog along near the aback of the field before running on nicely without ever looking like troubling the judge. My fault for betting in amateur riders race I suppose but rest assured this horse will win shortly and I will be watching out for him in a grim attempt to recoup my losses.
Two points were hammered home in the other races in that both the Pipe and Henderson yards are in fine form of late, and I did avail myself of some 2.7 about Grands Crus ahead of his chasing bow – thank you BETDAQ layers! His market rival was classy bumper winner Cue Card but as I was hardly impressed by his jumping over hurdles I was happy to take him on over fences at the first attempt. Sure enough, a serious blunder unseated Joe Tizzard at the eleventh and after that it was only a matter of how far my selection will win, but I am happy to say I did not panic and lay at odds on, simply sitting back to collect my winnings.
Saturday was a bit of a see saw of a day starting with Pettifour who landed my each way bets when second to Dorset Square at BETDAQ odds of 19.0 the win and 5.5 the place yet somehow I still felt robbed! Big priced winners don’t happen that often on my BETDAQ account I am sad to say, and he really looked as if he was going to collect until being done on the line to go down by a head after three and a bit miles, and it really was more deflating than it should have been for a profitable race. In the 4.10 I lumped on Viking Blond taking plenty at 9.0 8.5 and 8.0 (thank you BETDAQ) and looked the likeliest to collect until being outpaced on the run un to go from first to fourth in what felt like seconds. He ran well and was giving weight to those who beat him but so what, I still lost on the day.
With the Ghana game off I was left with two football bets to go, the obvious Spain to win and the less obvious Wales to beat Norway. One out of two was profitable with the Welsh thrashing their Nordic rivals but I didn’t feel too bad when England won though to be fair I doubt I am the only one who almost fell over in shock?
On Sunday I came back from Church (?) to back two horses at Cheltenham and it ended up honours even. Al Ferof was all the rage for his chasing bow and also mightily impressive but a little at 2.0 was all I risked as anything is possible in these events. The next race saw Woolcombe Folly appear to be the second good thing of the day though the BETDAQ price of 2.2 seemed over generous for a horse who had upwards of six pounds in hand of all his rivals according to official ratings. The alarm bells should have been ringing but like a lamb to the slaughter I went in anyway just to see him finish a well beaten second and my money floating in to someone else’s pocket.
This week we have the big chase from Haydock on Saturday and I did spend a while considering opposing the favourite but with six runners, the options are rather limited. An internet search will soon show you how pleased Nicky Henderson is with Long Run who is apparently taller and stronger than last season so god help the other chasers this season, with the one remaining doubt being his jumping which can be a bit suspect on occasions. That said, if he gets round cleanly it will be a major shock if he is beaten and at evens or thereabouts he has to be backed.
With the racing clearly beyond me most of the time lately and football saving my bacon I have had another long hard look at the fixtures now the International break is over, and am happy to get stuck in!
As is my way, it is not necessarily about the most likely result as it is about a spot of value and the 5.8 for the draw in the Manchester City v Newcastle game has to be worth a point. I agree the mega rich league leaders will take some stopping but Newcastle have had a great start sitting in third place, and will not be easy to break down so the draw is certainly a value option.
Everton should win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers but 1.7 isn’t much value so I will double them up with Arsenal to win at Norwich (1.8 or so with BETDAQ), which at least makes it worth playing.
Lastly, CRAWLEY won in the cup last week and should do so again though Oxford will be tough opponents. Extra investigation on the I-Pad has led me to the local papers who are talking about players going out on loan, which implies to me they have a fully fit squad again in which case their expensive signing should make them too good for their well supported opponents.
This week’s selections:
3pts Win LONG RUN 3.05 Haydock Saturday – 2.0 should be available on BETDAQ
1pt Manchester City v Newcastle to be a DRAW (approximate BETDAQ odds 5.8)
3pt double – EVERTON to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers (1.7) and ARSENAL to beat Norwich (1.8).
2pts CRAWLEY to beat Oxford (2.0)
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