Posts Tagged ‘Sandown Guineas’
Kidnapped nabs me a weekend sweetener
November 16th, 2009 by adminA dodgy deflection denied me a 0-0 scoreline and a correct prediction for the Ireland – France World Cup play-off on Saturday, and as such I feel as green at the gills as the Irish squad, who played well throughout and even fashioned the better chances.
Over in Russia a surprise Slovenia goal edged out my shout for a 2-0 home win, which confounded my disappointment from the Sandown Classic, which was won by Zipping for the third time in a row – quite an achievement and I won’t begrudge him that one. For the record, my shout Master O’Reilly was third behind Purple.
Thankfully my poor luck ended with a win for Kidnapped in the Sandown Guineas. Peter Snowden’s promising youngster pulled off a classy performance and made the bookies weep – you could get 2.50 when I tipped him and he shrunk to around 2.10 before the race.
Now for some more news on the Railway Stakes – Saturday’s $1 million highlight and quite simply the biggest race in Australia since the Melbourne action.
At this stage we’re still not sure whether Ortensia, likely to be a serious contender, is even going to appear. We should find out tomorrow when jockey Craig Williams takes her for a run round Ascot in the morning – the result of this will decide whether or not she turns up in the Railway or is held for the group 2 Winterbottom Stakes the week after.
Elsewhere, the profile of the race is to be boosted by the presence of three high-profile jockeys who will be taking mounts in the run – Damien Oliver, Nash Rawiller and William Pike.
Pike is a local Perth favourite, while Oliver hails from the area but plies his usual trade in Melbourne. Rawiller is being released by the Gai Waterhouse stable and will be on Sniper’s Bullet on Saturday.
Most betting markets are yet to open for the Railway, but midweek will be spiced up by the presence of the second leg of the World Cup play-offs. Can Ireland pinch a win in Paris? Sacre bleu.
Read more »Sandown Classic betting looks a tricky task
November 13th, 2009 by adminI’ve been waiting all week for the online horse racing betting markets for the Sandown Classic to open, and now they have, I almost wish they’d stayed shut.
Scenic Shot has emerged as a 3.50 favourite with IASbet, but behind this horse the field is tighter than a duck’s backside – four horses are between around 5.00 and 9.00, while there are some strong enough contenders at around the 11.00 to 12.00 mark.
Bearing that in mind, I had a nose round for value for Scenic Shot and found not much. Betfair is offering 3.80, which is as good as you’re going to get at the moment. Delving into the background of stayer Scenic Shot, the price seems based on a win in the Mackinnon Stakes, although it’s worth bearing in mind this was an easy victory for him.
Master O’Reilly at 5.00 with IASbet is interesting – the horse hasn’t won for two years but did well to come fourth in the Melbourne Cup and the pace on Saturday could dictate how he does. Lighting could strike three times with Zipping, who has won this race twice before, but a hat-trick is a bit too much for my probability meter to bear.
A word on the Sandown Guineas too, which is on the card just before the classic – here we have a less tempestuous field and Kidnapped is the firm favourite. 2.50 at Betfair is the best price I could find, but this is much more secure than the 3.00 – odd you’ll get for Scenic Shot in the Classic in my opinion.
Therefore I’d be inclined to lean towards Kidnapped in the Guineas and a smaller wedge on Master O’Reilly – he does look to be in very good shape, and at the end of the day, he’s got to win a bloody race sometime. This could finally be it after a dry run which stretches back to a win in the Caulfield Cup win in 2007.
On Saturday I’ll be concentrating on the soccer again – there’s a wealth of World Cup qualifying play-off games, and some interesting betting. Turf’s up.
Read more »A group 1 drought – but plenty of betting distractions
November 8th, 2009 by adminA glimpse over my Aussie listed racing calendar makes for rather stark reading on this lazy Sunday – group 1 silks will not be fluttering in the wind again until January.
According to my list, the next group 1 run is the Lightning Stakes over 1000m at Flemington on January 30. After the feast, so must come the famine – and by god we have eaten well over the last few weeks.
There are plenty of other summer tasters to whet the appetite – next Saturday there’s a meeting at Sandown with a pair of group 2 races – the Sandown Classic and the Sandown Guineas.
To distract us we also have the Melbourne Cup. No, not last Tuesday, but Melbourne Cup 2010 – the build-up to which has already begun. No, seriously, it has – officially, with Victoria Racing Club pretty much releasing a statement to this effect and promising an extra $500,000 in prize money for next year’s event. The Queen may even make an appearance in 2010 as it’ll be the 150th anniversary of the race that stops a nation. Maybe she can hitch a lift on the Quantas with me.
Aside from the turf of the track I’m also quite partial to the turf of a football pitch – that’s proper football or ‘soccer’ to you.
Australia are already through to next year’s World Cup, although plenty more have not been so lucky. A number of high-profile teams are facing the relative humiliation of a two-legged play-off after a stuttering qualification campaign, and France are one of them.
The 1998 winners have to play Ireland over two ties, with away goals counting double and the first match in Dublin next Saturday. On paper it looks like a no-brainer – France have also won two European Championships and two Confederations Cups, whereas Ireland have won precisely nothing and weren’t even in the last World Cup in 2006.
However, Ireland were immensely unlucky not to qualify direct – they were unbeaten in their group but ended up second to Italy, who are the defending champions. En route to their second place Ireland got a 2-2 draw in Italy and were winning in their home fixture 1-0 against the likes of Buffon and Pirlo before a last-minute equaliser robbed them of a famous win.
France, on the other hand, stuttered during qualification and are arguably lucky to even be in the play-offs. A bet on a draw in Dublin next Saturday looks good at 3.15 with Betfair.
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