Another late one this week as there's a lot of concurrent betting interests taking place at the moment. The World Championships are taking place in both snooker and ice hockey (which also has the Stanley Cup play offs in play) while the greyhounds continue unabated and then theres the gaelic football league finals being played out as I speak this weekend, the cricket getting into full swing with the Friends Provident Trophy and the aussie rules ongoing.
Thats without even catching up with the horse racing!!
The snooker hasnt started particularly well in the first week with the bet on the number of qualifiers progressing soon looking a non starter as the seeds enjoyed the upper hand in round one - the only ones to fall being Peter Ebdon and Joe Perry, the latter of whom was one of the few favourites I had backed in a single lol.
At least the five-strong acca of Ronnie, Higgins, Carter, Maguire and Robertson came in without too much fuss and I'm hopeful the second round will produce a better showing. Already weighed in are the 6/4 Hendry against Ding in an epic battle as well as the short odds about Day beating Bond, I dont often play at that end of the market but in this instance it did look a bit of a gimme over the long distance and so it proved.
Still have Day and Selby each way in the outright too along with a win bet on Maguire so with Ronnie out of the way since his loss to Allen, hoping for a decent showing from that trio in this and would also help if the Jester or Mags could top the highest break which currently stands at 140.
In the ice hockey as I speak I've recorded last nights action in the NHL play offs and not yet seen it but of my charges, Boston Bruins cruised through 4-0 against Montreal in the first stage so the 33/1 e/w bet is still a runner though Philadelphia were trailing Pittsburgh 3-2 last night while my other picks Calgary had pulled back to 2-2 against Chicago (all best of sevens).
In the series betting I opposed the Flames however and stuck Chicago in a double with Boston so at least I'm in a position to cover and also had bets at odds against on New York Rangers to oust Washington at 2/1 (currently 3-2 up) and Carolina at 5/4 to beat New Jersey (currently 3-2 down).
The IIHF World Championships in Switzerland also started this week, and a big factor is always to identify which players are missing from the rosters due to the clash with the NHL play-offs. Also the teams who exit in the first round of those quite often let their players go on to join the original squads at the Worlds so its a bit of a complex operation as a punter. However considering all options I decided to weigh in with Russia at 9/4 to back up last years success with a back up bet on the Czech Republic at 13/2, both could benefit if a couple of teams currently trailing do bite the dust in the play offs. Will also be looking for a bit of value in the point spreads, as the early stages are often mismatches with the big guns in the main taking on the minnows at highly restrictive odds.
The Allianz League gaelic football finals are played out this weekend and already two of my finalists Antrim and Monaghan have bit the dust rather disappointingly, losing out to Sligo and Cork respectively. I had been pretty confident about the former team especially but it wasnt to be on the day. As I speak Derry are taking the field against hot favourites Kerry in a repeat of last years Division 1 final so will be very disappointing if all three fail at the final hurdle.
There was a bit of a glimmer as I backed Tipperary on the +3 handicap against Down in the Div 3 final and they actually won the match in extra time and have done a similar bet on Derry too.
Overall though slightly disappointing that my outright picks havent so far produced on the day, though it may help me get a few more quid on on the net as seem to have been heavily restricted with a few of the firms after a good run, which has meant a trip to the shops where they will happily lay you (admittedly with slightly quizzical looks as they dont get much call for the GAA in the middle of England it seems!!)
My latest outright bet is Galway each way for the All Ireland hurling title, if they avoid odds on favs Kilkenny until the provincial final (which is a 66% chance) they will be kept apart from that rival until the final of the main event so it looked worth a gamble at the best price of 12/1 as I feel they do have some room for improvement on their league showing.
For this years cricket I've plumped for Hampshire in Division 1 of the County Championship, they had a good start with an early win over Worcester but since then Marcus North has been recalled for Australia and it is certainly a blow to lose his services after he originally came in to replace injured overseas player Imran Tahir.
After some dithering I was maybe swayed by the Racing Post's tip for Kent at 9/4 in Division 2 though have since seen some of their fans airing concerns about the depth of the bowling attack so hope thats not another lame duck I've been talked into lol.
In the Friends Provident I plumped for Yorkshire at 14s and Gloucestershire at 33s before belatedly realising the groups were no longer regionalised and they were both contesting the same section, at least two go through however so all is not lost .... yet!!
Had a nice winner in the aussie rules this week when Essendon scored a last gasp win at just over 2/1 against Collingwood but Sydney were a bit of a letdown as they slumped to a loss at bottom placed Fremantle at 4/6 but still finished up on the week at least.
The greyhounds overall were a bit of a loss maker this week, my finalists in the Easter Cup at Shelbourne could only managed third and fifth so no payout there while the sole representative in the Golden Sprint at Romford also didnt trouble the judge.
There was better news with Blonde Fern landing the Blue Riband at Hall Green at 16/1 however.
Also Capel Wilson, Lorrys Options and Hill Tipoki all advanced to Tuesday's Regency final so have half the field gunning for me there while have a multiple interest in a couple of other events at present the Peterborough Puppy Derby and the Oran Majestic Cup, the latest big event at Shelbourne.
The first round of the greyhound derby heats take place next week at Wimbledon and not totally happy with some of my early picks, especially Thurlesberg Joker who as the connections muted (all too late for me) was unlikely to run (and doesnt!), but will watch the opening heats for more clues and take it from there.
Currently I have Slip The Lark (not quite regained last years form after a lay off) 40/1, Head ItOn Ellis (promising pup but not done it yet against the older generation) 66/1, Bandicoot Tipoki (another promising pup but has been missing the break a bit) 50/1, Tyrur Hestor (electric pace but stepping up from sprints) 50/1 and Wise Thought (just getting back into gear after a break, proven in this class) at 25/1. As if those arent enough!!
Also have to mention my football team Derby who despite a horrendous injury list secured their Championship status yesterday with a 1-0 home win over already relegated Charlton Athletic, well done Nigel and the lads!!
Anyway thats it for now, all the best
Rick
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Friday, 17 April 2009
Open look to snookers main event
Well its been a pretty busy week but best to get it all out of the way before the onset of the fortnight of the World Snooker Championships which get underway at Sheffield on Saturday.
It's one of those years where nobody has been totally convincing so you could say it has an open look to it but if Ronnie O Sullivan is anywhere near his best you'd think that might be good enough unless someone can hit their very best form for this particular fortnight.
Anyhow at odds of around 9/4 I'm leaving him alone this year as you could get 4/1 last time around with perhaps a slightly easier run overall.
In the Rocket's quarter most of the players are in the attacking vein which should suit him but Ryan Day ran him close a few seasons back here and I backed him e/w at 40/1 for this earlier in the season, and thankfully he did return to some kind of form in China when he reached the semi finals before losing to John Higgins. If he gets past the dogged Stephen Lee, he would probably face Peter Ebdon and despite the latter's shock success in the Far East, I would expect the Welshman to have too much for him on this occasion.
