33/1 Prince makes all in Gold Cup final

Thankfully the end of the local snooker season is nigh as after changing my tip for the second time in as many weeks I then contrived to miscue on the final black in our league match this week and miss it altogether, the first time I can remember doing it at such an important stage in over 30 years of playing!! I had been planning to file it down somewhat the day before but being as I wouldnt have chance to have another practice beforehand, decided to leave it and it came home to roost when I was left right under the baulk cushion shooting the length of the table at the end.
So its petering out a bit into a disappointing end to the campaign, however we should finish around about fourth or fifth despite losing the match 3-2 overall and we would probably have more than settled for that before the season started given the overall quality of the team.
The last game comes this Monday against the third placed team in the league away from home and then just have an individual club billiards final to play in mid April before all the serious competition is done and I can have my summer recess!
There is one fun competition at the club over the summer months with teams of two drawn out of a hat consisting of one seeded and one unseeded player who play each other followed by a doubles match at the end, aggregate to count, but doubt I shall be putting any practice in for that as I really like to have a complete break during the close season. I love the game and the competition but like to have some kind of goal at the end of the week to make the practice worthwhile, otherwise I feel I would tend to go through the motions a bit.
Its been another pretty good week overall on the dogs betting, when I last left you the final of the Tote Gold Cup at Shelbourne was about to be run and it was a happy ending for me as the 33/1 ante post shot Swords Prince made all without a moments worry and I also had a bit on the day too at 13/8 (even though he drifted to 2/1 surprisingly on course).
Plus followed that up with a couple of nice 2/1 winners on the same card thanks to Dundrum Minor via a thrilling photo finish in the 600 yards final and then Coolamber Prunty in the stayers event who showed a nice turn of foot around the final bend to go past the odds on favourite.
The Ladbrokes Spring Festival heats and final were held at Monmore in the week and while I nabbed Corrig Vieri at 9/2 ante post in the 630 metres event, my other picks in the three other races all failed to show their best form in the final. However did back Kellsboro Reject at 2/1 in the 480 yards final to at least recover my other stakes in that particular event.
Two very interesting events begin on Saturday night with the heats of the Grand National at Wimbledon and also the Easter Cup at Shelbourne which both boast a high quality of entries.
The National has one particular heat with four of the main fancies all running against each other - Winkys Don, Bomber Bailey, Nebuchadnezzar and Distant Legend with only three to qualify for the next stage.
Nevertheless, I think whichever ones do get through could take some stopping so I've included the last named three in the ante post market at 12/1, 13/2 and 16/1 respectively along with Platinumlancelot at 12/1 too. There are a few slight worries about some of them - the trip for Nebuchadnezzar is a little shorter than he would prefer while the Irish dog Distant Legend jumped too low at a recent trial (our hurdles are higher than the Irish versions) but still has cracking pace on the flat nevertheless.
In the Easter Cup it really looks a mouthwatering prospect and I've weighed in with some old favourites - College Causeway (7/1), Shelbourne Aston (14/1) and Jemmy Doodlebeag (50/1) along with a couple of new kids on the block Faypoint Man (10/1) and Ballymac Bondi (20/1). The last two are very talented young dogs but in keeping with the majority of my picks tend to do their best work in the second part of the race. Perhaps of my "squad" only Jemmy is likely to be up there early doors if he can produce his best breaks.
Speaking of breaks, the China Open snooker swings into action on Monday and a couple of players going there in fine fettle are Judd Trump and Mark Selby who contested the recent Championship League grand finale at Crondon Park with Trump eventually prevailing 3-2 in a fine spectacle.
My original thoughts on the outrights when looking at the draw were to plump for Ricky Walden (50/1), my Shanghai hero, returning to the country of his greatest success and Mark Williams (33/1). Mark King's lacklustre League showing increased confidence in Williams so I stuck with those two, just think Walden (who plays a wildcard first) is well used to playing Joe Perry as they have contested many Pontins matches over the years and with the winner facing perhaps a lacklustre Hendry they could make some inroads.
However having seen how well Trump (40/1) and Selby (7/1) had been performing, it seemed folly not to include them too, especially as Judd faces the completely out of sorts Peter Ebdon assuming the Bristol youngster gets past his wildcard match first. Selby starts with Stephen Lee and then perhaps Graeme Dott. One advantage for those two is that the tables out there have tended to be on the slow side, which might help them having played most of the previous week on the rather sluggish Crondon Park baizes.
I think I've probably spent far too much on the outright market as I've also included Shaun Murphy at 14/1 since he seems to have a comfortable enough starter in the wildcard Cao Xinlong in round one after the latter's intended opponent John Parrott was unable to travel due to a bad back.
The Chinese event will hopefully provide a few more clues for the upcoming World Championship too though conditions and players mindsets will probably be quite different for both of these events.
The gaelic football betting continued in the ascendency with my short priced Antrim / Kerry / Cork / Sligo accumulator coming in paying 7/10 and also the handicap picks Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford all doing the business at 10/11, evens and 11/10 respectively (though as all three of them won off scratch perhaps I sold myself short there!!)
And the aussie rules season proper got underway on Thursday with a winner as I plumped for Carlton at 4/5 for their trip to Richmond which resulted in a very easy win too.
Thats it for now, all the best
Rick