Tag: Annie Power

Cheltenham blog – The £100 million fall!

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The bookmakers were saved an estimated £100 million pay-out on the opening day of the Cheltenham festival when Annie Power crashed out at the final hurdle in the Mares’ Hurdle.

Bookmakers had feared a multi-million pound pay-out with Irish trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Ruby Walsh having four red-hot favourites on the card. Douvan started the ball rolling in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and was quickly followed by Un De Sceaux in the Arkle Chase.

The bandwagon rolled on in the Champion Hurdle when Faugheen led home stable companions Arctic Fire and Hurricane Fly in a Mullins 1-2-3. Everything appeared to be going to plan for Annie Power as Ruby Walsh moved her through to lead on the home turn. They quickened up going to the last but took off a stride to early and crashed out of the race.

The race was battled out by Nicky Henderson’s Polly Peachum and the Mullins-trained Glens Melody, runner-up to Quevega a year earlier. The photo finish went in favour of Glens Melody to provide him with a fourth winner on the day. Fortunately Annie Power and Ruby Walsh returned unscathed and it is only the punters left nursing their wounds.

Most of the special offers from bookmakers had focussed on the Mullins runners so they still face a hefty pay-out, but not nearly as bad as it might have been. There were enhanced prices offered on the first three Mullins winners for new customers and money back offers on the Supreme and the Arkle. With four winners already on the board, Mullins is now closing in on Nicky Henderson’s record of seven festival winners in one season.

Special Offer

Open a Racebets account and you can get 10-1 about either Sire de Grugy or Sprinter Sacre for tomorrow’s Champion Chase (maximum £5 stake per customer – new customers only).

Latest Festival Updates

Coneygree will definitely run in the Gold Cup after being taken out of the RSA Chase on Wednesday. Boston Bob is also thought likely to run in Friday’s feature race in preference to the Ryanair Chase.

Willie Mullins has taken Briar Hill out of the World Hurdle but will still be represented by Zaidpour and Abbyssial. All of the other major contenders stood their ground.

Market Movers

Wednesday – Don Poli (RSA Chase) 2-1 BetBright

Thursday – Don Cossack (Ryanair Chase) 7-2 Sky Bet

Friday – Coneygree (Gold Cup) 12-1 Sky Bet

Cheltenham Preview Tuesday 10th March

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Cheltenham Festival gets under way on Tuesday with the bookmakers braced for a Willie Mullins onslaught. He saddles four hot favourites with Douvan, Un De Sceaux, Faugheen and Annie Power. 888Sport are offering 20-1 about all four winning and there will be plenty of takers.

We like to search out a little bit of value where we can find it and there are plenty of special offers on the first race. The pick of them is from William Hill where all losing bets are refunded as free bets up to £25. L’Ami Serge has done nothing wrong for Nicky Henderson and the form of his Newbury win in November looks pretty smart with Kilcooley and Violet Dancer both claiming valuable prizes since. If there is to be a shock, it could come from Seedling who has been carefully prepared for this race all season by Warren Greatrex.

If you’re betting on the Arkle, Paddy Power will refund your stake as a free bet if Un De Sceaux wins. That makes Vibrato Valtat a very tempting proposition at 6-1. I had wondered if he was keeping a bit to himself in his races but he strode clear at Warwick last time impressively.

The Festival Handicap Chase should give the bookies a bit of relief from the big hitters. I’ll be interested to see how Monbeg Dude gets on here as he is one of our Grand National hopes this year. I don’t think the going will be soft enough for him to win but hope to see him run on into fourth or fifth. Connections have decided against running Mendip Express in the National this year but they may live to regret it if he comes up the hill impressively here.

We have covered the Champion Hurdle in detail and Arctic Fire is a hopeful each-way selection in small field. I’m not convinced that Faugheen is a specialist two-miler but the same applies to The New One who looks his biggest threat. Annie Power looks difficult to beat in the Mares Hurdle and the 7-1 with Skybet looks a generous offer for new customers. As an each-way alternative, try L’Unique at 20-1 for Alan King providing that there is no significant overnight rain.

In the National Hunt Chase I am siding with Cause Of Causes who was unlucky not to peg back Spring Heeled last year. I respect the chances of King’s Sego Success and Very Wood will be popular if Mullins has already enjoyed a field day. The closing handicap looks tricky but Tony McCoy will surely be among the winners this week at some point and Bold Henry has course form.