As ever I'm picking AT LEAST one from each quarter lol, though have played five in this one, once again perhaps overdoing it slightly stakes wise but the odds are on offer for a long time so perhaps understandable in the circumstances!!
The second quarter was another one where I went in early, this time on Mark Selby again e/w at 8/1 and was not particularly happy to see him come out of the hat against Ricky Walden, who has won a ranking event already in Shanghai I seem to recall for some reason!! Selby has mainly flattered to deceive this season so its time for him to put some meat on the bones if he's to salvage something from it - as one of the supposed elite players he perhaps should avoid getting too bogged down in some of his matches and take it to the opposition.
I was undecided for a long while about quarter three, so suppose this must have been the most difficult to pick from. Eventually came down on the side of Mark Williams at 33s, who has shown slight improvement this year to probably rejoin the top 16, but he then put in a disappointing show in China, losing to the hitherto out of form Mark King 5-2. So I changed tack and decided to wade in on Ding Junhui too despite him trading at 16s after being 22/1 only a few days earlier without picking up his cue in the meantime.
When he did pick up his cue he produced one of his worst performances of the year in a very disjointed loss to young wildcard Xaio Guodong, a century break in one of the early frames being his only saving grace. He now goes into the event with his top 16 place in jeapardy, and at the end of the day I'd give him two pieces of advice.
One is to try to get that twitch sorted in his eyelid, it must be distracting for a professional snooker player and I'd be doing my utmost to eradicate it at all cost - apologies to him if he has tried and failed but there is a nifty trick with some sellotape that can help - I know cos I've done it myself!! The second is that at the end of the day you have to play without thinking of the consequences, its no good playing under extreme pressure, if you dont relax you wont produce your best so stay calm at all times and concentrate on this first and foremost. Its not always easy but its also something I want to try and bring into my game next season after throwing away a few matches near the end purely by being so tensed up, and that's just in the local league!!
The final quarter is surely set up for Stephen Maguire, who however has rarely shown his best form this term, which is a worry but does mean he is fairly fresh. He needs to click into gear but the draw gives him every chance of doing so up against the likes of his practice partner Jamie Burnett and the winner of Mark King and Rory McLeod.
In the match betting, I've plumped for outsiders Gould, Higginson, Walden, Hendry and McLeod at the odds available and also taken Perry and Ding (again before his China loss) to oust potting machines Cope and Wenbo.
One of the best value bets seem to be the McLeod highest break against King which is currently trading at 11/8. He's had at least nine centuries this season to King's one (in fact some quote him as having scored eleven though cant see where the other two are coming from myself!) and even if the Crucible nerves get to him he has plenty of time to get used to the surroundings over the long matches here.
Also took the earlier 6/1 about there being six or seven first round qualifiers progressing to round two, this has obliged in three of the last five years - as a safeguard I've had a saver on four or five too at 13/8 - according to published stats in the Racing Post there has never been less than four make it through in the last twelve years so hopefully there will be no damage done and the prospect of a big payout.
Some rather more speculative bets were in the "qualifier to go the furthest" and "tournament top break" markets, in the former I'm siding with Lee, Walden, Higginson and Greene and in the latter Selby, Maguire and Fu. I'm never afraid of backing a player in one market and opposing him in another depending on prices but I realise its not everybody's cup of tea.
Some of the first frame odds also looked a bit generous on the outsiders to me so have played these on McLeod 5/4, Gould 6/4, Higginson 6/4 and Greene 13/8, again hoping first time nerves dont scupper some of those.
And to round it off (though it was actually my first bet of the round) had an accumulator on O Sullivan, Higgins, Carter, Robbo and Maguire to oblige in round one which pays 2/1.
So as you can see plenty to go at over the next few days.
Elsewhere its been an up and down sort of week. My gaelic football treble came up last weekend though the handicap bet on Laois looked silly when Monaghan ran riot against them in the final league game, though at least I have backed them in the outright Division 2 market at 5/1, and they now meet Cork in the final. I've also got Derry at 8/1 taking on Kerry in the Division 1 decider and Antrim (who I added after the first set of games) up against Sligo in Division 4 at 3/1.
Nothing much appeals on the match betting front this week but have added a few outright bets for the summer. In the All Ireland Championship, I've sided with four who I hope will give a run for the money - Dublin 8/1, Cork 11/1, Derry 20/1 and Monaghan 33/1. The latter two meet early doors in Ulster so one of them will have to go the scenic route via the qualifiers but feel they might be capable of doing so nevertheless.
In the provincial championships I think Dublin at 6/4 ought to have just too much for the likes of Meath and Kildare now they have their full quota of players back and Galway with Joe Bergin back in the fold look reasonable even money shouts to oust their likely rivals Mayo. Ulster as ever looks very competitive but would just give Derry the edge - Vics lengthened their price to 11/2 last week on the back of Monaghan's big win but then only allowed bets of up to £4 on their website!! Not sure what the idea of that was but they are my main picks from the North with an outside bet on Antrim at 125/1 (now 80/1) which I admit is highly unlikely but they dont meet the real big guns in the section until the final - pity there was no each way available!!
My aussie rules treble bit the dust when Carlton lost their discipline near the end of their match with Essendon, resulting in a narrow defeat by just four points. A free right in front of the posts was crucial for the visitors at the end of the third quarter, following what looked a harsh decision against the home team resulting in a goal. So in the space of a few seconds there was a 12-point turnaround just as the Blues were getting into gear. This week I'm chancing my arm a bit and taking on the mighty Geelong with Adelaide at almost 11/4 on the exchanges - although the Cats have been winning they havent been totally destroying the opposition as they did for much of last year so this time I'm hoping they might be edged out of it.
Things have been pretty even steven on the dogs this week, have pulled most of it back after a tardy start to the week. Despite getting the ante post bet of Cabra Cool at 14/1 up in the Scottish Derby, a few other bets in that event rather whittled down the payout and the news that the vanquished favourite Thurlesbeg Joker was unlikely to go for the English Derby means another few bob down the Swannee unless theres a change of heart.
In the Easter Cup at Shelbourne, Oran Classic (8/1) and Tip and Tin (50/1) made it through to the final for me and have added Advantage Johnny (3/1) who looks to have a good makeup on Saturday night though will obviously be mainly cheering on my other ones.
The Blue Riband at Hall Green has seen my fancies Jogadusc Ace and Blonde Fern (both 16s) make it through to the last six - that will be live on Sky next Tuesday - while the semi finals of the Golden Sprint are held at Romford tonight where I have five in contention at present, but not the favourite this time for once!!
And the staying event that is the Regency kicked off at Hove yesterday with my four selections all making it through to the semi finals, would personally be surprised if the prize didnt go to one of the two at the head of the market here - Capel Wilson or Lorrys Options.
