Sunday, Sunday, its good to be here.....

The start of another fun filled week ahead, an extra hour in bed last night, and a full day ahead. Quick couple of lines this morning.  A mixed bag yesterday, particularly pleased with Jinky coming home at Wolverhampton at 10/1, keeps the bank manager happy.  A few shorties turned over yesterday, is this due to some yards not being fully revved up yet? Nice run from Kingsbarns as well, looks an exciting prospect for next year, seemly going down the same route as some of his predecessors.  Another nice NH card today, with meeting both sides of the water. Alan king seems to have a decent quartet going up to Liverpool, so may stick a quid ew on an accum for his runners. Donald McCain has some of his stalwarts out, but still not 100% that they are fully fit yet. also watch out for the Tizzards down at Wincanton, if the money is coming think about following.

The Man City game was a bit of a disappointment on the goal front, you would have needed your wits about yo if trading that game. Got myself some cheap greens yesterday, just by watching the stats coming in on some games from around the 30-35 minute mark, watching carefully you can see how a game is going, is a draw likely, home wins coming up, watch the shots on targets & accompanying corners for an idea of strength of play. Cheaper then to jump in and make any movement you wish.

Today sees another Super Sunday, weather is crap so what an excuse to sit and watch footy all day.  Fancy Everton to give Liverpool a hard time, and if the Reds defence is not up to the mark there is the possibility of a bit of a doing here.  Man U v Chelsea, brave man to call this one, both had hard games mid week, both sides leaking goals. On the form book i would have gone for Chelsea, but Fergie will have them fired up for this game, 2-2 draw? Fancy an entertaining match at Newcastle and that game has the prospect of some goals, to decent managers/coaches who play open football.  Elsewhere Feynoord v Ajax, both teams rebuilding and trying to recapture past glories, usually open flowing game. Marseilles v Lyon has the look of a draw, Fiorentina v Lazio maybe a red card in this match, with some goals, surprised to see Stuttgart so big against Frankfurt, personally had them a lot shorter, so maybe a value bet there.

Elsewhere, laying Vettel/Webber 1/2 in the Grand Prix, a couple of decent tennis matches to trade, look out for some value & differences in  the handicap prices in the London Irish v Quins match. have a great sunday and a good week.


Back
12.50 Wincanton - Giveitachance

EW
4.30 Aintree - Ballycool

Lay
2.40 Galway - Park Ranger
3.40 Wincanton - Might As Well

Back to Lay
1.20 Wincanton - Backhomeinderry

Home Win
Vitesse
Napoli

Away Win
Juventus
FC Twente

O2.5
Southampton
Vitesse
Chelsea
Estoril

Footy Trade
Catania v Juventus - fairly simple trade, scalp some cover on U1.5, if Catania score first look to cover 2-0, and possibly 1-2.
O2.5 £25
1-1 £5
0-2 £5

Chilly Saturday's Tips, Trades & Thoughts

If you hadn't noticed winter has started to arrive, up here in the north the first coverings of snow have arrived. Great, time for the thermals and hand warmers, frozen courses and under soil heating that fails....

Looks like I owe Celtic an apology  I expected them to be torn apart, but all credit they took the lead and fought well. Barcelona were head & shoulders above them in terms of talent, and I nearly felt sorry for Celtic conceding in the last minute, (but I only said nearly...). Arsenal seem to have hit the buffers lately just don;t seem to be able to string a performance/result together.  Looking from the outside is this team that is full of overrated potential, who are wrapped unsuccessfully in cotton wool. I mean flying to Norwich, 15 minutes, what is wrong with the National Express coach service like everybody else, perhaps they need to toughen up a bit and experience real live, then they may appreciate what they have to do to survive!!  Elsewhere watch out for the teams who were in action in midweek, history has shown that fatigue has set in and a few coupons have been busted.

Sounds like trouble is brewing at my local team, Dunfermline, with talk of board restructures, withdrawal of investments, directors up the creek without a paddle. just what the club needs when they are playing well and pushing for promotion.  The main factor in all of this though is the lack of fans at the matches, ad the main contributing factors are too much football on the TV and an overpriced admission fee, sound familiar to anybody else?  hopefully all will be sorted out quickly and things can settle down......

What we got on today then, a nice National Hunt card with a lot of the main stables in action, personally looking forward to the Aintree meeting.  The qualifying for the Indian Grand Prix has literally just finished, with Vettel taking another pole, a lay of Webber for me in this race, team will back Vettel and Hamilton will want to prove his ability before moving on. Ferrari seem to be struggling  bit in India so would be surprised to see Alonso at the front.  Elsewhere some good bits of Rugby Union on later, so looking forward to that.

Personally I'm off to see old Jimmy Bond, looking forward to seeing him save the world from ultimate destruction again.  So what enjoy whatever you are up to today.

