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The Open Sud de France tennis betting is underway this week in Montpellier, and has moved up the calendar year. It used to be played in Lyon late in the year, but the indoor event now gets a run out at the start of the year again, since the switch to Montpellier in 2010. There is a great competitive field at the head of The Open Sud de France tennis betting here, and it is led by Czech star Tomas Berdych. Berdych went all the way to the quarter finals of the Australian Open last week and he has won before on French soil. This is the first time that he has entered the tournament here, but coming on the back of good form, should seed the world number seven make a really good crack at the title. But will the ever popular Frenchman Gael Monfils, on his home soil be able to defend the title he won in Lyon in 2010? The world number 15 is obviously ranked behind Berdych, but with his boundless energy and enthusiasm, Monfils is superb to watch, a true entertainer and he will naturally feed off the partisan home crowd. Monfils holds a great 8-1 match record at the event and should be a good bet as the third seed at the event. Another strong Frenchman on home soil should be Gilles Simon, who seems to enjoy this event. He reached back to back semi finals in 2008 and 2009, before the tournament switched from Lyon and there is always a betting favour in getting behind home based players in the field. Simon has a 9-5 match record at the event, similar to that of Richard Gasquet, who is a former winner of The Open Sud de France tennis betting. Frenchman Gasquet won the event back in 2006 so has experience of winning on home soil, and could well be a dangerous floater as the fourth seed this year. Big Spaniard Feliciano Lopez may be worth a look at in The Open Sud de France tennis betting. He made it to the last sixteen of the Australian Open and in Sydney, where he lost to fellow countryman Rafael Nadal. Could be the dark horse in the pack.

The Open Sud de France tennis betting will be enhanced with live streams being provided from BetFair. The highly popular online betting exchange is giving their customers the chance to get close to the action, with their great live streaming service to run alongside your live in play tennis betting. The streams are free to watch for BetFair account holders and it is part of a great service from the betting exchange, which enhances your live in play betting. The highly rated and highly popular BetFair offer a risk free £25 bet for new customers who open an account with them. If your first bet on a new BetFair account loses, you will be refunded your lost stake up to the maximum value of £25. There is also the great option to earn up to £1000 in cash back over the first 30 days of your betting on the new account. The bigger and more you bet on your BetFair account, the more points you earn as your cash back, and you can get up to £1000 in cash back!

Online betting exchange BetFair is the place to head to if you want to tune in to some live football streams this weekend from Spain’s La Liga. Once again there is some great action to come, including the chance to see Barcelona live in action. Barca produced a comeback win over bitter rivals Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter final during midweek, and Pep Guardiola’s men will be looking to reel in Real Madrid at the top of the table. Barcelona find themselves five points adrift of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid going into this weekend’s matches and the Catalans will simply need to keep on winning from here on out if they are going to gain an advantage of Madrid and hold on to their La Liga title. Barcelona though have had their wobbles on the road this season, winning just three of their eight away games so far, drawing four and losing one. Barcelona are at Malaga on Saturday evening and a win would keep up the pressure on Madrid who are at home to Bilbao the same day. There are great fixtures this weekend, which can be seen with BetFair live streams right on your computer, and that of course will enable your live in play betting to be enhanced as well. Being able to watch the live streams, to get a real feel for the action, is a great way to make better judgement calls on your in play betting. You can track Barcelona, along with others in La Liga this weekend, with live football streams at BetFair.

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Andy Murray 2012 Australian Open Tennis betting Preview. Are the stars lining up for British number one Andy Murray in 2012 Australian Open betting? The Scot opened the season with a first title, which came fairly comfortably in Brisbane as his warm up. He also easily dispatched David Nalbandian in an exhibition warm up match last week as well. Murray pretty much breezed through the latter stages of Brisbane, after a slow start which is to be expected as players warm back up into the new season. But, by and large, Murray continued the fine form which he displayed towards the end of last season. However, that Grand Slam title still eludes him but people are suggesting that this year is going to be one of his best shots. Murray has good form at the Australian Open, reaching the last two finals, but being defeated in both of them. So he knows the territory and he will be looking to go just that one step further this time around. Murray has enlisted the help of new coach, tennis legend Ivan Lendl, but it is going to be far too early too early to garner anything from that. Lendl’s arrival should signal a long term improvement, so Murray still pretty much goes into the Australian Open on his own, even though his new coach will there will him. You can’t expect Andy Murray to change his game to Grand Slam winning one over night, and that is why patience is going to be needed and expectations kept under check for Andy Murray 2012 Australian Open Grand Slam tennis betting. Murray is at his best when he is moving around the court fluently, and not getting stuck between his own feet. He has the defensive anticipation and punch to out rally the best, and he is still one of the best returners of the ball in the men’s game. The big question is, not whether he can make a run, but whether or not he can win the big one if he gets to the final again.