As I stated at the head of my post, its been rather hectic this week, started out on Monday with a trip to Pride Park to see the Rams play all the good football and somehow contrive to lose 3-2 to league leaders Wolves, it really was a travesty of a scoreline but symptomatic of the recent quality of defending, we now have just a five point buffer over the relegation places but hopefully can eek out another couple of points which should be enough for safety. There is an incredibly long list of injuries at present so it may not be easy getting over the last hurdle but Charlton Athletic the bottom team are still to visit us so that looks the one we should possibly be earmarking for success.
Went to the local point to point at Flagg Moor, reputedly the country's highest course, on Easter Tuesday and was good fun to be back at the races again after a bit of a hiatus.
The first race was a members event over the stone walls, the only event of its kind in the country, and very unusually featuring a pure Arabian bred amongst the contenders. I didnt play on that one but it went to Twist and Shout, who carried no less than 13st 7lb to victory and still had time to miss out a fence, turn back and jump it, and still overtake the others. That said, there seemed to be three different opinions as to which way they got onto the racecourse proper (they start out in the hills!) so you needed about six pairs of eyes even for as many runners!!
One of the best bets of the day looked to be Indian Rising in the next, so on seeing the price lengthen to 6/4, leapt in with my wedge of notes only to see it continue to drift right out to 9/4!! All the money was for the Classic Cliche horse Lake Baikal, who had a formline of PPP but that didnt seem to be deterring those in the know. As it happens my fancy led coming into the second last where the market rival was beginning a challenge but unfortunately went lame on landing so an unfortunate way to end what looked like being an epic battle up the run in.
I lost a bit on the next when favourite Noble Persian was turned over by Test of Friendship, who relished making all and grinding the opposition into the ground over this stiff 3m 4f course which really does test the stamina of those that take part with a few very sharp inclines along the way.
I had to wait until the fifth race for my next winner when previous course victor Opio obliged in a hack canter, admittedly at odds of only 1/2, but there was never really a moments worry as he toyed with the opposition and never came off the bridle under Tom Greenall.
As I was a few quid up on the last race and enjoying the day so much, decided to have one final flutter, again I couldnt really see past the favourite, which was the Pistolet Bleu gelding Aldea but after a sticky jump on one of the steep climbs leading up to the straight he had a little too much ground to make up and could only finish a length second to the six year old Father Owen.
But all in all great to be out and about at such a scenic venue, it might not quite be on a par with Hexham for beauty but when its less than half an hour home as the crow flies it will do for me!
Wednesday saw a trip to Sheffield to see 80s group Ultravox give their anniversary show an outing, by the end of the night everyone went home well satisfied after hearing their old favourites given an airing.
But on the Thursday one or two were not so happy after attending the "Legends of Snooker" event at Derby Assembly Rooms. The event started with Jimmy White taking on a "seventeen year old from the Milton Keynes area" and suffering an embarrassing drubbing in the one frame they played.
This was followed by what turned out to be the high point of the night but that wasnt saying a great deal when John Virgo came out and set up a few trick shots for the spectators to come out and play. These worked for the most part, but when Virgo himself took on some of the more testing ones near the end he hardly managed any of them!! That said he did provide a mildly entertaining commentary, though even this was hampered by a dodgy microphone which brought back memories of Norman Collier in his heyday (who by chance I am also going to see at Buxton later in the year as part of the Best of British Variety show!)
And of course we did get some bona fide impersonations of some of the stars of yesteryear like Terry Griffiths, Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins as well as a few humorous Tony Knowles references "I'll do an impression of him if one of the calendar girls in attendance wants to lie on the table".
There then followed an advertised break of 20 minutes which turned out to be more like 45 minutes, which seemed quite long after only just under an hour of the proceedings. One wondered whether some of them were finding difficulty getting out of the bar but eventually Jimmy re-appeared to take on the other legend no less than Alex Higgins, who received a tumultuous welcome as he came out into the arena looking surprisingly sprightly.
Unfortunately, it soon became apparent it was a bit of a mismatch nowadays, with Jimmy going for practically everything and Alex only mustering breaks of 20-odd at best and doing a surprisingly good impersonation of Griffiths himself when pontificating over some of the shots as if it was the World Championships. The referee looked frightened to death in case he upset Alex in some way and would mostly freeze as if caught in a time capsule no matter how ungainly the pose every time Higgins took to the table.
There was one particularly over exuberant spectator who repeatedly shouted "come on Alex" time and again and Higgins began to get more upset with this, eventually asking the referee to remove the spectator from the audience, with four or five in the crowd shouting "get him out" too. Personally thought this was a bit over the top for shouting encouragment at an exhibition (he was after all only yelling out between shots), and the referee just settled on a firm rebuke. In fact it might have become more entertaining if we saw a few shenanigans from Higgins, as I'm sure thats what brought alot of the paying customers in on the night anyway!!
Anyhow someone apparently got out of their seat to have words with the "heckler", but although I didnt see it myself, he instead tripped up and hurtled head first down the stairs into the railings that overhang the balcony which saved him from dropping down on the table below!
While this was very nasty, it also meant another long break in play while he was attended to by the medics (the time was already about 10.20pm and they had only gotten through three frames) plus people were getting restless, especially as one or other of the players was tending to leave the arena for five minutes at the end of the frame.
Eventually with no real prospect of Higgins putting up a meaningful fight and both of them producing some pretty low quality snooker in the main, we upped sticks and left with a few frames scheduled still to play. To me the night was far too stop-start and never really took off at all, plus thought the match between the undoubted legends desperately needed to be taken a bit more light-heartedly by the competitors than it was.
I suppose its difficult given Higgins' fiery temperament and frail voice after his battle with illness, but perhaps White should have been a bit more interactive with the audience himself to somehow get it going. As it was as one punter commented to me on the way out "that was the worst £17.50 I've ever spent, we should ask for our money back". And in truth it was hard to disagree, better to remember these legends as they were then I feel rather than tarnish the memory nowadays. Virgo I understand doesnt often appear on the bill with these two, but he at least was a bit of a saving grace on the day, but even then a bit like watching a comedian reeling off old material you already knew, and the whole event seemed uninspired and lacking in urgency.
Anyhow hope I haven't put you all off Saturday lol
All the best
Rick
It's one of those years where nobody has been totally convincing so you could say it has an open look to it but if Ronnie O Sullivan is anywhere near his best you'd think that might be good enough unless someone can hit their very best form for this particular fortnight.
Anyhow at odds of around 9/4 I'm leaving him alone this year as you could get 4/1 last time around with perhaps a slightly easier run overall.
In the Rocket's quarter most of the players are in the attacking vein which should suit him but Ryan Day ran him close a few seasons back here and I backed him e/w at 40/1 for this earlier in the season, and thankfully he did return to some kind of form in China when he reached the semi finals before losing to John Higgins. If he gets past the dogged Stephen Lee, he would probably face Peter Ebdon and despite the latter's shock success in the Far East, I would expect the Welshman to have too much for him on this occasion.
