After the staggering success (ahem) of last years Cheltenham Festival tips, I thought I’d do it all again this year for you.

We’re still waiting for the confirmed runners and riders for this years races but I’ve had a look through the entries for the 26 races which make up the 2009 Cheltenham card and picked out those with a cricketing theme and, by Jiminy, I think I might have found some winners for you!

There aren’t that many cricket related horses running and some of the cricketing links are a bit tenuous but here’s an each way patent that could return you some dough.

Tuesday - Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle (3.20pm). Katchit. Won the race last year with Robert ‘Choc’ Thornton on board and I fancy it could do the same again this year. If the going stays good to soft then it has an outstanding chance of winning the race. Got a lot to do to beat the favourite Binocular but definitely a good each way bet. Widely available at 14/1.

Wednesday - RSA Chase (2.40pm). Gone To Lunch. I fancy this horse to win the race. Tony McCoy is booked to ride and he’s won on this horse the last 3 times he’s ridden it over the distance. Cheltenham is, however, a different kettle of fish and he’ll need a bit extra to do it but this is likely to be a tight race and my gut feeling is McCoy is the man for the job. A lot will depend on who is booked to ride Cooldine but I’m going to include Gone To Lunch in my cricketing patent. 7/1.

Thursday - Ryanair Chase (2.40pm). Our Vic. Again, tenuous link to Vic Marks but I’m going to include it here anyway so there. Won the race last year by 5 lengths and Timmy Murphy is back on board again. Competition is a little stronger this year and Voy Por Ustedes is the deserved favourite for the race but I sniff a chance here. 6/1 generally.

So you have three horses here and my suggestion is an each way patent. This is a full cover bet comprising 7 bets - three singles, three doubles and a treble. You only need one horse to place to get some money back. A 50p each way patent will cost you £7 and could return £611 if they all win or, more likely, £35 is they all place. Gotta be worth a shout, eh?

Other cricket related horses entered in the 2009 Cheltenham Festival:

Wednesday - National Hunt Chase (1.30pm). Freddies Return. Currently available at 200/1. ‘Nuff said.

Wednesday - RSA Chase (2.40pm). Hold Em. Looks an unlikely candidate but with Graham Lee on board it might be worth a tiny little each way bet @ 50/1 if you feel so inclined.

Wednesday - Coral Cup (4.00pm). Leg Spinner. Like Ian Salisbury back in the day, it has shown a lot of promise but never quite delivered. Keenly priced @ 16/1 but I’m not feeling it. Not won since October 07 so even me - a confirmed each way value kinda guy - isn’t overly interested. Also entered into the Martin Pipe handicap on Friday.

Thursday - Kim Muir Challenge Cup (4.40pm). Flintoff. There are better horses in the race but if we get any more rain and the going heads towards the heavy then it’s a definite sporting each way option at 14/1. Also running in the race is Big Rob and I’m sure the guys at King Cricket will have a cheeky 25p each way on him at 100/1. I, on the other hand, won’t.

I’ll be posting each day with my tips throughout the festival but, if I were you, I’d rush off to the bookies now with your £7 clutched in your sweaty little mitts and get on board my cricketing patent. You’ll thank me in the morning.

Tags: cheltenham tips

The Beijing Olympic Games has pretty much passed me by. It wasn’t until Saturday that I actually watched any of the action. It seems I picked a pretty good day because I saw Usain Bolt absolutely blitz the opposition in the 100 metres on his way to a new world record. Even for someone who has little or no interest in athletics, it was pretty impressive.

However my Olympic viewing experience took a turn for the worse when I then spent 10 minutes watching the dressage event. How anyone can call that an Olympic sport is beyond me. I’ve not seen so much mincing since I last took a stroll down Old Compton Street.

Anyway it seems that Great Britain has been doing rather well in this Olympic Games. We’ve managed to win 27 medals including 12 golds. By all accounts that’s the best Team GB have done for some time. What’s interesting for me, though, is the events that we’ve excelled at and, as a result, it’s prompted me to write to Seb Coe to suggest a new event for the London 2012 Games.

Olympic Sitting Down.

Have a look at the medals we’ve won so far:

Canoe/Kayak Slalom - 1 silver
Cycling - 6 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze
Equestrian - 2 bronze
Rowing - 2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
Sailing - 2 gold, 1 silver

All of these events involve sitting down. We’ve also won 2 golds and a bronze in swimming which is the extreme version of sitting down - lying down. In fact if it weren’t for a pesky bronze medal Team GB accidentally won in the gymnastics, every single medal we’ve won at this years Olympics would involve sitting down.

Forget all those events that involve running or jumping or throwing things a really long way. You know, the sports that all the other countries try to win. We should be spending the next 4 years coming up with Olympic events that involve sitting down if we want to be a dominant force in our own Games.