1.30 L’Ami Serge @7-2 William Hill*

1.30 Seedling @16-1 William Hill* (each-way)

*Stakes refunded as free bets on all losers

2.05 Vibrato Valtat @6-1 Paddy Power** Stakes refunded as free bets if Un De Sceaux wins

2.40 Mendip Express @16-1 Paddy Power (each-way)

3.20 Arctic Fire @20-1 Totesport (each-way)

4.00 Annie Power @7-1 Sky Bet*** New customers only – max. £5

4.00 L’Unique @20-1 Coral (each-way)

4.40 Cause Of Causes @8-1 Paddy Power (each-way)

5.15 Bold Henry @12-1 Ladbrokes (each-way)

Special bet – Willie Mullins four-timer Douvan, Un De Sceaux, Faugheen, Annie Power @20-1 888Sport

Cheltenham blog – Betway to refund all festival fallers

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Hopefully you will have already taken advantage of some of the special offers for Cheltenham this week. We have done our best to keep you right up-to-date with what’s on offer for both new and existing customers. If you missed any, just click through our recent blog posts.

Special Offers

If you’re betting with Betway this week, they are going to refunds stakes on all fallers at the Cheltenham festival up to a  maximum of £25. If you are not yet registered with Betway, they are offering a £50 welcome bonus to new customers are present.

If you intend betting on the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, remember that William Hill are refunding all losing bets on the race (irrespective of who wins) up to a maximum of £25. That effectively gives you a risk-free bet.

If you don’t yet have a Paddy Power account, they are offering 5-1 about Un De Sceaux in the Arkle for new customers up to a maximum of £10. Join Sky Bet to take advantage of their tremendous offer of 7-1 Annie Power in the Mares Hurdle (maximum £5 per customer).

Latest News

Trainer Willie Mullins looks certain to have five festival favourites on day 1 after confirming that Very Wood will contest the four-mile National Hunt Chase. Last year’s 33-1 Neptune winner had been expected to line up with stable companion Don Poli in the RSA Chase but has been switched for the marathon amateur riders’ race.

Trainer Mark Bradstock has hinted that his star novice Coneygree may run in Friday’s Gold Cup rather than the RSA Chase. Forecasts of rain during the week have encouraged connections to lean towards a tilt at the biggest prize of the week with their improving eight-year-old, a game winner of the Grade 2 Denman Chase at Newbury last month.

Market Movers

Tuesday 4.40 Sego Success 5-1 Paddy Power

Tuesday 5.15 Thomas Crapper 8-1 Coral

Wednesday RSA Chase Don Poli 5-2 Ladbrokes

Cheltenham on Betcirca

We will be continuing our daily blog throughout festival week with a roundup at the end of each day’s action. We will also provide a full preview of each day’s racing as well as an in-depth analysis of the feature race on each day.

Cheltenham blog – Annie Power 7-1 Sky Bet offer

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Only one day to go to the start of the Cheltenham Festival 2015 and the special offers are still coming in. As we have highlighted in our previous blog posts, there are some great Cheltenham offers for new and existing customers.

If you are not already a registered customer of Sky Bet, they are offering a colossal 7-1 against the odds-on favourite Annie Power in the Mares’ Hurdle on day 1. The offer is restricted to new customers only to a maximum stake of £5. Even so, that will be a handy £35 worth of free bets in your account for the rest of Cheltenham week if Annie Power does her stuff.

To put her chance in perspective, she is currently rated 162 by the handicapper, 7lbs superior to Polly Peachum and 12lbs better than stable companion Glens Melody. Racing Post ratings give her 12lbs in hand of her nearest rival. Only Saphir Du Rheu and Whisper are rated above her in the World Hurdle, a race in which she finished runner-up 12 months’ ago. In short, she should win!

Latest News

There have not been any further significant non-runners at the meeting, although the betting on the big handicaps will take a while to sort out when the final declarations come through. Horses like Quick Jack are entered in several races and connections are waiting on the final cut and ground conditions before deciding which race to go for.

With no further watering planned for the festival, I would be a little worried if you have backed any mud-lovers in the big races this week. The going looks likely to be no worse than good to soft.

On Monday, we will provide a race-by-race guide for the opening day plus an in-depth preview of the Champion Hurdle as Faugheen bids to extend his unbeaten run. You can follow us on Twitter and sign-up for our free email service with daily tips and special offers.

Market movers

Day 1 – Pendra (Cheltenham Festival Chase) 7-1 Bet365

Day 2 – Aux Ptits Soins (Coral Cup) 9-1 Paddy Power

Day 3 – Djakadam (Gold Cup) 10-1 BetVictor

Day 3 – Roi Des Francs (Martin Pipe Hurdle) 11-2 888Sport