Back
2.20 Startford - Esporao
6.45 Wolves - Jinky


EW
2.30 Doncaster - Move in Time
3.20 Doncaster - Elegant in Silk
4.20 Newbury - Links Lady Drive

Lay
1.45 Stratford - Ruby Crown
4.50 Chepstow - Kumbeshwar


Place Lay
3.45 Newbury - Tigers Tale


Home Win
Arsenal

Tranmere

Brentford

Toulouse

Away Win
Port Vale

Walsall

MK Dons

Gillingham

O2.5
Reading

Frieburg

Man City

Footy Trade
Man City v Swansea. A game that should have goals in, in my view the majority for the home side. Dangers are low scoring game, or if Swansea take a 0-2 lead. Game needs to be watched, get stake back whenever possible and play with other peoples money. Watch the other markets, you may need them as a get out, eg Next goal market. Set a green up target and stick to it. Could be a busy but interesting trade.
Man City Lay £20
U4.5 Lay £30
1-1 £3
2-0 £5
3-1 £5
4-0 £3

Good Luck

Bad Head Sunday - Tips & Thoughts

Got a pig of a head like nobody's business today, must be getting old, half a bottle of red wine and a steak dinner last night, surely that can't be responsible, it must be a head cold I'm coming down with. Stock up on the vitamin C and all should be well, either that or buy a better standard of wine in future.

Well he done it, even giving the rest of the field a head start Frankel still won well, not saying he strolled it but it was nice to see him go out on the high he deserves. Would have been nice to have seen him have ago at the Americans in the Breeders, but I suppose the thoughts of £100m+ for stud makes the owners think twice. The question now is where does the next superstar come from, anything showing up in the 2 yo races? Dawn Approach, Reckless Abandon, Olympic Glory?

Quiet day really on the racing front with the Uk's NH coming from Kempton, keep an eye out for Soul Magic in the 4.55, some reasonable races over in Cork, but just be careful of the going, can get very sticky.  If up to his potential Pires in the 3.45 could be worth a quid.

Some decent club rugby on recently, enjoy the European games, and nearly time for the test matches, oh yes!!

Nice bit of European football on in midweek, looking forward to watching Barcelona taking Celtic apart, although the only real value seems to be in the overs & unders 3.5 market, unless you are a die hard Celtic fan then you can odds around 30's.  Fancy a look at the Ajax v Man City game, Ajax rebuilding but is 5's too big, I thing so. Still also fancy a couple of quid on Zenit St Petersburgh to progress, have the opportunity has the dark horses.

Today's football will see all eyes on Tyneside for the Geordies against the Machens, personally I have spent quite a bit of time in both areas, with both sets of fans, and this is one game I will not be getting involved in. Like most derbies the form book is out the window, and pride and bragging rites come to the fore, lets hope for an entertaining game with a sensible referee.  In the past I would have gone with Hearts to beat Motherwell, but too much going on behind the scenes again at Tynecastle to be sure. Bit of value to be found with Everton, Fiorentina and Hamburg.

Lays
2.30 Bath - Gold Show
3.55 Naas - Special Bar

Back
3.00 Bath  - Annaluna
3.35 Bath - French Press
5.35 Naas - Great Jones

EW
2.45 Kempton - Grams & Ounces

Away Win
Everton
Marseille

O2.5
Osasuna (monday night game)

Trade - Socidad v Ath Madrid
Game to watch whilst trading, make sure you scalp some insurance. enough leeway built in to trade away if the scores go against us.  If high tempo beginning look to put some more on O2.5 or lay U3.5.
0-1 £3
1-1 £5
0-2 £4
1-3 £2
2-2 £3
O2.5 £15

Good Luck

Saturday is Here - Tips & Thoughts

Farewell Frankel, the latest greatest horse runs his last race today, will the going defeat him where all other things can't. I don't think so, and now that he is assured of running I foresee another victory against his name.  Is he the greatest, personally I'm in the no camp, he's good yes, he's remarkable yes, but has he really had any class opposition to go against, I don't think so. Lets hop he gets home safely and he he has a long and successful time at frolicking with all those lady horses.

A couple of yards having mixed results at the moment. Unsure about Donald McCain's horses, don't seen 100% at the moment, and Emma Lavelle/Twiston-Davies have question marks, on the opposite side Tim Vaughan and Lucinda Russell seem quite happy to send their horses around the country with confidence.  Following favourites today? The stats in chases at Kelso are with you.

Football took a few steps backwards this weekend, with a step back to the 80's. what shocked me about the Serbia incident, wasn't so much the fans behaviours, that unfortunately was expected, but the reaction of the Serbian coaches followed by the views of the Serbian FA were remarkable, FIFA really need to sort this out. And as for the Leeds match last night, what were we watching the worse part of our came back in glorious colour and HD. This was not helped either by 2 experienced managers who really should have known better.  The internationals were not that much to write home about, Wales got beat, again, Scotland were rubbish, again, and England were still half asleep from their uppers and downers fuelled night the night before!