As ever I'm picking AT LEAST one from each quarter lol, though have played five in this one, once again perhaps overdoing it slightly stakes wise but the odds are on offer for a long time so perhaps understandable in the circumstances!!
The second quarter was another one where I went in early, this time on Mark Selby again e/w at 8/1 and was not particularly happy to see him come out of the hat against Ricky Walden, who has won a ranking event already in Shanghai I seem to recall for some reason!! Selby has mainly flattered to deceive this season so its time for him to put some meat on the bones if he's to salvage something from it - as one of the supposed elite players he perhaps should avoid getting too bogged down in some of his matches and take it to the opposition.
I was undecided for a long while about quarter three, so suppose this must have been the most difficult to pick from. Eventually came down on the side of Mark Williams at 33s, who has shown slight improvement this year to probably rejoin the top 16, but he then put in a disappointing show in China, losing to the hitherto out of form Mark King 5-2. So I changed tack and decided to wade in on Ding Junhui too despite him trading at 16s after being 22/1 only a few days earlier without picking up his cue in the meantime.
When he did pick up his cue he produced one of his worst performances of the year in a very disjointed loss to young wildcard Xaio Guodong, a century break in one of the early frames being his only saving grace. He now goes into the event with his top 16 place in jeapardy, and at the end of the day I'd give him two pieces of advice.
One is to try to get that twitch sorted in his eyelid, it must be distracting for a professional snooker player and I'd be doing my utmost to eradicate it at all cost - apologies to him if he has tried and failed but there is a nifty trick with some sellotape that can help - I know cos I've done it myself!! The second is that at the end of the day you have to play without thinking of the consequences, its no good playing under extreme pressure, if you dont relax you wont produce your best so stay calm at all times and concentrate on this first and foremost. Its not always easy but its also something I want to try and bring into my game next season after throwing away a few matches near the end purely by being so tensed up, and that's just in the local league!!
The final quarter is surely set up for Stephen Maguire, who however has rarely shown his best form this term, which is a worry but does mean he is fairly fresh. He needs to click into gear but the draw gives him every chance of doing so up against the likes of his practice partner Jamie Burnett and the winner of Mark King and Rory McLeod.
In the match betting, I've plumped for outsiders Gould, Higginson, Walden, Hendry and McLeod at the odds available and also taken Perry and Ding (again before his China loss) to oust potting machines Cope and Wenbo.
One of the best value bets seem to be the McLeod highest break against King which is currently trading at 11/8. He's had at least nine centuries this season to King's one (in fact some quote him as having scored eleven though cant see where the other two are coming from myself!) and even if the Crucible nerves get to him he has plenty of time to get used to the surroundings over the long matches here.
Also took the earlier 6/1 about there being six or seven first round qualifiers progressing to round two, this has obliged in three of the last five years - as a safeguard I've had a saver on four or five too at 13/8 - according to published stats in the Racing Post there has never been less than four make it through in the last twelve years so hopefully there will be no damage done and the prospect of a big payout.
Some rather more speculative bets were in the "qualifier to go the furthest" and "tournament top break" markets, in the former I'm siding with Lee, Walden, Higginson and Greene and in the latter Selby, Maguire and Fu. I'm never afraid of backing a player in one market and opposing him in another depending on prices but I realise its not everybody's cup of tea.
Some of the first frame odds also looked a bit generous on the outsiders to me so have played these on McLeod 5/4, Gould 6/4, Higginson 6/4 and Greene 13/8, again hoping first time nerves dont scupper some of those.
And to round it off (though it was actually my first bet of the round) had an accumulator on O Sullivan, Higgins, Carter, Robbo and Maguire to oblige in round one which pays 2/1.
So as you can see plenty to go at over the next few days.
Elsewhere its been an up and down sort of week. My gaelic football treble came up last weekend though the handicap bet on Laois looked silly when Monaghan ran riot against them in the final league game, though at least I have backed them in the outright Division 2 market at 5/1, and they now meet Cork in the final. I've also got Derry at 8/1 taking on Kerry in the Division 1 decider and Antrim (who I added after the first set of games) up against Sligo in Division 4 at 3/1.
Nothing much appeals on the match betting front this week but have added a few outright bets for the summer. In the All Ireland Championship, I've sided with four who I hope will give a run for the money - Dublin 8/1, Cork 11/1, Derry 20/1 and Monaghan 33/1. The latter two meet early doors in Ulster so one of them will have to go the scenic route via the qualifiers but feel they might be capable of doing so nevertheless.
In the provincial championships I think Dublin at 6/4 ought to have just too much for the likes of Meath and Kildare now they have their full quota of players back and Galway with Joe Bergin back in the fold look reasonable even money shouts to oust their likely rivals Mayo. Ulster as ever looks very competitive but would just give Derry the edge - Vics lengthened their price to 11/2 last week on the back of Monaghan's big win but then only allowed bets of up to £4 on their website!! Not sure what the idea of that was but they are my main picks from the North with an outside bet on Antrim at 125/1 (now 80/1) which I admit is highly unlikely but they dont meet the real big guns in the section until the final - pity there was no each way available!!
My aussie rules treble bit the dust when Carlton lost their discipline near the end of their match with Essendon, resulting in a narrow defeat by just four points. A free right in front of the posts was crucial for the visitors at the end of the third quarter, following what looked a harsh decision against the home team resulting in a goal. So in the space of a few seconds there was a 12-point turnaround just as the Blues were getting into gear. This week I'm chancing my arm a bit and taking on the mighty Geelong with Adelaide at almost 11/4 on the exchanges - although the Cats have been winning they havent been totally destroying the opposition as they did for much of last year so this time I'm hoping they might be edged out of it.
Things have been pretty even steven on the dogs this week, have pulled most of it back after a tardy start to the week. Despite getting the ante post bet of Cabra Cool at 14/1 up in the Scottish Derby, a few other bets in that event rather whittled down the payout and the news that the vanquished favourite Thurlesbeg Joker was unlikely to go for the English Derby means another few bob down the Swannee unless theres a change of heart.
In the Easter Cup at Shelbourne, Oran Classic (8/1) and Tip and Tin (50/1) made it through to the final for me and have added Advantage Johnny (3/1) who looks to have a good makeup on Saturday night though will obviously be mainly cheering on my other ones.
The Blue Riband at Hall Green has seen my fancies Jogadusc Ace and Blonde Fern (both 16s) make it through to the last six - that will be live on Sky next Tuesday - while the semi finals of the Golden Sprint are held at Romford tonight where I have five in contention at present, but not the favourite this time for once!!
And the staying event that is the Regency kicked off at Hove yesterday with my four selections all making it through to the semi finals, would personally be surprised if the prize didnt go to one of the two at the head of the market here - Capel Wilson or Lorrys Options.
