online sports betting news

With the arrival of the Cheltenham Festival, one of the biggest horse racing betting occasions of the year, comes the chance for Bookmakers to step up their competition for custom. This will pay off for the punter, as there are some great betting promotions to take advantage of, including the big race of the week itself, the Gold Cup. The Gold Cup will see the next big showdown between Kauto Star and Denman, and jockey’s Ruby Walsh and Tony McCoy respectively. However, before all that, there are plenty of competitive races on the cards at Cheltenham, and that means plenty of betting action, even if you can’t make it the Gloucestershire track. The first race to get underway on Tuesday, as ever, is the Supreme Novice Hurdle. This one is dominated by the unbeaten Irish star Dunguib, who becomes the centre of attention for Cheltenham Festival betting promotions, as well as the race itself. Being the curtain raiser for the festival, the race obviously draws a lot of attention, as punters want to get off to a winning start. The Supreme Novice Hurdle, the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup are the feature races of the week, with some of the most famous names in horse racing showing their colours.

Kauto Star won the Gold Cup last year, equalling the tally of success against each other at 1-1 with stable mate Denman. Kauto Star goes into the race as favourite, simply because of his outstanding form, notably winning the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day. The Gold Cup is not just about the horses themselves, there is also jockey and trainer pride at stake, with trainer Paul Nicholls teaming up with premier jockey’s Ruby Walsh, who is going on Kauto Star, and Tony McCoy going on Denman. Even the Queen is getting in on the action, as her horse, Barbers Shop goes in the Ryanair Chase on Wednesday.

Online Bookmaker Bet365 is leading the way again, with the outstanding offer of giving the best price on all horses all week. Better still, as the horse racing fever grips the nation, this promotion is not just extended to the Cheltenham Festival, it covers every race across the UK during this week. All UK race meetings during the Cheltenham Festival week are covered by this Bet365 promotion, which means that they will guarantee to match, or better any odds on any horse, at any meeting. This promotion runs the whole week, from March 15th to March 21st, and along with their generous welcome bonus of up to £200 in free bets, horse racing fans will be well advised to make the most of this. Bet365 will give the Best Price over many other online bookmakers, and the usual service of Best Odds Guaranteed (which means that if your horse price shortens from an early board price to a smaller starting price, then Bet365 will still give you the longer price). On top  of that again, is Bet365’s great 4/1 promotion. With this promotion, if you back a winner at a price of 2/1 or greater which is shown live on Channel 4 Racing, then you will earn yourself a free bet, matching the original stake of the first one. If your free bet backs another winner at 4/1 or greater, then you can get yet another free bet!

SportingBet may well be worth stopping by as well, for they are offering refunds on stakes for any faller during the Cheltenham Festival. The online bookmaker have launched their impressive Cheltenham Micro Site, which is packed full of features, a blog, race previews, video and of course promotions. Along with their Faller Refund promotion, SportingBet are offering punters a treat with their Five a Day offer. Their Cheltenham Micro Site will offer punters five special bonuses each and every day of the Cheltenham festival, and these will be things like enhanced odds, enhanced doubles and single race offers. There could be some real goodies to pick up in here, and the new promotions will appear each day after 10 am. The race cards are already up, so it’s a good time to go and scour the site to see the early market prices for the Supreme Novices Hurdle which opens the festival at

For the Supreme Novices Hurdle, Paddy Power are going all out for the race, offering their “This Banker Won’t Swindle You” promotion for the festival opener. This money back special will refund all losing outright bets, if unbeaten favourite Dunguib romps home first, as expected. This Paddy Power promotion covers both “Win” and “Each Way” bets on the race, as when taken as singles only (not part of accumulators or anything.) The offer only extends to the “Win part of an each way bet”. There is a maximum on this which is £200 per customer, so you will be covered, and even if the favourite doesn’t run, the next favourite at the starting line will simply replace him for the promotion

Skybet have a special offer going on every race of the Cheltenham Festival. This all starts with Tuesday’s Supreme Novice Hurdle as well, and they are going with an extra place race for this one, meaning that they will pay out on the first four finishers, as opposed to the usual three. Other races on day one will also have this offer, and some of them will have extra value applied to them instead with enhanced odds. There is also a Gold Cup challenge, where punters can win their share of £5,000 in free bets. All you need to do for this Skybet promotion is to predict the 1-2-3 finish for the big race of the week. The spotlight is firmly on the perennial showdown between Kauto Star and Denman, but who will be the third factor in Friday’s big race? Check out SkyBet for daily promotions on all the horse racing betting from the Cheltenham Festival.