A full programme of domestic games back on today, some value may be found with Spurs and Reading, and Schalke, all have outside chances of a result and following the midweek internationals who knows what will happen. My local side Dunfermline, continue to go well  though they do have a difficult game against Morton today, but by all accounts no major injury concerns and squad in good order.

Can't finish without saying WOW to Felix Baumgarter, extraordinary,  spectacular and utterly amazing, finished off with a cool landing. Hats off to him, and was it true that he managed to find Chris Waddles ball from his 1990 World Cup penalty!!!!


Back
2.55 Ascot -Sapphire
4.20 Cheltenham - Captain Sunshine
4.55 Cheltenham - Peckhamecho
5.45 Catterick - Blue Dune


EW
1.45 Ascot - Colour Vision
4.30 Cheltenham - Galaxy Rock

Lay
4.00 Catterick - King Fingal
6.50 Wolverampton - Celtic Step

Home Wins
Brighton
Hull
Yeovil
Swindon
Fleetwood
Gillingham
Port Vale

Away Wins
Tranmere
Notts County
Torquay
Arsenal
Vitesse

O2.5
Frankfurt
Crystal Palace

Trade
Swansea v Wigan - Both teams need a win, both teams know where the net is, both teams know how to concede. So goals guaranteed (cue 0-0!!).  Moveable trade, scalp some U1.5 & 0-0 for some insurance. look out for some red cards.
2-0 £5
0-2 £3
1-1 £5
O2.5 £ 25

Good Luck

Saturday's Picks and Thoughts

Now correct me if I get this wrong..... England won the World Cup in 1966, and heavens above we have never heard the end of it, Scotland then beat them a year later and declared themselves world champions, so following last nights results, does that mean Wales are now World Champions!!!  Leap of faith I know, but I like the sound of it, and it gets my vote
:-)

I think last nights results sounded the end of a couple of international managers, I would be surprised to see Levein and Trapatoni still in position after the mid week games. Wales Scotland was all about who wanted it more, and I personally felt Scotland didn't know how to change things when they needed.  I know some people will say they had a good goal chalked off, but then did Wales have 2 decent penalties refused? England didn't really look that good against the bar tenders of San Marino, Germany looked comfortable against a poor Irish side, Italy done just enough against Armenia, Croatia had a good result against Macedonia. Was supposed to see Portugal go down against Russia, and as expected Spain cantered against Belarus. So I suppose it's fair to say that all seems to be going well for the major teams.

Quiet day today on the footy front with the minor divisions getting the limelight, but need to watch for the low liquidities on some markets. I did have another Barnet loss on my list, but the signing of Edgar Davids has put me off slightly... A bit of tennis on soon, with some trading in store with Federer v Murray.

Red Bull seems to have got something right for the end of the season, interesting race tomorrow in Korea, how does Hamilton go, all support will be aimed towards Button, who had a good run, but was unluckily blocked in qualifying. Alonso is only just behind in 4th, will he get past the 1st corner, and what will Massa's role be, blocker or run his own race? Interesting to see how the the Lotus goes, they have qualified well. Neck on the line says that Alonso will win this one, he wants it more and has the ability to get through those ahead.

Some decent racing on today, going may be a bit sticky though with all the rain around, so take care, and watch for non-runners ruining any cards. Some decent group races for the younger horses,and the jumps definitely getting into full swing.  Like the look of Rigidity at Hexham, only concern would be the ground, but will risk a quiet quid.

Back
3.40 Chepstow - Hinterland
4.45 Chepstow - Victors Serenade
5.35 Hexham - Claiming Benefits

EW
3.35 Newmarket - Cry For The Moon
4.30 Hexham - Farm Pixie
4.40 Newmarket - Flying Officer

No Lays, don't trust the NRs/going

Home Wins
Crawley Town
Swindon Town
Tranmere Rovers
Gillingham
Fleetwood
Burton Albion

Away Wins
Brentford
Cheltenham

Asian Handicap
Stevenage Borough -0.5

Any trades will have to be on the fly, not enough liquidity/trust around at the moment

Good Luck

Sunday Selections & Trades

Just a quick note from me today, need to do some unavoidable work this beautiful autumn morning, not happy!!   A good jumps card today sees action up and down the country. Whilst there is also the continuation of the Arc meeting over the water, and I see A P O'Brien have gone over with strength in depth again, should be a good race. At home I see Lucinda Russell sends 2 on their travels again with Fog Patches & Quinder Springers making the journey down south, so maybe  £1 each way.