Tags: beijing, china, london 2012, olympic games

**These are my tips for 2008. Please view the 2009 Cheltenham Festival tips here**

After the way my week has gone, I’m thinking of offering a service to punters where I tell them what I’m backing so they don’t have to! Still, it’s the last day of the Cheltenham Festival and I’m feeling lucky. Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?

David Nicholson Hurdle - Labelthou @ 7/1 with Totesport
Ballymore Novices Hurdle - Forpadydeplasterer @ 9/2
Coral Cup - Leg Spinner @ 5/1
JCB Triumph Hurdle - Beau Michael @ 9/1
Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle - Carruthers @ 9/2
Totesport Gold Cup - Denman @ 13/8
Christies Foxhunter Chase - Drombeag @ 9/1
Grand Annual Chase - Andreas @ 15/2
Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle - Wingman @ 10/1

Apart from Leg Spinner in the Coral Cup, the other cricket related runners are:

Fiveforthree running in the 1.05pm. Actually worth a squirt at 7/1. It’s not done the distance before but still a good each way bet if the price goes out. Hold Em in the same race is definitely worth a look at 20/1. Ickle Timmy Murphy is on board and I reckon he might just have a sniff of a place.
Warnes Way runs in the 1.40pm but I wouldn’t touch it with yours.
In the 2.15pm there’s a horse running called Won In The Dark. Remember the dramatic Test match in Pakistan in 2000? Tenuous again but this horse might be worth an each way look.
Gone To Lunch runs in the 2.50pm and is likely to be there at the finish.

And that’s yer lot. I’ll be back to talking crap about cricket next week. Let’s face it, after the amount of money I’ve lost at Cheltenham this week, I’m not going to be going out am I?

**These are my tips for 2008. Please view the 2009 Cheltenham Festival tips here**

So thanks to the windy weather on Wednesday we have a bumper card at Cheltenham for Day 3 with ten - that’s right, count them - 10 races. The bookies reckon that they’ll take �300 million on Cheltenham Day Three bets alone. If you back any of these old nags, they’ll probably get to keep it too

Peter O’Sullevan National Hunt Chase - Beantown 15/2
Royal & SunAlliance Chase - Silverburn 6/1
Jewson Novices Handicap Chase - The Hairy Lemon 25/1
Queen Mother Champion Chase - Master Minded 11/4
Ryanair Chase - The Listener 7/2
Ladbrokes World Hurdle - My Way De Solzen 8/1
Racing Post Plate - Il Duce 14/1
Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle - Miko De Beauchene 15/2
Kim Muir Handicap Chase - Jaunty Times 25/1
Weatherbys Champions Bumper - Apt Approach 4/1

As you can see, I’ve stuck with my original selections from Wednesday for the rescheduled races. To be honest I was fancying a little each way dart on Ice Tea in the first race but stuck with my guns. Still looking quite interesting at 18/1 with Totesport.

Cricket Related Runners

Nudge And Nurdle in the 1.40pm. Sitting at 25/1 with Totesport at the moment. Likely to find itself a wee bit out of it’s depth.
Big Rob in the 4.05pm. This is one for the guys at King Cricket. There’s more chance of Rob Key winning this race…
Drive On Regardless in the 5.50pm. Another tenuous link but it’s sound advice if you play and miss outside off stump. Might be worth an each way look if it pisses down with rain overnight.

**These are my tips for 2008. Please view the 2009 Cheltenham Festival tips here**

UPDATE: Cheltenham abandoned today due to high winds. I know the feeling. My last girlfriend dumped me for exactly the same reasons. Ho hum…

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I managed to pick up Kruguyrova each way @ 14/1 so managed to cover my arse a wee bit yesterday otherwise it would have been a painful start to the Cheltenham Festival for me. Looking back at some of the tips from the experts, though, I wasn’t alone in getting my fingers burnt on Day 1.

Anyway, onwards and upwards and let’s have a look at my Cheltenham tips for Day 2.

Ballymore Novices Hurdle - Aigle D’Or @ 9/2
Royal & SunAlliance Chase - Silverburn @ 11/2
Queen Mother Champion Chase - Master Minded @ 5/2
Coral Cup - Leg Spinner @ 9/2
Peter O’Sullevan National Hunt Chase - Beantown @ 7/1
Weatherby Champion Bumper - Apt Approach @ 4/1

The prices are the Totesport prices as of silly o’clock Wednesday morning (just before 1am).

The Atheist from Are You A Left Arm Chinaman rightly pointed out that I ought to mention some of the cricket related horses running.

Rather foolishly I didn’t back Katchit @ 10/1 on Day 1 so I’m not going to miss out on a chance to back Leg Spinner. Interestingly enough Warnes Way is also running in the Coral Cup if you fancied an each way punt @ 25/1 although you might as well just send me your money instead for what it’s worth…

A rather tenuous link but one I’m going to run with is in the first race of the day, the Ballymore Properties Novices Hurdle, and that’s Fiveforthree. Well worth a cheeky little 50p each way at 7/1.