The new and improved Totesport are rewarding their punters for picking winners. You can win yourself a free daily bet when you back a winner at odds of 5/1 or greater. This applies to any race from the Festival which is shown live on Channel 4. With the new look of Totesport, which has made navigation of their site easier and has integrated stats and from The Racing Post, the online bookmaker is backing the stats from last year’s Cheltenham Festival, which saw 19 winners from the 26 festival races come in at odds of 5/1 or greater. Simply pick one out again this year, and you’ll bank yourself a free bet to use on the next day of the festival.

Ladbrokes, who have also undergone a face lift recently are offering a Free £10 bet for all internet customers. This is also linked to the festival opener, the Supreme Novice Hurdle, for when customers, existing and new ones place a single bet to the value of £20 or more on Tuesday’s big race, then you will be entitled to a free £10 bet on Tuesday’s 4.40 race. This is great value if you are already going to be placing a wager, which will probably be going on Irish favourite Dunguib for the Supreme Novice Hurdle. What better way to open your Cheltenham Festival betting than with a winner and a free bet to boot? These are just some of the Cheltenham Festival offers going at the moment, check out your online bookmaker to see what free bets and promotions you can make the most of.

Isn’t it funny how, sometimes, you develop an affinity with a venue or an event without really knowing why. Take this week’s WGC – CA Championship in Doral, Florida. The scenery in Miami is pleasant enough and the tournament has always attracted the world’s best players since its inception in 1999. But I can’t for the life of me think why I look forward to it so much every year! Maybe I once backed the winner at big odds. If I did, a repeat would be very welcome this week as I try to top up my punting fund for Cheltenham. I’m going to throw a few names at you now because all of the following are high on my shortlist on the Blue Monster course this week. Phil Mickelson (a general 9-1) is the defending champion and a regular top 10 finisher at the Doral Resort. He will play alongside Rory McIlroy (a general 25-1) in the opening two rounds and will make his presence felt again, The Ulsterman is the same price at Englishman Ian Poulter, winner of the WGC Match Play Championship in Arizona last month and now ranked fifth in the world, just behind Lee Westwood (also 25-1 with sportingbet and extrabet) this week and just ahead of another Englishman Paul Casey (18-1 with bet365 and extrabet). Australian Geoff Ogilvy, already a winner on the US Tour this year and the champion here in 2008, is another 25-1 chance that makes plenty of appeal and one also has to respect Jim Furyk, also a general 25-1 shot. Furyk, third here 12 months ago tied for second behind Ogilvy in 2008 and clearly feels at home on the course. The 39-year-old has only contested three tournaments so far this year but has made the top 25 in two of those and can be expected to up his game from now on. I’ll be making him my main wager but will also be having a few quid on Kenny Perry (widely availabe at 66-1) who’s another that goes well in Miami, and last week’s Honda Classic winner Camillo Villegas. The young Colombian, a general 18-1 chance, is the pin-up of the US Tour but is now beginning to show he’s a pretty hot player as well and he was only just beaten by Tiger Woods when a rookie here in 2006. A fourth tournament success can’t be far away.

Britain’s Premier Tennis player on the Women’s circuit, Elena Baltacha, who is enjoying a fine year so far, came through a tough first qualifying match for the BNP Paribas Open in California. The tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Gardens, which is in a stunning location in the Southern Californian desert, is one of the tournaments which the majoirty of the World Stars turn out for. This is WTA Tour Premier event, which the best in the world participate in, regarded in standing as just behind the prestige of a Grand Slam event. The main draw, for both the men and women’s competitions will consist of 64 players, after qualification matches has whittled the draws down from 96. Elena Baltacha has to qualify for the main draw, and after a successful year so far, will be hoping to build upon her form.

Elena Baltacha to win: 1/2 at SkyBet
Ekaterina Bychkova: 7/4 at Paddy Power

Other British interest comes from Anne Keothavong, who is already in First Round of the Main draw:
Anna Chakvetadze to win: 8/1 5 at ExtraBet
Anne Keothavong to win: 9/5 at Boylesports

It took Baltacha three sets to get past American wildcard Julia Boserup, but winning is all that matters, and now she faces a one match shoot off to earn her place in the main draw. Ranked 65th in the World, Baltacha, forever smiling and looking as if she is having fun, put in some impressive performances at the Australian Open, and queen of tennis Maria Sharapova denied her a genuine title shot in Memphis recently. She now has to square off against Ekaterina Bychkova to reach the main draw. With the main draw itself having already been made, there is one stand out portion of the draw, which is going to draw a lot of fans and betting interest. The Indian Wells tennis tournament, appears to be all about Vera Zvonareva and Ana Ivanovic.