As I stated at the head of my post, its been rather hectic this week, started out on Monday with a trip to Pride Park to see the Rams play all the good football and somehow contrive to lose 3-2 to league leaders Wolves, it really was a travesty of a scoreline but symptomatic of the recent quality of defending, we now have just a five point buffer over the relegation places but hopefully can eek out another couple of points which should be enough for safety. There is an incredibly long list of injuries at present so it may not be easy getting over the last hurdle but Charlton Athletic the bottom team are still to visit us so that looks the one we should possibly be earmarking for success.
Went to the local point to point at Flagg Moor, reputedly the country's highest course, on Easter Tuesday and was good fun to be back at the races again after a bit of a hiatus.
The first race was a members event over the stone walls, the only event of its kind in the country, and very unusually featuring a pure Arabian bred amongst the contenders. I didnt play on that one but it went to Twist and Shout, who carried no less than 13st 7lb to victory and still had time to miss out a fence, turn back and jump it, and still overtake the others. That said, there seemed to be three different opinions as to which way they got onto the racecourse proper (they start out in the hills!) so you needed about six pairs of eyes even for as many runners!!
One of the best bets of the day looked to be Indian Rising in the next, so on seeing the price lengthen to 6/4, leapt in with my wedge of notes only to see it continue to drift right out to 9/4!! All the money was for the Classic Cliche horse Lake Baikal, who had a formline of PPP but that didnt seem to be deterring those in the know. As it happens my fancy led coming into the second last where the market rival was beginning a challenge but unfortunately went lame on landing so an unfortunate way to end what looked like being an epic battle up the run in.
I lost a bit on the next when favourite Noble Persian was turned over by Test of Friendship, who relished making all and grinding the opposition into the ground over this stiff 3m 4f course which really does test the stamina of those that take part with a few very sharp inclines along the way.
I had to wait until the fifth race for my next winner when previous course victor Opio obliged in a hack canter, admittedly at odds of only 1/2, but there was never really a moments worry as he toyed with the opposition and never came off the bridle under Tom Greenall.
As I was a few quid up on the last race and enjoying the day so much, decided to have one final flutter, again I couldnt really see past the favourite, which was the Pistolet Bleu gelding Aldea but after a sticky jump on one of the steep climbs leading up to the straight he had a little too much ground to make up and could only finish a length second to the six year old Father Owen.
But all in all great to be out and about at such a scenic venue, it might not quite be on a par with Hexham for beauty but when its less than half an hour home as the crow flies it will do for me!
Wednesday saw a trip to Sheffield to see 80s group Ultravox give their anniversary show an outing, by the end of the night everyone went home well satisfied after hearing their old favourites given an airing.
But on the Thursday one or two were not so happy after attending the "Legends of Snooker" event at Derby Assembly Rooms. The event started with Jimmy White taking on a "seventeen year old from the Milton Keynes area" and suffering an embarrassing drubbing in the one frame they played.
This was followed by what turned out to be the high point of the night but that wasnt saying a great deal when John Virgo came out and set up a few trick shots for the spectators to come out and play. These worked for the most part, but when Virgo himself took on some of the more testing ones near the end he hardly managed any of them!! That said he did provide a mildly entertaining commentary, though even this was hampered by a dodgy microphone which brought back memories of Norman Collier in his heyday (who by chance I am also going to see at Buxton later in the year as part of the Best of British Variety show!)
And of course we did get some bona fide impersonations of some of the stars of yesteryear like Terry Griffiths, Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins as well as a few humorous Tony Knowles references "I'll do an impression of him if one of the calendar girls in attendance wants to lie on the table".
There then followed an advertised break of 20 minutes which turned out to be more like 45 minutes, which seemed quite long after only just under an hour of the proceedings. One wondered whether some of them were finding difficulty getting out of the bar but eventually Jimmy re-appeared to take on the other legend no less than Alex Higgins, who received a tumultuous welcome as he came out into the arena looking surprisingly sprightly.
Unfortunately, it soon became apparent it was a bit of a mismatch nowadays, with Jimmy going for practically everything and Alex only mustering breaks of 20-odd at best and doing a surprisingly good impersonation of Griffiths himself when pontificating over some of the shots as if it was the World Championships. The referee looked frightened to death in case he upset Alex in some way and would mostly freeze as if caught in a time capsule no matter how ungainly the pose every time Higgins took to the table.
There was one particularly over exuberant spectator who repeatedly shouted "come on Alex" time and again and Higgins began to get more upset with this, eventually asking the referee to remove the spectator from the audience, with four or five in the crowd shouting "get him out" too. Personally thought this was a bit over the top for shouting encouragment at an exhibition (he was after all only yelling out between shots), and the referee just settled on a firm rebuke. In fact it might have become more entertaining if we saw a few shenanigans from Higgins, as I'm sure thats what brought alot of the paying customers in on the night anyway!!
Anyhow someone apparently got out of their seat to have words with the "heckler", but although I didnt see it myself, he instead tripped up and hurtled head first down the stairs into the railings that overhang the balcony which saved him from dropping down on the table below!
While this was very nasty, it also meant another long break in play while he was attended to by the medics (the time was already about 10.20pm and they had only gotten through three frames) plus people were getting restless, especially as one or other of the players was tending to leave the arena for five minutes at the end of the frame.
Eventually with no real prospect of Higgins putting up a meaningful fight and both of them producing some pretty low quality snooker in the main, we upped sticks and left with a few frames scheduled still to play. To me the night was far too stop-start and never really took off at all, plus thought the match between the undoubted legends desperately needed to be taken a bit more light-heartedly by the competitors than it was.
I suppose its difficult given Higgins' fiery temperament and frail voice after his battle with illness, but perhaps White should have been a bit more interactive with the audience himself to somehow get it going. As it was as one punter commented to me on the way out "that was the worst £17.50 I've ever spent, we should ask for our money back". And in truth it was hard to disagree, better to remember these legends as they were then I feel rather than tarnish the memory nowadays. Virgo I understand doesnt often appear on the bill with these two, but he at least was a bit of a saving grace on the day, but even then a bit like watching a comedian reeling off old material you already knew, and the whole event seemed uninspired and lacking in urgency.
Anyhow hope I haven't put you all off Saturday lol
All the best
Rick
Friday, 10 April 2009
Hotdog is scant consolation
I'm back again, that was a quick week wasnt it! My current lack of form continued on the Sky dogs on Tuesday night I'm afraid with Capel Wilson my only real winner of the evening at 2/1 and my ante post picks failing to fire in the final of the canine Grand National. At least I covered my overall stake with the winner Hotdog Jack but with a few other losers on the night it was scant consolation. It's strange how you can do no wrong for weeks and weeks and then suddenly everything conspires against you all at once, but thats the way it always seems to work in the world of betting.
At least my aussie rules treble of Geelong, Carlton and Western Bulldogs came up last weekend and I've stuck with the same three teams in another treble this week, as well as backing the latter two at double figure odds for the AFL Grand final itself later in the year. Geelong obliged today as the first part of the bet so at least we're still alive and kicking at present with that one.