Andy Murray goes into 2012 looking for another step forward. He comes into the new season on the back of his best ever, reaching the final of the Australian Open, and hitting the semi finals at the other three Grand Slams, all of which ended in defeat for Murray by Rafael Nadal. So will it be third time lucky for Murray at the Australian Open if the Scot can make it back there? Murray goes into the Australian Open with an overall 78-24 match record at Grand Slams, and on the hard court, he hits Melbourne with a 233-66 match career record. Murray is the only one of the big four in the men’s game to have yet to break through and win a Grand Slam. Can he change that around this year, with the injury and motivation concerns surrounding Rafael Nadal and the aging legs of Roger Federer? Murray has drawn the toughest quarter of the top four seeds so he is going to have his work cut out for him. He could have an early fourth round meeting against the dangerous Gael Monfils, and with one of the top outside bets Jo Wilfried Tsonga in his quarter of the draw as well, and the most likely quarter final opponent, there is tough road to the final for Murray. Murray opens his quest against Ryan Harrison of the USA and of course, the biggest hurdle between Murray and his first Grand Slam title will be world number one Novak Djokovic, who will most likely be waiting for Murray in the semi final. If Murray reaches the final, he would be backed as favourite against either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal from the other half of the draw if either of those make it. So the Ivan Lendl factor is really not going to be a factor at all in Andy Murray Australian Open tennis betting. It is all going to be on the shoulders of the man himself. There is a tough task ahead and the time now is for Murray to really prove his standing as one of the best in the world.

Andy Murray to win 2012 Australian Open betting Odds: 5/1 at Bet365

Andy Murray to reach final: 11/4 at Victor Chandler

Name the Finalists:
Andy Murray v Roger Federer: 9/1 at Bet365
Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal: 10/1 at Bet365

Online betting exchange BetFair are streaming live action from the first round of the 201 Australian Open. The highly popular site is giving their customers the opportunity to get up close to the action from Melbourne Park with live tennis streams. It means that your live in play betting can be enhanced at BetFair as you can watch the action and bet live at the same time. Online betting exchange BetFair offer a risk free first bet on a new customer registration, they will cover your first bet up to the value of £25 if it loses. There is also the option to earn up to £1000 in cash back during the first 30 days of your betting at BetFair, where the bigger you bet, the more you can get back.

Rafael Nadal 2012 Australian Open Tennis betting Preview. After all the struggles of last season, former world number one Rafael Nadal will be hoping to turn up the heat in the early stages of the new season, with a strong showing at the Australian Open. However, the Spaniard, who appears to have been battling both fitness and focus problems over the last six months or so, doesn’t look to be in prime shape ahead of his Melbourne quest. Nadal’s first outing of the season came in Doha, where he lost in the semi final to Gael Monfils (a result which Nadal said was better than expected), and losing out to David Ferrer in an exhibition tournament following that, there is clearly more work to be done if the Spaniard is going to get back to the heights of being number one. Looking at Rafael Nadal 2012 Australian Open tennis betting odds, he has drifted out to fourth favourite, because of the problems which he has been having. He did look in decent shape when he helped fire Spain to the Davis Cup, but there is just something lacking to his game at the moment, which puts doubts on whether or not he can go all the way in a long, arduous Grand Slam challenge at the moment. Nadal lost a lot of power to Novak Djokovic last season, as Nadal only managed to get his hands on the French Open and that was it. Nadal won the 2009 Australian Open title against Roger Federer but you will remember his sorry exit from last year’s Australian Open, when injury in the quarter final against fellow countryman David Ferrer, meant that he couldn’t compete. But he is back for more, as he has kept talking about finding the new fire and passion for the game, and  knowing that he needs to step up his form if he is going to be able to match Novak Djokovic.