Russian Zvonareva has picked up a tour title already this year, winning in Thailand. It was she who beat Ivanovic in the final at Indian Wells last year, taking the crown from the defending champion. Now Ivanovic, who’s best performance this season came in reaching the semi finals in Brisbane, has a lot of work to do, with Zvonareva probably being the better of the two at the moment. The young Serbian, who made headlines recently with her Swimsuit Illustrated shoot, has not done much since to suggest that she can make an impact at the event. Yes, you guessed it, these two are on a collision course again this year, but it won’t be in the final, it will be in the third round, if everything goes to plan.

In the same half of the draw, is the likes of feisty favourite Victoria Azarenka, Daniela Hantuchova (who has won at Indian Wells twice before, and just lost the final in Monterrey, so is in good form) and the always dangerous Yanina Wickmayer. The other half of the draw has Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin (who both continue their comebacks), Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova, along with a good outside bet in Serbian Jelena Jankovic. Top seed for the draw is Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has lost twice in the final at Indian Wells. It is difficult to see her, from a betting point of view, get back the wealth of talent in her half of the draw. For now, we shall see if Britain’s Elena Baltacha can make her way into the main draw, and over the next two weeks, there will be match previews and tennis betting opportunities to explore here.

WTA Indian Wells Outright
Justine Henin: 10/3 at ExtraBet
Kim Clijsters: 9/2 at ExtraBet
Elena Dementieva: 12/1 at Expekt
Maria Sharapova: 12/1 at Bet365
Victoria Azarenka: 14/1 at Expekt

The Men’s tournament at Indian Wells is also in the qualification stage, with the players hoping to join the world’s elite in the main draw. Yes, everyone is there. World Number one Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Andy Murray. Spaniard Nadal beat Andy Murray in the final at Indian Wells Garden last year, and after reaching the final of the Australian Open, Murray will be hoping to go one better. There is still the matter of three times champions Roger Federer to deal with though. There is an awesome amount of Tennis to come over the next fortnight, and we will be brining you the highlights of the competition right here, along with betting advice and tips.

Live from Indian Wells with Bet365. Yes, the online bookmaker will be providing free streamin of live tennis from Indian Wells Garden over the next couple of weeks. You can catch all the action there, and enjoy a great Live In-Play betting service as well from this leading bookmaker. There is also an incredibly generous welcome bonus of up to £200 in match bets worth investigating as well. With such a fantastic fortnight of tennis to come, take the opporuntiy to have a highly recommended bookmaker at your disposal, for all of your tennis betting.

I must admit, I’m still basking a little in the glory of picking out Jenson Button and Brawn GP for success in last year’s Formula One Championship. Alas, I can’t promise you 9-1 and 8-1 winners in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ title races this season but I still think there’s a bit of value to be had in the ante-post markets ahead of this week’s opening GP in Bahrain. For once, there’s been plenty to capture the imagination during the close season, not least Michael Schumacher’s return to the cockpit. The German rightly demands iconic status having won more Grand Prix and F1 World Championships than any other driver in history. One does have to question, however, how much hunger he still has after three years spent testing motorbikes and acting as an advisior for Ferrari. Considering his close relationship with the Italian giants it is also strange that he’s making his comeback with Mercedes. The fact that the innovative Ross Brawn is now chief designer at Mercedes will have heavily influenced Schumacher’s decision to return but I fear the physical strain of a long GP season may be too much for the 41-year-old and would willingly lay boylesports, extrabet and sportingbet’s 13-2 about him making a fairytale comeback to the Drivers’ Championship. Then, of course, there’s the battle of the Britons at McLaren. If Lewis Hamilton is feeling any signs of insecurity about having the current world champion join him at Woking, he certainly isn’t showing it. For the second year in a row, McLaren will have the number one driver in their ranks but, no matter how much practice he’s undergone, it’s going to take a few hours race time for Jenson Button to get the feel of his new car and that’s where Hamilton may hold the edge over his compatriot. The 2008 champion finished last season with a flourish and can carry that momentum forward to this campaign so bwin’s 9-2 is sure to attract support as oppose to Button’s widely available 14-1 quote for back-to-back titles. As always, of course, Ferrari will be competitive. Fernando Alonso is the ante-post favourite (a best 11-4) to bring home the title in his first season in the famous red car but it remains to be seen how the confidence of Felipe Massa (9-1 with bet365, skybet and sportingbet) has been affected by his horrific crash last year and Ferrari are worth opposing in the Constructors’ Championship (2-1 with Paddy Power and Ladbrokes) on that score. How about a punt on Red Bull in that market? There have been early signs this year that Renault have finally developed an engine to match Ferrari and McLaren and new regulations, which have effectively slowed down the cars, may well play into their hands this season. Australian Mark Webber (20-1 on betfair) broke his duck in F1 in Germany last year and is sure to make his presence felt again this time around but their number one driver looks to be rising star Sebastian Vettel, who pushed Button all the way last year and must surely go close again in 2010 with a stronger start. My money will be on the young German at 5-1 with boylesports. His team are priced at 10-3 with the same firm to win the Constructors’ Championship.