The gaelic football betting must be going better than ever as I seem to have been restricted to £25 on one bet I wanted this week at one of the firms, not sure if its a one off or that will be the norm. Suppose I'll have to contemplate travelling down to the nearest shop with a wedge of notes if this continues though thankfully at present there are alot of other options online.
Anyway after a loser or two perhaps they'll have a re-think you never know. This week I'm chancing a treble of Dublin, Derry and Sligo who all need to win for various reasons with the leagues coming to a close (apart from Division 4 who still have one week to go).
Laois dont have anything to play for up against Monaghan but they do seem to have improved a bit in their last couple of games while the opposition have had to work hard for their wins in the main apart from the last match when they comfortably beat Cork. Anyway with the +2 handicap I think I'll plump for Laois this time as a sort of cover for my outright Monaghan bet who are in a three way tussle to qualify for the final.
The Blue Riband and Golden Sprint greyhound heats start tomorrow at Hall Green and Romford respectively and they look pretty competitive but have had a dabble with my usual four or five in each and I'll possibly add to them depending on how it goes and how many I lose after the first round held today (Friday).
The Scottish Derby takes place at Shawfield on Saturday and there was a very impressive semi final winner in Thurlesbeg Joker in the week coming from last to first with a devastating turn of foot which really was something to behold. After that exhibition there was no doubt I had to delve into my pocket to take the 5/4 though I do still have Cabra Cool from my original ante post picks going from a favourable draw in trap one. He was a 14/1 shot at the start of proceedings.
I also had a bit on the Joker for the English Derby at 33/1 each way which looked a very good offer if he was actually going to run, though have since found the owners have expressed doubts that he is "the right shape of dog" for Wimbledon whatever that means! Perhaps the chunky bonus will tempt them if he wins up in Scotland.
The semi finals of the Easter Cup take place at Shelbourne the same evening where my original selections Shelbourne Aston (14/1) and Faypoint Man (10/1) are still in contention along with those added since Oran Classic (8/1 ave odds) and Tip and Tin (50/1).
As I mentioned at the foot of last week's blog there was good news as my old favourite Jemmy Doodlebeag was reported to have suffered nothing more than a case of cramp when failing to finish in one of the Easter Cup heats and he has already been back on the track with a trial at Cork a few days ago.
The NHL season is nearing its completion before cranking up again for the play offs and I'll have three representatives in Boston, Philadelphia and Calgary although Dallas were badly hit by injuries all season long and will miss out. The Bruins look the best chance of the three and seem to be re-discovering a bit of their early season form again of late so I'm hopeful of a good run there, which in fairness I've already had for a 33/1 shot.
The Flyers and the Flames tend to be useful scoring teams but not so hot at keeping them out at times so would be a bit surprised if they could go all the way but at least they'll keep us all entertained I suppose, and you never know in ice hockey.
Plus the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland are just around the corner too with the rosters being unveiled over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep an eye out on those for any clues for the outright market as I usually take a keen interest in this with an online subsciption for the games, as its not normally covered on mainline UK TV. That way you can watch them as and when you want as I'm sure you could probably wangle getting them for free somewhere but cant always guarantee being around at the time of the games, epsecially as it clashes with the snooker at Sheffield too.
Speaking of which been looking at all the exotic markets that come into existence once a year for snooker's main event and although I'm nowhere near as confident of picking the winner this year as I was last time around when I felt I'd got all angles covered, there are a few interesting punts elsewhere that are tickling my fancy somewhat. Anyway more of that next week.
Hopefully going to see the new Brian Clough film tomorrow "The Damned United" which seems to have gotten some decent reviews, though not endorsed my many of his closest acquintances it has to be said. And gonna cheer on the Rams at Hillsborough on Saturday as we still need a few more points to be safe which aren't going to be easy to come by judging on our 4-1 loss at Cardff in midweek, the injuries are starting to bite I feel.
Also while I still have some money left indulged in buying some tickets for Derbyshire's 20 20 cricket campaign this term - went last year and thoroughly enjoyed it all - so even decided to book a few of the away games this time around, its a long while since I've been to either Trent Bridge or Headingley and I've never yet been to Old Trafford (the cricket ground) or Grace Road, so should be interesting.
All the best for now
Rick
At least my aussie rules treble of Geelong, Carlton and Western Bulldogs came up last weekend and I've stuck with the same three teams in another treble this week, as well as backing the latter two at double figure odds for the AFL Grand final itself later in the year. Geelong obliged today as the first part of the bet so at least we're still alive and kicking at present with that one.
The gaelic football betting must be going better than ever as I seem to have been restricted to £25 on one bet I wanted this week at one of the firms, not sure if its a one off or that will be the norm. Suppose I'll have to contemplate travelling down to the nearest shop with a wedge of notes if this continues though thankfully at present there are alot of other options online.
Anyway after a loser or two perhaps they'll have a re-think you never know. This week I'm chancing a treble of Dublin, Derry and Sligo who all need to win for various reasons with the leagues coming to a close (apart from Division 4 who still have one week to go).
Laois dont have anything to play for up against Monaghan but they do seem to have improved a bit in their last couple of games while the opposition have had to work hard for their wins in the main apart from the last match when they comfortably beat Cork. Anyway with the +2 handicap I think I'll plump for Laois this time as a sort of cover for my outright Monaghan bet who are in a three way tussle to qualify for the final.
The Blue Riband and Golden Sprint greyhound heats start tomorrow at Hall Green and Romford respectively and they look pretty competitive but have had a dabble with my usual four or five in each and I'll possibly add to them depending on how it goes and how many I lose after the first round held today (Friday).
The Scottish Derby takes place at Shawfield on Saturday and there was a very impressive semi final winner in Thurlesbeg Joker in the week coming from last to first with a devastating turn of foot which really was something to behold. After that exhibition there was no doubt I had to delve into my pocket to take the 5/4 though I do still have Cabra Cool from my original ante post picks going from a favourable draw in trap one. He was a 14/1 shot at the start of proceedings.
I also had a bit on the Joker for the English Derby at 33/1 each way which looked a very good offer if he was actually going to run, though have since found the owners have expressed doubts that he is "the right shape of dog" for Wimbledon whatever that means! Perhaps the chunky bonus will tempt them if he wins up in Scotland.
The semi finals of the Easter Cup take place at Shelbourne the same evening where my original selections Shelbourne Aston (14/1) and Faypoint Man (10/1) are still in contention along with those added since Oran Classic (8/1 ave odds) and Tip and Tin (50/1).
As I mentioned at the foot of last week's blog there was good news as my old favourite Jemmy Doodlebeag was reported to have suffered nothing more than a case of cramp when failing to finish in one of the Easter Cup heats and he has already been back on the track with a trial at Cork a few days ago.
The NHL season is nearing its completion before cranking up again for the play offs and I'll have three representatives in Boston, Philadelphia and Calgary although Dallas were badly hit by injuries all season long and will miss out. The Bruins look the best chance of the three and seem to be re-discovering a bit of their early season form again of late so I'm hopeful of a good run there, which in fairness I've already had for a 33/1 shot.