So Nadal hits Melbourne Park with a patched up shoulder, an injury which has been bothering him and with an adjusted racquet, which is designed to help him get higher balls back over the net with force. Nadal has been one of the most vocal players in disapproval at heavy calendar scheduling, and with only a couple of weeks of preparation for the first Grand Slam of the season, which hasn’t gone terrifically, you wonder what kind of threat Nadal is going to be able to muster up. The bookies are leaning towards him being the weakest of the four main contenders in this year’s 2012 Australian Open tennis betting. He is back as fourth favourite, going off in the bottom half of the draw along with Roger Federer. The big dream semi final clash in the bottom half would be Nadal v Federer, just to reignite that old rivalry even further, and looking at Nadal’s quarter of the draw, you would expect an 80% fit Nadal to still get through. There is the likes of John Isner, Nicolas Almagro and Tomas Berdych in his quarter who could test Nadal if the Spaniard is not on top of his game, but we will find out soon enough just what kind of shape he really is in. He has looked vulnerable, appearing tired and fatigued at the end of last season, lacking a bit of drive, but he is a champion of the sport and going into a Grand Slam he will expect nothing less than his best. Nadal’s camp really does not sound as confident as the words coming out of Novak Djokovic’s and Roger Federer’s. So does the Spaniard have something special to produce? A good couple of solid victories before the real challenges start around the fourth round would surely set him up well. If he makes it to the second week of competition, would you could him out? Nadal carries a 143-20 match record in Grand Slams (with ten major titles) into Melbourne Park and on the hard court surface, Nadal holds a career 263-83 match record. Nadal opens with a first round match against Alex Kuznetsov, a qualifier from the USA.

Rafael Nadal to win 2012 Australian Open betting Odds: 8/1 at William Hill

Rafael Nadal to reach final: 3/1 at VC Bet

Name the Finalists:
Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal: 4/1 at Bet365
Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal: 10/1 at Bet365

Online betting exchange BetFair are streaming live action from the first round of the 201 Australian Open. The highly popular site is giving their customers the opportunity to get up close to the action from Melbourne Park with live tennis streams. It means that your live in play betting can be enhanced at BetFair as you can watch the action and bet live at the same time. Online betting exchange BetFair offer a risk free first bet on a new customer registration, they will cover your first bet up to the value of £25 if it loses. There is also the option to earn up to £1000 in cash back during the first 30 days of your betting at BetFair, where the bigger you bet, the more you can get back.

Novak Djokovic 2012 Australian Open Tennis betting Preview. Can the Serb match his three-peat Grand Slam title success of last year, and land his third Australian Open title? The World Number One started off the season with a triumph in the Australian Open before going on to lift the Wimbledon and US Open title. That was one of ten titles in total for Djokovic last season and he goes as favourite in defence of his title at Melbourne Park. Djokovic won an exhibition event as part of his warm up for the Australian Open, taken the exhibition even in Abu Dhabi. There was some injury problems starting to creep in ahead of Australian Open tennis betting, as the long season took its toll on the Serb, with niggles to his shoulder and his back. Will there be any new year hangover for Djokovic? Or is he just going to roll on forward and start off another remarkable season? There will of course be the extra chance of winning an Olympic Gold medal this year. He is sounding pretty confident ahead of the tournament and he will be the man to beat. Djokovic is in the same half of the draw as Britain’s Andy Murray, the man he crushed in the final of last year’s event. He has even been talking of improvement from the last season, working on his variety of serves and taking more risks in coming into the net with more frequency. Djokovic starts off with a first round match against Paolo Lorenzi of Italy and the challenges won’t really start coming until the quarter finals. The most likely opponent in Novak Djokovic 2012 Australian Open tennis betting at the quarter final stage will be against David Ferrer, while Andy Roddick and young Canadian star Milos Raonic is in his quarter of the draw.

But with the big four stars expected to be contesting the semi finals, it will set Djokovic up for a semi final clash against Andy Murray. With two Australian Open titles under his belt, the Serbian is expected to be right there in the final. With question marks over the fitness and commitment of Rafael Nadal, and the aging legs of Roger Federer, who can stop Djokovic? Again the most likely scenario is that he will meet either Nadal or Federer in the final from the other half of the draw, and would you go against Djokovic against either of them in 2012 Australian Open. Probably not. Djokovic enters with a 110-24 match record in Grand Slams and a solid 247-65 match record on hard courts, where he has won twenty career titles. Djokovic is definitely a front runner, because he has won 342 and lost just 19 matches after he has taken the first set. After losing the first set of a match though, he has only gone on to win 52, losing 92 after going behind, so not a great strike rate there. But breaking the incredible Djokovic defence down is just something which opponents struggle to do, because his incredible defence and the ability to pull shots out of nowhere from the baseline. Strongest player in the men’s draw for 2012 Australian Open without a doubt and worth looking at for some good value and returns. He’s not the Djoker in the pack, he is the ace.