Kathryn Bigelow was divorced from James Cameron in 1991. They continued to work together, however, Bigelow directing Strange Days in 1995 to Cameron’s script and, according to Hollywood sources, remain good friends. Cameron, director of Titanic and the Alien franchise, may have to swallow a little pride however if, as expected, his sci-fi epic Avatar is pipped at the post by Bigelow’s powerful Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker for the Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. The Hurt Locker’s budget pales into insignificance alongside the $300million splashed out on Avatar, but Bigelow’s film about US bomb disposal teams has hit all the right notes with critics whereas Cameron’s spectacular animated yarn has been more popular with cinema-goers, who nowadays seem to prefer adventure to gritty drama. The Hurt Locker (evens with bwin) wiped the floor with its likely chief rival at the Baftas, which are usually a decent guide to how the voting will go in Hollywood, but Avatar remains popular with punters who think the’blue’ movie will come out on top this week and it’s now no bigger than 5-4 (bet365 and betfred) to scoop the Best Film award. Whatever her fate in this section, however, Bigelow will surely win the Best Director award for which she is best 1-4 (victor chandler, Paddy Power, bwin). Colin Firth earned rave reviews for his performance in A Single Man but can be backed at 18-1 on betfair to be handed the Best Actor award with most pundits predicting Jeff Bridges already has that category sewn up with his portrayal of a fading country and western singer in Crazy Heart (Bridges‘ best price is 1-6), while the Brits may also be left out in the cold in the Best Actress category. Both Dame Helen Mirren (66-1 with Coral) and relative newcomer Carey Mulligan (12-1 with bwin) have been nominated but face Hollywood big guns Sandra Bullock (4-6 with betfred, blue square and 888sport) and Meryl Streep (a general 2-1). I must admit, I thought Streep, who last won an Oscar in the early 80s, was brilliantly funny as chef Julia Childs in Julie And Julia, almost funny enough to make me forgive her for Mamma Mia, and she’d be my choice ahead of Mulligan, who still has a big future in the movie business if her early work is an indicator.

Let’s be honest, nobody is going to get rich backing England to win their three-match one-day series in Bangladesh at a best 1-4 with betfred so we are going to have to examine alternative options to keep the wolves from the door this week. Backing Graeme Swann to take most wickets is certainly viable. Swann (11-4 with Victor Chandler) has given every indication he will thrive on the Bangladesh wickets and, following a tremendous Ashes series and another solid showing in South Africa, is showing no sign of letting his standards drop. He again shone in last week’s two T20 games against Pakistan in Dubai and in England’s warm-up match against a Bangladeshi Board XI and is a near-certainty to start all three one-day games and be given his full quota of overs with the rest of England’s attack having a fragile look about it at present. Stuart Broad, 11-4 with Stan James and Ladbrokes, is probably the only other of England’s bowlers likely to feature in every match but the youngster can still blow a little hot and cold and looks a risky proposition at that price to me. James Tredwell, England’s second spinner, can be backed at a general 6-1 while Yorkshire team-mates Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad are a best 11-2 (bet365 and extrabet) and 25-1 (skybet) respectively to take most Bangladesh wickets. You can almost certainly guarantee yourself a profit by scouring the correct score markets as well. Let’s not forget, England have played and beaten Bangladesh eight times in the 50-over format of the game and most of those victories were by wide margins. This may be a bit of an experimental squad being led by Alastair Cook but it’s still one that contains proven one-day and Test performers in the shape of Swann, Broad, Cook, Collingwood, Pietersen and Prior and they will have no excuses if failing. Given that, Victor Chandler’s 5-4 for a 3-0 England whitewash shouldn’t be missed, though you can still employ a safety net in the shape of totesport’s 11-5 for a 2-1 scoreline should the England selectors decide to give some fringe players an outing or a touch of complacency creeps in. Either result would still turn you a profit. Kevin Pietersen, incidentally, heads the top England batsmen market at a general 3-1 but you can get 5-1 with skybet against him being upstaged by England’s new ‘South African’ scoring sensation Craig Kieswetter. 