Football didn't do too bad yesterday, and apologies if you were looking for some of the fixtures i had mentioned, I inadvertently put out the whole weekend selections instead of just Saturdays, sorry.  So see below for Sunday's only. Couple of other areas to keep an eye to, could be looking at Spurs to be winning at HT, and some value at Liverpool winning to nil.  For viewing pleasure then I would imagine most will be looking at the Barca v R Madrid later today.

Backs
3.45 Huntington - Khazium (poss fcast with Juno The Muffinman)
4.45 Huntington - Wild Rhubarb
2.20 Kelso - War Singer

Lays
3.05 Huntington - Green to Gold
3.15 Uttoexeter - Bankroll
4.45 Huntington - Parc Des Princes

Back to Lay
4.15 Huntington - Tornade D'Estruval

O2.5
Southampton v Fulham
BMG v Frankfurt
PSV v Breda
Hannover v Dortmund

LTD
Napoli
Fiorentina

Footy Trade
Liverpool v Stoke, Have Liverpool finally found their feet, and have they learnt the lessons from midweek. Stoke haven't scored at Anfield in their last 4 visits, dangers here are a low scoring game, or a Stoke getting too much on top. So be prepared to bail out if nothing seems like coming. Look after your stake, and try and keep ahead of the game, possible 2 moves.
1-0 £5
2-0 £5
1-1 £5
O2.5 £20

Good Luck

Saturday's Thoughts & Trades

I believe I owe the European golfers a great big apology, what a cracking Sunday, I mentioned that the team seemed to be lacking heart & fight, well i don't know where they found it from but bloody hell it came out in buckets last week.  Anybody else think that Kaymar would miss that putt on the 18th, I know I was watching from behind the couch. But well done guys, the next one is only a few miles from me so I might even try to go and watch in 2014.

A few good games of footy in the week, with plenty of goals spread around. Enjoyed the Liverpool game, and the passing and movement at times was good, but they have got to sort out the concentration and stop the stupid mistakes. And I've got to say it but what a how big a fud is Ashley Cole? An example of how and what young kids should not aspire to.

Hamilton finally made the move that was anticipated, and personally I think it is the wrong move.  Does this mean Button becomes the team No1, and does this extend his shelf life by a couple of years? Time will tell.  Perez is an exciting young driver, with a lot of 'balls' and seems to enjoy is racing, so will be interesting to see him next year in a reliable car. And its a finally a farewell to Schumacher, well he deserves all the plaudits he gets, love him or hate him he has been great for the sport, didn't always agree with his methods but hats off to his skill levels.  Looking forward to this weekends Grand Prix, Vettel has secured a strong pole but fancy button to push him all race

A cracking game of Rugby this afternoon with South Africa take on New Zealand, the Springbok are doing well in this tournament, but you can never write off the All Blacks, but are they as strong as they have been in the past? SA +6 on the handicap could be the value.  Wouldn't be surprised to see Argentina turn over the Aussies today either, Aussies not travelling to well, and may be some value in the handicaps with the Argies.

Full domestic card this weekend before the internationals next week, my local team Dunfermline are away to Falkirk, one of their great rivals, and what is worrying is that they are strong favourites. But the way they are playing its justified. Some value in the premiership could be Arsenal - Both Teams to Score - Yes, WBA - back O2.5 and back to win, backing and trading the HT draw at Wigan may also be worth looking at.  A few games below to keep an eye to with a view to possibly trading through.

I see there is another small race meeting on today, but this time over in France  the UK starts to close down the flat season, and watch for some going changes or false readings. Also be careful as the flat seasons come to a close with some trainers just wanting to get a run in for when one of their charges.


Backs
2.20 Fontwell - Meganisi
3.35 Ascot - Captain Raminus (watch for market support if the rain comes)
5.50 Wolves - Fathsa
7.20 Wolves - English Summer

Lays
2.30 Ascot - Songcraft
5.55 Redcar - Majestic Manannan

O2.5
Swansea v Reading
Southampton v Fulham
Crystal Palace v Burnley
BMG v Frankfurt
Hannover v Dortmund
Bastia v Troyes
Sochaux v Rennes
PSV v Breda

U2.5
Yeovil v Colchester
Wycombe v Torquay
Aldershot v Chesterfield

Home Win
Stevenage Borough
Southend
PSV

Away Win
Brighton
Cardiff
Tranmere Rovers
Swindon
Gillingham

Footy Trade
Lille v Ajacco. Sticking my neck out a little on this one, but do fancy the stats to come through.  The trade is weighted with Lille, but they have had trouble keeping a clean sheet this season, have yet to get going. Past meetings have presented a fair few goals, so watch the O3.5 & O4.5 markets. 2-1 gives us a decent pay day.  Watch the results coming through and trade each score to protect stake.
1-0 £5
2-0 £5
2-1 £3
O2.5 £25
Lay Lille £20

Good Luck