Novak Djokovic to win 2012 Australian Open betting Odds: 5/4 at Bet365

Novak Djokovic to reach final: 3/5 at Bwin

Name the Finalists:
Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer: 7/2 at Bet365
Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal: 7/2 at SkyBet

Online betting exchange BetFair are streaming live action from the first round of the 201 Australian Open. The highly popular site is giving their customers the opportunity to get up close to the action from Melbourne Park with live tennis streams. It means that your live in play betting can be enhanced at BetFair as you can watch the action and bet live at the same time. Online betting exchange BetFair offer a risk free first bet on a new customer registration, they will cover your first bet up to the value of £25 if it loses. There is also the option to earn up to £1000 in cash back during the first 30 days of your betting at BetFair, where the bigger you bet, the more you can get back.

Online betting exchange BetFair are showing live streams from the 2012 Australian Open. The highly popular betting exchange’s live stream service, a great draw along with their alternative betting methods, is giving their customers an opportunity to tune in to live streams. This means that you can get up close and personal with some top live action from the first round of action from Melbourne Park. What are the benefits of being able to watch live streams? The natural benefit which it brings to live in play betting is the answer. When you can watch live action you can get a much better gauge on which way the action will swing in the event, and that means you live in play bets have a better chance of paying up. With two weeks of top tennis action to come, you can jump straight in to the live streams and live betting with BetFair. What are some the first round matches you can tune into? Well BetFair are showing live streams from both the men’s draw, where Andy Murray looks to finally conquer his three main challengers to land his first Grand Slam, and the women’s draw, where Petra Kvitova is the hot bet to take Kim Clijster’s crown.

With the BetFair live Australian Open tennis streams, in the Women’s draw you can watch last year’s defeated finalist Na Li v Ksenia Pervak, as the Chinese star looks to continue her great form in Australia. Rising Chinese star Shuai Peng, a dangerous outsider takes on Aravane Rezai in the first round and can be seen at BetFair. Agnieszka Radwanska faces Aussie maverick Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Britain’s Laura Robson, who comfortably came through qualification to book her place in the main draw of the 2012 Australian Open, squares off against top sixteen seed Jelena Jankovic in a tasty first round match. Over in the men’s draw Mardy Fish v Gilles Muller can be seen at BetFair, while Tomas Berdych v Albert Ramos is also a decent looking first round match up. You can also catch young Russian Alexandr Dolgopolov v Greg Jones in first round action, while big John Isner v Benjamin Mitchell can also be watched thanks to the live BetFair tennis streams. There is a great deal of action to come and the highly rated BetFair has great coverage of the tennis action from Melbourne Park.

So plenty of live action to be watched with BetFair’s live tennis streams from the 2012 Australian Open. The betting exchange offers a risk free £25 bet for new customers when they register an account. If your first stake on a new BetFair account loses, then the betting exchange will refund that lost stake up to the maximum value of £25, making your first BetFair bet a risk free one. There is also the option with BetFair to get up to £1000 in cash back over the course of your first 30 days. The more you bet, the bigger you bet within your first 30 days of opening your new BetFair account, the bigger the cash back reward you will be in line to receive!

This year’s Masters Snooker gets off to an explosive start this coming weekend at its new home, the Alexandra Palace, when defending champion, China’s Ding Junhui, takes on former title-holder Ronnie O’ Sullivan in the opening round. ‘The Rocket’ beat Ding in the 2007 final but is increasingly looking a light of former days. O’Sullivan had a poor 2011 and hasn’t won a ranking tournament since the start of the 2009/10 season. The demons he faces on a daily basis away from the table will always make him a risky proposition in ante-post lists, but those willing to take a chance on the hugely talented Essex native at ‘Ally Pally’ can get 6/1 at Boylesports and Ladbrokes. Ding Junhui is 133/10 on betfair for a second win in this prestigious invitational tournament and can’t be ruled out. Asia’s most successful-ever player knocked out Mark Williams and Graeme Dott among others en route to his defeat of Marco Fu in the final at Wembley12 months ago but has frozen on the big stages since and is worth taking on in The Masters with Mark Selby.