What is patently obvious, looking at the stats of this week’s Totesport Trophy at Newbury, is that anything trained by either Nicky Henderson or Gary Moore deserves the utmost respect. Henderson saddles four in this year’s renewal of the UK’s most valuable handicap hurdle with stable jockey Barry Geraghty partnering Spirit River, an impressive winner on his latest outing at Cheltenham in December. Spirit River (a general 7-1) has only had five career starts to date so is probably open to more improvement than most and it’s easy to see why he currently heads the market. Stablemate Fairyland (22-1 with sportingbet) is also an interesting runner, however, in that she’s a recent C&D winner (beat Frontier Dancer here last time) and stays further than this 2m, a valuable asset to possess in a race which is always run at a tremendous pace. But I think the Moore yard has tremendous prospects of landing a third consecutive Totesport Trophy via Harry Tricker. The six-year-old displayed a tremendous turn of foot to beat an in-form Zabeel Palace at Sandown in November before splitting Champion Hurdle prospect Khyber Kim and subsequent Grade 2 winner Medermit in the prestigious Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham shortly after. The handicapper saw fit to raise Harry Tricker (8-1 with Ladbrokes, Betfred and on betfair) 12lbs for that but regular jockey Andrew Glassonbury reduces that burden by 3lb and this appears to have been his target for a while. Given luck in running, Harry Tricker’s speed could be the deciding factor in this. Other contenders to watch out for include the novice Manyriverstocross (11-1 with Stan James and Coral) whom Alan King rates highly. He was a decent stayer on the flat and has carried that form into his hurdling career though he weakened quickly over a longer distance here last time, and Mamlook (a general 9-1 chance). The latter won a shade cosily at Ascot last month after travelling strongly throughout but he isn’t that big and there’s a chance he may get bullied in this big field over a trip that is probably on the sharp side for him nowadays and punters have been preferring stablemate Ronaldo Des Mottes (10-1 on Coral and sportingbet) so far. Takeroc (11-1 with Coral) has proved popular with punters since it was announced he was to be partnered by Ruby Walsh but he hasn’t shown enough over hurdles for me to warrant his price and neither has Tony McCoy’s mount Get Me Out Of Here, 8-1 with bet365 and Stan James, who may be unbeaten but has never met opposition of this calibre before. Songe (a general 40-1) has reportedly been rejuvenated by a soft palate operation and is well treated on his best form. If the ground turned really heavy he would be of real interest and certainly makes more appeal as an each-way investment than some at much shorter odds.

Pool-based betting platforms across the globe may be about to face a new rival for their product. The Tote in the UK and the PMU in France just be just two of the big names under attack with the news that Sportech, the Liverpool-based football pools operator who own the Littlewoods, Vernons and Zetters brands, have bought out US gaming and systems provider Scientific Games for more than £50million. Scientific Games Racing are a giant in their field, providing automated tote systems and equipment for off and on-track racehourse and greyhound betting around the world. Sportech will now have a stake in pool betting systems in Europe, North America and South America and there is a rumour that one of their first moves will be to offer the UK Tote a place under their rapidly expanding umbrella. A familiar name involved in the deal is prominent national hunt racehorse owner Trevor Hemmings. Hemmings, owner of 2005 Grand National winner Hedgehunter, is underwriting the deal via his investment company Newby Manor along with several of Sportech’s other major shareholders including the Bank Of Scotland and software developers Playtech, who are also heavily involved in the development of new online gaming ventures with William Hill. Bet365, meanwhile, have fallen foul of the UK Advertising Standards Authority over a free bet promotion they were running in conjunction with Channel 4 Racing. Their ads were offering punters the potential to have free bets throughout Channel 4’s coverage, providing they kept backing winners at odds of 4-1 or higher. But several punters complained that, in actuality, bet365 were refusing to honour their promise, stopping the free bets after one race. The bookmakers claimed that their promotion was being exploited in certain quarters, with some customers using their free bet to lay off their selection on the betting exchanges and thus ensuring they were in a no-lose situation. However, the ASA found that bet365 hadn’t specified in their advertisement if the free bet was subject to special terms and conditions so was therefore liable to mislead. The ads have subsequently been banned.