The Flyers and the Flames tend to be useful scoring teams but not so hot at keeping them out at times so would be a bit surprised if they could go all the way but at least they'll keep us all entertained I suppose, and you never know in ice hockey.
Plus the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland are just around the corner too with the rosters being unveiled over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep an eye out on those for any clues for the outright market as I usually take a keen interest in this with an online subsciption for the games, as its not normally covered on mainline UK TV. That way you can watch them as and when you want as I'm sure you could probably wangle getting them for free somewhere but cant always guarantee being around at the time of the games, epsecially as it clashes with the snooker at Sheffield too.
Speaking of which been looking at all the exotic markets that come into existence once a year for snooker's main event and although I'm nowhere near as confident of picking the winner this year as I was last time around when I felt I'd got all angles covered, there are a few interesting punts elsewhere that are tickling my fancy somewhat. Anyway more of that next week.
Hopefully going to see the new Brian Clough film tomorrow "The Damned United" which seems to have gotten some decent reviews, though not endorsed my many of his closest acquintances it has to be said. And gonna cheer on the Rams at Hillsborough on Saturday as we still need a few more points to be safe which aren't going to be easy to come by judging on our 4-1 loss at Cardff in midweek, the injuries are starting to bite I feel.
Also while I still have some money left indulged in buying some tickets for Derbyshire's 20 20 cricket campaign this term - went last year and thoroughly enjoyed it all - so even decided to book a few of the away games this time around, its a long while since I've been to either Trent Bridge or Headingley and I've never yet been to Old Trafford (the cricket ground) or Grace Road, so should be interesting.
All the best for now
Rick
Sunday, 5 April 2009
A week that went pear shaped!
First of all apologies (to my one reader) about the lateness of the blog this week, have just been so busy studying so many different betting markets the last few days that I havent had time for anything else until now. Not that it has done me much good as its been one of those weeks where most things seem to have gone pear shaped, I had just been thinking everything had been going too well so suppose its not entirely unexpected as I got the feeling it was overdue.
At least I won my final league snooker match of the season (on the black, no miscues this time!!) although it didnt do our team much good as we slumped to a 4-1 defeat. We'll have to see how much damage that has done to our league position when the tables are published as I was hoping we would hold on to fourth place which would be a decent season though it looks rather doubtful now after a poor run-in.
Anyhow personally I managed 13 wins out of 19 including cup matches so thats quite respectable though a bit down on last year when I probably won a few more of the close frames.
Back to the betting and it was all going pretty well until around half way through the week, a couple of the wildcards had obliged at decent odds in the China Open and my three gaelic football bets had all done the business too.
There was some disappointment when one of my favourite dogs Jemmy Doodlebeag appeared to get injured in his heat of the Easter Cup at Shelbourne, he missed the break, then went out of camera shot around the bend and didnt cross the line but have been unable to gain any details since. He did me a good turn by winning the John Casey Open earlier in the year at big odds so do hope he can recover though clearly it doesnt look good if he was stopped in his tracks so suddenly.
I have dropped a line to the owner giving my best wishes and asking for any news but we'll have to see if anything is forthcoming, the money is of secondary importance to me in such matters anyhow.
Ante post favourite College Causeway also crashed out that night, being knocked to the ground in his race and this weekend Ballymac Bondi also failed to qualify. I do have Faypoint Man and Shelbourne Aston however, and also added Tip and Tin plus Oran Classic in the meantime.
In the dogs version of the Grand National at Wimbledon, I have three representatives in the final via Nebuchadnezzar, Platinumlancelot and Distant Legend and also added Hotdog Jack today as he has drawn his favourite rail position and is now jolly with a few of the books so backed him to save my stakes on the others.
Also the Scottish Derby at Shawfield got underway and while I got Slip The Lark, Head Iton Ellis and Cabra Cool through to the semi finals, a couple of others have been lost, namely Ballymac Ruso who made a shock first round exit and also Ja Mann in the second round.
But as you can see it was going reasonably on the dogs until I went and spoiled it by experimenting on some lower class graded racing at the weekend (I usually bet mostly in open races on dogs you can see in action either on the net or TV) and made a fair loss though it may have been different but for backing four second placed animals. Plus the couple of winners I did have I had lesser stakes on than some of those who were beaten, hence I didnt really get alot of benefit from them.
In future I will stick to the tried and trusted, as this only exacerbated a rather disappointing China Open snooker event from a punting prospective. I've maybe started to pick a few too many in the outright markets just lately, or perhaps its because I've backed a couple of them each way but my outlay here was a little higher than it should have been and as none of them threatened to win it, I was always going to be up against it in the match betting.
This took a turn for the worse when Gerard Greene who I had backed at a juicy 9/4 against Neil Robertson, couldnt hold on to a 4-3 and thirty point lead in the next, apparently getting a kick on the pink which cost him the frame as Robbo cleared up thereafter to take it into a decider.
Also Mark King showed no signs of the very mediocre form he produced in the recent Championship League winners group as he ran out a convincing 5-2 winner over Mark Williams, who I had backed to overcome a minus 1.5 frames handicap.
I followed the two winning wildcards through to the first round proper too and although Tang Jun and Yu Delu put up decent fights again, this time they couldnt quite manage victory against Ebdon and Dott respectively.
I also chanced Fergal to grind it out against the Rocket but at massive odds of 4/1 he too succumbed 5-3.
The second round odds didnt appeal too much yet I still managed to squander a sizeable sum when Neil Robertson capsized 5-1 to Shaun Murphy, who he had usually done well against in the past and then, against my original thoughts, due to popular consensus on the forums I joined in with backing Dave Harold to beat Peter Ebdon, which as I had half expected he didnt!!
Kicking myself somewhat for this I then decided to try and get it back by backing Ronnie O Sullivan to win 5-1 or 5-2 in the correct score market against the young wildcard Xaio Guodong but he ultimately failed to do the latter on the final black in frame seven before getting home 5-3 in the next, which is what tends to happen when things are conspiring against you.
Stuart Pettman dragged some back by upsetting Graeme Dott at 9/4 but in the final I lost about the same amount by backing John Higgins -1.5 frames and then inplay when a frame down at the half way stage in the final against the previously out of form Ebdon, who to be frank I wouldnt have picked in a month of Sundays for the outright.
It just goes to show how risky it is punting on the World Championship match prices before this event was played out as for instance Ebdon was being looked upon as somewhat of a spent force but now he has a bit of wind in his sails again, while Ryan Day similarly after a lean patch must have gained some confidence from his run to the semi finals.
