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I’ve already pinpointed Huddersfield Giants in the Super League this year and I’m prepared to stick with Nathan Brown’s team as the big guns enter the fray in the Challenge Cup. The Giants have made an encouraging start to their Super League campaign and are now as short as 10-1 to top the table in the regular season. Their defence has been particularly impressive, conceding only 40 points in their five outings at the time of writing including a shutout against Hull KR on the road. Facing the same opponents in the next round of the Challenge Cup, Huddersfield will be confident in making progress as they aim to go one better than their heart-breaking defeat by Warrington at Wembley last year and Betfred and William Hill look a bit big at offering 16-1. Bradford Bulls could be interesting as they are a team likely to progress the more they play together. They need to up their work-rate in the opposition’s half but Steve McNamara is steadily getting his team to tick the right boxes and they are also a decent bet at the same price. Holders Warrington Wolves are a best 7-1 (Boylesports, Betfair and Ladbrokes), but it may be worth taking on Leeds (7-2 with Blue Square, 888sport and William Hill) after being pulled out of the hat to face Hull at the KC Stadium. St Helens, winners of the trophy four times in succession in the Noughties (don’t you just detest that word) are the same price with Skybet and Boylesports, while early Super League pace-setters Wigan are quoted at 15-2 by Betfred. The Warriors should be too strong for Sheffield Eagles in round four but it remains to be seen if their defence will be able to maintain its high work rate and discipline beyond the spring. We’ll stick with the Giants again but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Wolves also went close again to retaining the cup.

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.

Ladbrokes‘ PR officer Ciaran O’Brien has been showing some solidarity with traditional market rivals William Hill this week, echoing the comments made by William Hill chief executive Ralph Topping about the rumoured moves to increase tax on betting turnover. Topping told a leading newspaper that any raising of the percentage that high street firms have to pay in duty could lead to wholesale closures among betting offices, with more than a thousand already at risk due to a general fall in the number of bets being wagered by punters coming in off the street and the fact that the average stake per slip is also on the decline. William Hill have recently released their financial results for 2009 which showed that net revenue for the company was up, though net profits actually fell. That was largely due to the funding required to cement their tie-up with Playtech, though there are already signs that their online market share has been heading in the right direction since the deal was struck and there are plans to expand the firm’s in-play markets in 2010. Fixed odds betting terminals and in-house gaming have also been on the increase but one sometimes has to question for how much longer the big bookmakers will be willing to subsidise betting offices as we know them. Nowadays, most people have a computer and some form of online access and there are countless ways to watch the big events on the internet while having a bet. There’s even the fall back of telephone betting and satellite TV. Food for thought certainly, especially if your job is in one of those thousand betting offices staring at the abyss.

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. 

The weights for the John Smith’s Grand National in April were published this week and, as always, they’ve invoked optimism and disappointment in equal measure. Trainers who have been pleasantly surprised by the weight their charges have been allotted are usually, understandably, coy about revealing their feelings but those who feel the handicapper have served them an injustice are never slow in letting those involved know about it! One such is Mouse Morris, who has all but already ruled out former Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition (quoted at 20-1 by Blue Square and 888sport) telling the Racing Post he was, "more than a bit baffled and very disappointed" having been given 11st1lb. Former winners Mon Mome (33-1 with Stan James), Comply Or Die (a general 25-1) and Silver Birch (a general 50-1) remain on track for the big race, however, as do Tricky Trickster and Niche Market, first and second in Newbury’s Aon Chase. The former heads the early ante-post market at a general 12-1, while the latter can be backed at a general 16-1 along with Dessie Hughes‘ Irish raiders Vic Venturi and Black Apalachi, first and second in the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse and both already winners over the Grand National fences. Coral will give you odds of 2-1 that an Irish horse wins the race again in 2010 and another interesting runner from the Emerald Isle could be Willie Mullins’ Arbor Supreme. Successful in long-distance chases at Punchestown and Fairyhouse in 2008 and usually at his best in the spring, the eight-year-old has been lightly campaigned this season and  is by no means overburdened with 10st8lbs. He can be backed at 40-1 with sportingbet, Coral and William Hill. Big Fella Thanks (20-1 with Ladbrokes and William Hill) looks to be the number one hope of the powerful Paul Nicholls yard but I like the early look of Character Building at 33-1 with Victor Chandler, Ladbrokes and William Hill. John Quinn’s grey, winner of last season’s Kim Muir Handicap Chase at Cheltenham, proved his stamina when runner-up in the 4m National Hunt Chase when only a seven-year-old and looks to have been campaigned with an Aintree bid in mind this term.

