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Review
As Scott Piercy stepped up to the seventeenth tee in his final round at the JT Shriners for Children Open leading the field, it looked like our stunning 80/1 tip was going to make us a very tidy profit. Fifteen minutes later, after the Las Vegan had double bogeyed both final holes we could only rue what might have been.
We were also close to a profit as Wigan narrowly failed to beat Manchester City whilst Allez Wonder and Andrea Dovizioso finished eighth and sixth in the Caulfield Cup and Australian MotoGP respectively.
1pt Cape Cobras to with Champions League Twenty20 at 15/4
A fiercely fought inaugural Twenty20 Champions League reaches the final stages this weekend and despite the form Trinidad and the Australian sides I’m going to back the South African team to win the title.
Cape Cobras face Trinidad in the semi-finals and whilst the West Indian side might have won all their games, they did so in two epically close finishes which could have gone either way. Cobras one defeat was in a dead rubber against Delhi Daredevils with the IPL team already eliminated.
Despite the absence of skipper Graeme Smith, the Cobras have a well balanced side boasting the batting prowess of JP Duminy and Andrew Puttick and the economical bowling of Monde Zondeki and Claude Henderson.
Having already beaten an Australian side in the competition I fancy the Cobras to see off Trinidad in the semis and then either New South Wales or Victoria in the final at 15/4.
Cricket Betting
0.5pt each way on El Segundo to win the Cox Plate at 12/1
The Cox Plate is Australia’s richest ‘weight for age’ event with a prize purse of over $3million. The overwhelming favourite this time around is the Yalumba Stakes winner Whobegotyou although I think it might be wise to oppose the Mark Kavanagh trained horse for this Saturday’s event.
Whobegotyou has been drawn wide in barrier 10 and you have to go back to Bonecrusher in 1986 to find a horse that has won the race from a wide draw. I tend to side with jockey Damian Oliver who said, “Moonee Valley is really one of those horses-for-courses kind of tracks” - meaning that horse who have won here tend to perform well.
For that reason I am going to side with 2007 winner El Segundo. As Oliver also said, “Don’t leave him out. He is another who improves out of sight at the track.” The old stager has a similar running pattern to Whobegotyou and can rekindle his 2007 form with a win at 12/1.
Horse Racing Betting
1pt on Michael Owen to be First Goalscorer and Man Utd to beat Liverpool 1-0 at 35/1
It’s not been the best couple of weeks for Liverpool. Four consecutive defeats, injuries to their two star players, their Champions League hopes hanging in the balance and increasing dissatisfaction with Rafa Benitez and his methods.
Pretty much the only worse thing that could happen to the Reds over the next few days would be one of their previous heroes to come back to the club playing for their most hated rivals and score the goal that consigns them to a fifth consecutive defeat.
Eh? Oh.
Michael Owen’s value as an impact substitute was no better illustrated than his cameo and goal in United’s victory in the furnace of the Manchester derby and the England striker will have no qualms about coming on and silencing the Kop on his return to Anfield. Let’s be fair, it is the stuff that headline writers’ dreams are made of and at 35/1 to score the only goal in a 1-0 win you can’t help but feel that everything is right for Owen to bite the hand that once fed him.
Premier League Betting
0.5pt each way Michael Lorenzo-Vera to win the Castello Masters at 100/1 (e/w 1/4 places 1,2,3,4,5)
After missing the tail end of the 2008 season due to a wrist injury, Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera returned in style in 2009, leading the South African Open at the half way stage before finishing tied for fourteenth place.
The twenty four year old has had a mixed season, but when he has found some form he has played well securing top twenty finishes at the Irish, European and KLM Opens. Had it not been for a final round 73 in the Madrid Masters two weeks ago he would have been challenging for the title and his previous appearance in Spain this season also saw a good finish as he tied twenty-fourth at the Spanish Open.
With recent good form and some decent performances over Spanish courses, and with the added incentive of being seven places outside the ‘magic’ top 115 for next year’s tour card, the incentive is there for the talented Frenchman to perform well this weekend.
Golf Betting
Performance to date: -11 pts