There was also a massive shock in Aintree's Grand National (for the horses this time!) with the 100/1 shot Mon Mome keeping the bookmakers happy, though if you look far enough back in his form, he did finish second in a Welsh National a couple of years ago so for those that delved a bit deeper there would have been a great reward awaiting. Unfortunately, I'm currently a bit of a part timer on the gee gees so didnt go to such depths, and the half dozen I narrowed it down to (had a bit on each) never really seemed to be in the thick of things, though My Will ran a decent race in third place under a fairly high weight. It was asking a bit much to pick the winner for the fourth year in a row I suppose but it heaped a bit more misery on a woeful few days punting.
Hopefully I can get back to basics and things will swing back in my favour. Still would like to get back into the horses full time but dont want to bite off more than I can chew and with the snooker, the dogs and the gaelic games all on the roster (along with a bit of aussie rules) its difficult to devote enough hours to the nags but thats what I'm trying to do, though still have a backlog of form videos as ever which has gotten even bigger during this latest snooker tournament and will probably be astronomical after the World Championships!!
Anyway gotta find time for some sleep now!!
All the best
Rick
Update: Good news at the end of the week anyhow. The owner of Jemmy Doodlebeag contacted me to say that the dog is fine, he just cramped up coming out of the traps and couldnt finish the race, hopefully he will soon be winning more races pretty soon.
At least I won my final league snooker match of the season (on the black, no miscues this time!!) although it didnt do our team much good as we slumped to a 4-1 defeat. We'll have to see how much damage that has done to our league position when the tables are published as I was hoping we would hold on to fourth place which would be a decent season though it looks rather doubtful now after a poor run-in.
Anyhow personally I managed 13 wins out of 19 including cup matches so thats quite respectable though a bit down on last year when I probably won a few more of the close frames.
Back to the betting and it was all going pretty well until around half way through the week, a couple of the wildcards had obliged at decent odds in the China Open and my three gaelic football bets had all done the business too.
There was some disappointment when one of my favourite dogs Jemmy Doodlebeag appeared to get injured in his heat of the Easter Cup at Shelbourne, he missed the break, then went out of camera shot around the bend and didnt cross the line but have been unable to gain any details since. He did me a good turn by winning the John Casey Open earlier in the year at big odds so do hope he can recover though clearly it doesnt look good if he was stopped in his tracks so suddenly.
I have dropped a line to the owner giving my best wishes and asking for any news but we'll have to see if anything is forthcoming, the money is of secondary importance to me in such matters anyhow.
Ante post favourite College Causeway also crashed out that night, being knocked to the ground in his race and this weekend Ballymac Bondi also failed to qualify. I do have Faypoint Man and Shelbourne Aston however, and also added Tip and Tin plus Oran Classic in the meantime.
In the dogs version of the Grand National at Wimbledon, I have three representatives in the final via Nebuchadnezzar, Platinumlancelot and Distant Legend and also added Hotdog Jack today as he has drawn his favourite rail position and is now jolly with a few of the books so backed him to save my stakes on the others.
Also the Scottish Derby at Shawfield got underway and while I got Slip The Lark, Head Iton Ellis and Cabra Cool through to the semi finals, a couple of others have been lost, namely Ballymac Ruso who made a shock first round exit and also Ja Mann in the second round.
But as you can see it was going reasonably on the dogs until I went and spoiled it by experimenting on some lower class graded racing at the weekend (I usually bet mostly in open races on dogs you can see in action either on the net or TV) and made a fair loss though it may have been different but for backing four second placed animals. Plus the couple of winners I did have I had lesser stakes on than some of those who were beaten, hence I didnt really get alot of benefit from them.
In future I will stick to the tried and trusted, as this only exacerbated a rather disappointing China Open snooker event from a punting prospective. I've maybe started to pick a few too many in the outright markets just lately, or perhaps its because I've backed a couple of them each way but my outlay here was a little higher than it should have been and as none of them threatened to win it, I was always going to be up against it in the match betting.
This took a turn for the worse when Gerard Greene who I had backed at a juicy 9/4 against Neil Robertson, couldnt hold on to a 4-3 and thirty point lead in the next, apparently getting a kick on the pink which cost him the frame as Robbo cleared up thereafter to take it into a decider.
Also Mark King showed no signs of the very mediocre form he produced in the recent Championship League winners group as he ran out a convincing 5-2 winner over Mark Williams, who I had backed to overcome a minus 1.5 frames handicap.
I followed the two winning wildcards through to the first round proper too and although Tang Jun and Yu Delu put up decent fights again, this time they couldnt quite manage victory against Ebdon and Dott respectively.
I also chanced Fergal to grind it out against the Rocket but at massive odds of 4/1 he too succumbed 5-3.
The second round odds didnt appeal too much yet I still managed to squander a sizeable sum when Neil Robertson capsized 5-1 to Shaun Murphy, who he had usually done well against in the past and then, against my original thoughts, due to popular consensus on the forums I joined in with backing Dave Harold to beat Peter Ebdon, which as I had half expected he didnt!!
Kicking myself somewhat for this I then decided to try and get it back by backing Ronnie O Sullivan to win 5-1 or 5-2 in the correct score market against the young wildcard Xaio Guodong but he ultimately failed to do the latter on the final black in frame seven before getting home 5-3 in the next, which is what tends to happen when things are conspiring against you.
Stuart Pettman dragged some back by upsetting Graeme Dott at 9/4 but in the final I lost about the same amount by backing John Higgins -1.5 frames and then inplay when a frame down at the half way stage in the final against the previously out of form Ebdon, who to be frank I wouldnt have picked in a month of Sundays for the outright.
It just goes to show how risky it is punting on the World Championship match prices before this event was played out as for instance Ebdon was being looked upon as somewhat of a spent force but now he has a bit of wind in his sails again, while Ryan Day similarly after a lean patch must have gained some confidence from his run to the semi finals.
There was also a massive shock in Aintree's Grand National (for the horses this time!) with the 100/1 shot Mon Mome keeping the bookmakers happy, though if you look far enough back in his form, he did finish second in a Welsh National a couple of years ago so for those that delved a bit deeper there would have been a great reward awaiting. Unfortunately, I'm currently a bit of a part timer on the gee gees so didnt go to such depths, and the half dozen I narrowed it down to (had a bit on each) never really seemed to be in the thick of things, though My Will ran a decent race in third place under a fairly high weight. It was asking a bit much to pick the winner for the fourth year in a row I suppose but it heaped a bit more misery on a woeful few days punting.
Hopefully I can get back to basics and things will swing back in my favour. Still would like to get back into the horses full time but dont want to bite off more than I can chew and with the snooker, the dogs and the gaelic games all on the roster (along with a bit of aussie rules) its difficult to devote enough hours to the nags but thats what I'm trying to do, though still have a backlog of form videos as ever which has gotten even bigger during this latest snooker tournament and will probably be astronomical after the World Championships!!
Anyway gotta find time for some sleep now!!
All the best
Rick
Update: Good news at the end of the week anyhow. The owner of Jemmy Doodlebeag contacted me to say that the dog is fine, he just cramped up coming out of the traps and couldnt finish the race, hopefully he will soon be winning more races pretty soon.
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