It was a case of so near but yet so far last season for the 28-year-old from Leicester after he was beaten in the final of both the German Masters and the China Open. But he’s already gone some way towards making amends by winning this year’s Shanghai Masters and The Masters is his favourite tournament and one in which he’s already been successful twice. The bottom half of the draw appears the weaker and gives Selby a great chance of making it to the final again, with veteran John Higgins (a general 7/1) apparently the biggest obstacle lying in his path. But Selby has a decent record against the former world champion and ended 2012 in decent form whereas the Scot had some indifferent results towards the end of last year. Betfred and totesport offer 7/1 against current world number one Mark Selby winning at Alexandra Palace and that will do for me.

As I’ve said, the top half of the draw looks much tougher than the bottom half but the redoubtable Mark Williams will probably make a bold bid to emerge unscathed and can be backed at 12/1 with Ladbrokes and sportingbet. The Welshman still maintains he was robbed in the final of the Shangai Masters and will be out for revenge on Selby but a tricky quarter-final against world champion Neil Robertson (a general 10/1) awaits if the seedings pan out and he could than face Ding Junhui in the semis.

The big excitement of the WTA Tennis betting this week, is over in Sydney, but there is also the Moorilla Hobart International to look at as well. Sadly we have already lost Britain’s Elena Baltacha who took an early exit from the tournament, but we have British interest from youngster Heather Watson. Australia’s number two Jarmila Gajdosova is the defending champion at the event, but it is Yanina Wickmayer and Anabel Medina Garrigues who are going off as top seeds in the draw. Wickmayer is probably a better option than Garrigues in the tennis betting options, but there are a couple of other names worth looking at as options, and that is Shahar Peer and Angelique Kerber. Israel’s Peer is a great talent, but just lacking that ability to get  up to the higher tier of the game. Still, a wonderful player to watch and should be able to put in a good run here, because she will want a good crack at the Australian Open. The field here is pretty evenly matched, with Wickmayer the highest ranked player in the world at 26th at the event. The rest of the seeds are rolling in her behind her from the world 27th to the 40th ranked player in the world. So you can see the level of competition here. What does this mean for your WTA Hobart betting? Well, that there are some evenly matched prices around, making some good value.

The interesting thing here is, that Wickmayer and Peer are on course for a collision in the final, so you will have to make a pick between them. Which one? Think that Peer is the stronger of the two players, she has the potential to head the right way up the rankings this year, while Wickmayer is struggling to stay in the top thirty. Spaniard Medina Garrigues is a tidy player but the bottom half of the draw could come down to an Aussie clash of Gajdosova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Could be well worth dropping down to Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who was runner up at last year’s event and she goes unseeded in the draw, and she will make our tip to go all of the way here in WTA Hobart tennis betting.

WTA Hobart 2012 – Tennis Betting
Shahar Peer: 6/1 at Totesport
Angelique Kerber: 8/1 at Totesport
Yanina Wickmayer: 8/1 at Totesport
Bethanie Mattek-Sands: 18/1 at Victor Chandler
Anna Chakvetadze: 20/1 at Victor Chandler
Jarmila Gajdosova: 22/1 at Bet365
Anabel Medina-Garrigues: 25/1 at BetFred

There is more great tennis action live streams this week with BetFair, as the highly rated online betting exchange delivers more top content. BetFair customers can gain access to live tennis streams from the WTA event this week, which brings you closer to live betting options as well. Watching live tennis streams while betting is the perfect combination, and you can action all week from Hobart. Online betting exchange BetFair offers a risk free £25 bet for new customers registering an account. Your first bet on a new account will be refunded if it loses, up to the maximum value of £25. There is also an option to take up to £1000 in cash back as well as a new customer, the rate of return being how much you bet during your first thirty days as a BetFair customer.

Britain’s Andy Murray will have been happy enough with the news that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal failed to make an impact in Doha. Murray is playing in Brisbane ahead of the Australian Open, and after a couple of shaking moments in the first round, Murray powered his way through to the final and the bookies are treating this as Murray v Field. Murray was the only top ten player in the event, and is now faced with a semi final against Bernard Tomic, ranked 42^nd in the world. Murray saw off Gilles Muller in the second round, powering through the deciding set 6-0. The Scot then turned on the burners to blaze the challenge of Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter final, taking the match 6-2 6-2 without any hassle. So Murray is favourite to take the title here now, heading the final four and will have been buoyed by Nadal and Federer’s failures in Doha, which could make Murray a bigger threat at the first Grand Slam of the season. It is definitely something to think about for your tennis betting. A title here for Murray would no doubt do his confidence wonders, and with new coach Ivan Lendl behind him, could this be Murray’s big breakthrough year at the Slams?