I must admit, I’m not a great fan in general of greyhound racing. I think I’ll always associate the sport with boring winter afternoons in the betting shop when all of the horse racing had been abandoned. However, it’s also fair to say that ‘a night at the dogs’ is an entirely more pleasant experience, especially when in hailing distance of a free bar, so I can understand how some greyhound tracks are still packing in the punters. One of those is Crayford, where the three semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket takes place this weekend. Six dogs will then progress to a final in March for one of the sport’s most coveted prizes but greyhound enthusiasts are still debating the performance of current favourite Dazzle Special in the heats. Theresa Hunwick’s bitch didn’t win her heat, she was beaten more than two lengths by Group Skater, but few who witnessed the race will believe that the Irish raider can come out on top again should the pair meet in the final. The only luck Dazzle Special had in running in her heat was bad luck. Crowded out and almost brought to a standstill at the first bend, she then cannoned into the rails approaching the end of the first circuit to trail the leaders by a massive margin. However, the bitch metaphorically flew around the final lap to pick off her rivals one-by-one, eventually pipping the trail-blazing Bodell Clare to grab second spot and confirm her progress. Relative fortune does tend to even itself out over time and it’s hard to envisage Dazzle Special having so much bad luck in a race again so soon and she may still be worth backing to capture the Golden Jacket itself next month, despite the bookmakers having taken note of her extraordinary first round performance. She is currently a best 5-2 while old rival Group Skater can be backed at a general 4-1. Hello Hippy, Group Skater’s stablemate is an 18-1 chance with Skybet. The other one for money has been Danbury Dodger, who recorded the fastest time in the heats and is well drawn to make all in his semi-final for which he is a general 4-5. The Crayford specialist is a general 9-2 to go on to success in the final.

Back in 2006, there were strong rumours that Ladbrokes were about to buy out 888 Holdings. Then chief executive Chris Bell was even reported to have flown out to Israel to thrash out a deal with 888’s founders Avi and Aharon Shaked. Uncertainty in the market and a steep asking price were rumoured to be the reason that nothing materialised on that occasion but now, it appears, a tie-up is very much back on the cards. 888 Holdings chief executive Gigi Levy, a former high-flier with software and systems providers Amdocs, is keen to expand his company’s portfolio and there is speculation that as much as £60million could be made available if a mutually-profitable deal can be thrashed out. Ladbrokes, of course, recently became the latest British bookmaker to move their sportsbook operation to Gibraltar in a bid to reduce the impact of the horse racing levy. But shareholders still had to stump up an estimated £275million last year in a new rights issue to help shrink the company’s considerable debts and a merger is viewed by some of the country’s leading business analysts as the only way Ladbrokes can contemplate long-term stability without significantly reducing their overheads. Another possible deal on the horizon in 2010 is a merger between PartyGaming and Bwin. Again, this is a rumour that’s being revived from 2006 but there is a deal of substance to this one. PartyGaming are big players in the world of online poker and casino and the purchase of bingo specialists Cashcade means they can now move forward in that area too. But the remain relative small fry in the field of sports betting in comparison to some. A share in Austria-based Bwin would give them a considerably larger stake in the sports betting market and could be the fore-runner of more mergers this year as online layers attempt to stabilise the market. Bwin, incidentally, recently bought out Italian gaming site Gioco Digitale for around £80million and are others reportedly interested in acquiring a share in 888 Holdings with the possibility of a bid for Sportingbet also on the cards.

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.

Many of us won’t need reminding that the highlight of the National Hunt season is taking place in March, with Cheltenham providing us with four days of high quality horse racing that represent one of the busiest periods of the UK betting calendar.