I can’t remember a time when the music scene was so dominated by female artistes and that fact is mirrored by the Brit Awards nominations which lean heavily towards the female persuasion this year. Take, for example, the market for best British single. Reality TV escapees JLS are just about hanging onto favouritism, Coral offering 7-4 that ‘Beat Again‘ picks up the main gong. But it’s obvious that Cheryl Cole’s debut solo single ‘Fight For This Love‘ will be a serious challenger on the night. Indeed, Skybet make the Girls Aloud star and X Factor judge their 11-8 favourite, though she can be backed at 15-8 with bet365 and boylesport. ‘Bad Boys‘ (Alexandra Burke featuring Flo Rida) is another single that caught the public’s imagination and is a 10-1 chance with bet365 and Paddy Power to win the award, while others prominent in the betting include Lily Allen’s ‘The Fear‘ which is a general 12-1 shot and Pixie Lott’s ‘Mama Do‘, 16-1 with bet365 and boylesport. The best album category is more clear cut if you believe the bookmakers, with Florence & The Machine’s ‘Lungs’ backed to almost the exclusion of all others. Bet365 and Paddy Power’s 4-9 is the biggest price you’ll get now but that sounds plenty short enough to me. This is an album which you’ll either love or hate and something with propensity to divide opinion to such a degree can’t be value at such restrictive odds. ‘Lungs‘ may have been in the album top 40 since last summer but I’ve an inkling that the innovative Paolo Nutini’s ‘Sunny Side Up’, which the Daily Telegraph described as ‘ragtime swing with horny energy’, could usurp it on the big night. Bet365 are quoting Nutini’s second album, a quirky mix of soul, jazz and country, at 20-1 but its chance of polling the most votes shouldn’t be underestimated.

I know how much of a trek it is from Devon to Doncaster. I used to go to school within hailing distance of Town Moor and most years our annual holiday consisted of an 11-hour drive down to the west country to spend two weeks in a static caravan, usually to stare at puddles in Ilfracombe. Nowadays, of course, a much-improved road network means you can cut that journey time in half but it still represents a significant undertaking transporting a horse those 270 miles and not one that a trainer like Victor Dartnall would consider without good reason. Therefore, I’d ask you to mull over carefully the reasons why the aptly-named Exmoor Ranger is in South Yorkshire this weekend. For starters, this is a chaser very much on the upgrade judged on his comfortable win at Newbury in late November. That didn’t look a great race at first glance but third Victorias Groom has won twice since to boost the form and, going on previous runnings, Exmoor Ranger slots nicely into the ideal weight/age range for this week’s Skybet Chase and should be suited by the easy 3m. With his jumping problems apparently behind him now and top Irish jockey Davy Russell booked, the general 9-1 is well worth the gamble. Theatrical Moment steps out of novice company and onto a reasonable mark for his handicap debut over fences but his best price (Coral’s 9-1) reflects this, while layers are being similarly avaricious with the prolific Seven Is My Number (a general 7-1). My worries about the latter would be that he is too high in the weights considering he was effectively handed his two most recent wins on a plate and is up against far more experienced rivals here. Allied to that, David Pipe’s gelding may struggle to confirm Bangor form with Khachaturian on 8lbs worse terms and I certainly wouldn’t put anyone off backing the latter, who looks well treated, at Paddy Power’s 12-1. Soft ground would bring Gone To Lunch (a general 25-1) into the equation, providing he’s fully recovered from his Welsh National exertions, but those conditions wouldn’t suit last month’s C&D winner Calgary Bay (11-1 with bet365), who is 11lbs higher today, while Killyglen (widely available at 11-1) has questions to answer after a shocking effort in the Hennessy at Newbury in November. General 12-1 chance Trabolgan looks a light of former days so we are sticking with Exmoor Ranger to bring home the spoils.