Sport is made for betting

The English St Leger is all about Camelot this weekend isn't it? Ronan Groome, writer in the Irish Sunday Independent, seems to think so. Follow him @ronangroome20 or on his blog . ------------ The St Leger How many horses have done the Guineas-Derby double since 1970? Easy. Nijinsky, Nashwan, Sea The Stars and Camelot. Of course the former-named, way back in 1970 was the only one to go onto Doncaster and complete the Triple Crown. But riddle me this. During the same time span, how many horses have won the Derby and then gone on to compete for the oldest Classic race on the books at Doncaster? To my reckoning, and correct me if I’m wrong, but only two have. Shergar in 1981. Reference Point in 1987. It seems a bit demeaning to the St Leger, the final Classic of the year, that Derby winners, who would most likely go off there-abouts odds-on to complete a Classic double, forgo that opportunity in search of short and long-term richer prizes. This is of course is flat racing....

It's always exciting to welcome a new writer to the blog, so take a look at the quality assessment from Josh Fletcher, @joshfletch , on tomorrow's toughest race, the Portland Handicap. He's also the guy behind the LongshotBetting blog , there's plenty more where this came from.... ------------------ Portland Handicap – Saturday 15th September 15:00 Doncaster A unique test considering the intermediate trip of 5f and 110 yards, which should ensure that those horses who traditionally stay on too late over 5f have a better chance than usual. It’s a fascinating renewal with a lack of progressive three year old types. That being said, there’s plenty of interesting contenders who are well-handicapped and are in-form. I think I’ve gone through every horse in the field, and come up with a couple who are overpriced at double figure odds. I generally tend to start my analysis of these big-field handicaps with a look at where the likely pace is to come from. There is genera...

Normally my tennis work on Grand Slams is exclusive to TheShark.com.au but I'm not sure where he's gotten to today, this isn't yet on site. So here it is.... --------------- Murray v Djokovic Hopes for a long, arduous second semi between Djokovic and Ferrer were dashed for Andy Murray fans when the defending champion returned to the court after a night's rest and walloped the Spaniard pretty quickly. The debate about Murray having more rest than Djokovic is now irrelevant. So now we have the match-up of the post-invincible Djokovic versus the post-monkey-off-the-back Murray. The slate stands at 9-6 to Djokovic but it's this year's contests that concern me most. 3-2 in favour of Nole (if you include the fairly meaningless Boodles exhibition pre Wimbledon) with two clashes in the majors - Djokovic winning 7-5 in the fifth in the Aussie semi-final, and Murray winning 7-5 7-5 in the Olympic semi. Ivan Lendl came on board for Murray between those matches and the...

A bit late to the party with games kicking off now, but this is American Football - more time for ad breaks than any sport known to man! Does make it great for trading though... Anyway, welcome back to my good mate Ian Steven, an American football tragic from way back. He found us a couple of decent winners during the Olympics, now he runs through the field in his favourite sport. Follow him on Twitter @deevo82 . --------------- NFL Division Outrights AFC East Easy one to start with. Patriots are the class of the division and are favourites for the Superbowl. Only criticism is that the Pats’ defense is not as elite as it has been in the past but their offense is a juggernaut with Tom Brady under centre and the phenom that is Rob Gronkowski at tight end. The Bills will be a bit more competitive with a strengthened defense with glamour free agent Mario Williams in the fold. Their offense lacks sparkle and will end up five games behind the Pats. Ryan Fitzpatrick is not proficien...

The NFL season traditionally kicks off on the weekend of the US Open finals - on the rare occasion that the weather doesn't intervene in New York. The men's final has long been scheduled to begin after the host broadcaster's coverage of the early NFL game. Anyway, enough about the tennis. The best NFL judge I know is my old colleague Andy Richmond, @bickley14 . This year he has combined forces with a couple of guys well known in the world of sports trading to produce a very impressive NFL site - NFL Insight . Best of all, opening weekend features my favourite clash - the 49ers against the Packers..... ----------- San Francisco 49ers @ Green Bay Packers Preview A game to light-up and ignite the first weekend of the season and a clash between two sides that had regular seasons that promised plenty but ultimately fell short of the ultimate prize of victory in the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Packers almost certainly feeling their post season blow out the most as they went 1...

While the black type races might be spread out elsewhere, there's plenty of competitive racing at Ascot as well. Step forward Jack Milner, @jjmsports , with his take on the three main races on the card. ------------ While I will have my attentions completely fixated on Lancashire and more specifically Haydock Park on Saturday afternoon, despite some good rugby, an ashamedly poor version of a game called cricket that I know and love being ripped off and downsized, as well as good golf, domestic football and racing at Leopardstown, the best value for us hardened handicappers comes from Ascot. The Ladbrokes Mobile Handicap with nearly £100,000 to the winner. That feature is over a mile and a half, but there are similarly hot contests over five, seven and eight furlongs respectively. The 3:10 is a fillies’ handicap over seven furlongs, and although the prize money doesn’t compare to the illustrious amounts of the three latter races, it is in no way less competitive. A seventeen r...

Another Group One sprint contest and finally the market has worked out just how good she is. That doesn't guarantee she'll win, nor does it guarantee she is any value. What does Gary Savage, @chesneywold , have to say about it? ----------------- Betfred Sprint Cup Of all the Group One sprints in Britain this year the least likely to be run on fast ground was surely the Betfred Sprint at Haydock Park, and yet barring another short-range forecasting rick, that’s going to be the case tomorrow in the North West. The most important thing to say about the forecast top-of-the-ground conditions is that they will suit those at the head of the market, as both Ortensia and Bated Breath have run below par on more than one occasion this year with give underfoot. Of the two, Ortensia looks to hold the more solid claims as she has once again proved that Australian sprinters in form, are a class above their British counterparts. After floundering somewhat at Ascot and Newmarket in alie...

Feature racing galore tomorrow, Melbourne, Sydney, Haydock, Leopardstown and probably numerous other places I've missed. Jon da Silva @creamontop looks across the Irish Sea at the feature race for the fillies and mares..... -------------- The Matron Stakes Mile race for fillies and mares which is pretty easy - back the French horse. In the absence of a French dispute the quality of Fillies and Mares and think you could clever and avoid picking one. Then pick the best older horse as 3 year olds in a good year are fetishised to too short odds. That's how I do it. None of which really helps in the Matron. Assumes middling ground. Alanza btn/behind by Emulous and Maybe. Arguably best ever last time chasing Strong Suit and ignoring runaway leader. 10/1 Arguments for. Ballybacka Lady another one beaten by Emulous and without any obvious reasons to come from that. Close up to Duntle two starts back 20/1 Chance not obvious Chachamaidee Been in good form and but for last ...

There is nothing like the spring racing carnival in Melbourne. It's not just four days at Flemington, it builds up from the first day of September all the way through to Cup Day and a couple of weeks beyond. To help stir up the excitement, Brad Bishop @bradbishop12 from Racing Victoria has given us permission to use his article below. History says…Makybe Diva Stakes Horses resuming from a spell haven’t made a habit of winning the Makybe Diva Stakes, but Littorio might prove a trendsetter following his win last year. BRAD BISHOP looks at all the stats that might help you find a winner at Flemington this Saturday. Those after a reason to oppose high-profile imports Manighar, December Draw or Mawingo in Saturday's Makybe Diva Stakes wouldn't have had to work too hard to build a case without the memories of Littorio's win last year fresh in their minds. Nigel Blackiston's injury-plagued gelding won the Group 2 at his first start in more than 17 months when h...