Starting on Tuesday 16th March and finishing on Friday 19th March, this four-day period will see the bookmakers really go to town with their free bet offerings. With so many people wanting to bet on the Cheltenham Festival these days, you will see many bookies increase their new customer bonus, while existing customers can also expect to see a few emails in their inbox which offer them a free matched bet.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not the world’s biggest horse racing enthusiast as the bookmakers don’t always specifically require you to place qualifying or free bets on a particular market. Therefore, if you’re predominantly someone who bets on soccer, tennis or cricket, then you can often simply take advantage of the firms wanting to appeal to the many potential customers who will be betting on some or all of the twenty-six races that are being run at Cheltenham.

It’s particularly worth keeping your eyes peeled for what William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral are prepared to offer new and existing customers. The ‘Big Three’ in terms of UK high street presence aren’t renowned for being overly generous with their free bet offering, although horse racing is a hugely important sport for these firms and we might expect to see them double their current £25 free bet offers or even quadruple them. Therefore, this might be the perfect time to open an account with these bookmakers if you haven’t already done so.

As far as betting on the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, the races are very competitive and it’s hard work to make a profit. If you are looking to place some horse racing wagers and increase your balance, you need to be disciplined and only pick a handful of races in which to place a bet. There are many ‘bankers’ that get tipped ahead of the Festival, although previous years have shown us that very few of these good things actually finish first in their race!

The highlight event of the week is the Gold Cup, which takes place on Friday 19th March. There’s the exciting prospect of Kauto Star and Denman going head-to-head once again, with Paddy Power offering a best price 11/8 that the former wins this race for the third time, although it was Denman who won the event in 2008. Ladbrokes offer 9/4 that no other runner lives with the high cruising speed of the Paul Nicholls horse.

Dunguib runs in the first race of the Festival and will be heavily backed to get the punters off to a flyer. Paddy Power and Coral both offer 5/6 that there plenty of hats thrown into the air as the horse passes the post in first place, and this appears to be one of the few occasions where an odds-on favourite merits the price.

Superbowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints is being billed as the big quarterback showdown between Peyton Manning and Drew Brees but I think the key figure in the tussle in Miami’s Sun Life Stadium could be the Colts‘ running back Pierre Garcon. Rain has been falling persisitently in south Florida since the weekend, threatening to turn the field into a quagmire and making handling conditions difficult, and that could persuade both quarterbacks to limit the number of long plays they target towards their regular wide receivers. So step forward Monsieur Garcon! In his second season with the Colts, the 23-year-old New Yorker has accumulated a return of 11 catches and 151 receiving yards and his ability to run at speed from deep was too much for the Jets‘ defense to handle in the AFC Championship game. The Saints‘ defense will more than likely be doubling up on Colts‘ first-choice receivers Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark so Garcon’s ability to latch on to the short pass could be even more important and he looks a decent bet at a general 12-1 to score the first touchdown of what promises to be a high-scoring game. Peyton Manning’s credentials as the Colts‘ possible match-winner are well-advertised. The NFL’s Most Valuable Player of 2009 did, after all, lead the Colts to victory in Miami three years ago – but what of opposite number Drew Brees? The former Chargers‘ QB is widely regarded as one of the most innovative in his position in the NFL and he’ll acquire legendary status if he manages to steer the Saints to victory in their first-ever appearance in the Superbowl. He’s formed a productive partnership with Marques Colston (10-1 with boylesports, Ladbrokes and William Hill to score the first touchdown) but Brees may have to temper his adventurous nature if the play demands it and one can’t be sure how he’ll react if things start to turn against his team. The Colts have a very mobile defense and Brees will find himself under immense pressure every time he has ball in hand and he looked very nervy in the NFC championship decider against the Vikings. That game exposed the Saints‘ defensive limitations to some degree and Manning is probably a more consistent quarterback than the legendary Brett Favre nowadays so Colts‘ fans will be hopeful their man can enjoy similar success in opening up the opposition’s flanks. I  believe that the Colts will be much too strong for the Superbowl rookies and would recommend backing them to overcome a five-point start for the Saints at Evens with Stan James. I would even suggest they may be capable of racking up a double-figure points margin if grabbing the early initiative so the general 6-1 for a 13-18 winning points margin in favour of the Colts also makes some appeal.