In the other semi final match of Brisbane, we have Alexandr Dolgopolov v Gilles Simon. Young Russian Dolgopolov will be worth backing here. He is one of the rising talents in the game and would be great to see him in the final against Murray. Dolgopolov is the third seed here (and world number 15) in ATP Brisbane betting, while Simon is the Brisbane second seed (and world number 12). So a tight match should be on the cards, and it should be a match to decide who squares off against Andy Murray in the final. Out of the two, Dolgopolov has been pushed harder in the Brisbane draw than what Gilles Simon has, and that extra bit of resiliency shown already from the Russian, could be the deciding factor against Frenchman Simon, who really hasn’t been tested as of yet.

Andy Murray v Bernard Tomic Betting
Murray 1/4, Tomic 3/1 at VC Bet

Gilles Simon v Alexandr Dolgopolov Betting
Simon 4/6, Dolgopolov 11/1 at SportingBet

ATP Brisbane Outright Winner Odds
Andy Murray: 4/6 at Paddy Power
Gilles Simon: 9/2 at Victor Chandler
Alexandr Dolgopolov: 6/1 Ladbrokes
Bernard Tomic: 8/1 at VC Bet

You can see the conclusion of the ATP Brisbane Tennis betting at online betting exchange BetFair. They have been, and continue to, show live streams from the event, which means that you can start with watching Andy Murray v Bernard Tomic live stream in the semi final. These are great live streams on offer from BetFair, as they increase your experience with live in play betting as well. Jump into live tennis betting while watching the live stream, to get a better feel for your bet placement. Online betting exchange BetFair, offer a risk free £25 bet for new customers, who will get their first stake on a new account refunded if it loses (up to the maximum of £25). There is also an option to take up to £1000 in cash back as well as a new customer, the rate of return being how much you bet during your first thirty days as a BetFair customer.

Plenty of usual suspects face the starter in the latest of what is fast becoming a pre-requisite handicap chase over 2m5f at every Cheltenham meeting. This one is sponsored by Victor Chandler and champion trainer Paul Nicholls once again provides the top weight in The Nightingale (a general 14/1) and a fancied runner further down the weights in the shape of Ghizao.

Ruby Walsh rides the latter so it’s fair to presume he is the stable selection. Bookmakers and punters certainly think so and the eight-year-old, who beat subsequent Arkle Chase winner Captain Chris twice as a novice, is only a general 6/1. He hasn’t run badly in either start this season but never really jumped with any fluency behind Quantitiveeasing over C&D last time and has ground to make up on Calgary Bay on that run.

Henrietta Knight‘s gelding usually runs well at Cheltenham but hasn’t won for a while. But that could all change in this New Year feature if he can lie up with the pace as he’ll be reeling in the front-runners up the hill. At 8/1 with most layers, Calgary Bay looks a cast-iron each-way bet and Duke Of Lucca should also be in the firing-line. Novices don’t have a great recent record in this contest but Philip Hobbs’ charge could be the exception that proves the rule. A very decent hurdler over this sort of distance, he spread-eagled an ordinary field at Wincanton after a couple of sighters and, though his jumping will be put under pressure by these experienced handicappers, it would be no surprise to see him go close at Boylesports and Stan James‘ 6/1.

Crescent Island (14/1 with Boylesports) and Hector’s Choice (20/1 with Victor Chandler) look closely matched on Newbury running behind Chance Du Roy and are capable of making their presence felt but it would need a giant leap of faith to support Cape Tribulation (21/1 on betfair) after he was pulled up early on at Haydock two weeks ago and the bottom six on the racecard are all carrying more than their allotted weight. The best of those may be Havingotascoobydo, who has been placed twice over shorter trips at Cheltenham recently. He can be backed at 7/1 with Skybet and William Hill, though his jumping can still be a little novicey at times. Hell’s Bay won a big prize last season but was pulled up when favourite on his reappearance at Ascot, hence his 14/1 quote from Betfred, Boylesports and totesport. Calgary Bay is taken to land the spoils with Duke Of Lucca to chase him home.

• Calgary Bay to win the Bet With Your Mobile at Victor Chandler Chase at a general 8/1
• Duke Of Lucca to win the Bet With Your Mobile at Victor Chandler Chase at 6/1 with Boylesports and Stan James