I just love my life of watching sport and betting with BETDAQ as it never ceases to amaze me, whether I get things right or horribly wrong, that there is always a lesson of some kind to be learned. My holiday home in Crawley is currently on hold after they cost me dearly by only drawing after I had backed them to win at short odds, but they still don’t owe me anything long term so I may go in again when they have a full squad to pick from.

I doubt DAQMAN hasn’t stopped laughing at my racing tips from last week (I can’t help it, I love my racing even if I did get the Breeders’ Cup horribly wrong) and my accumulator was let down but my football profits were there again with a couple of decent bets on Newcastle (2.35 with BETDAQ) and Tottenham (2.4 BETDAQ)  not quite covering the racing losses but not far off it.

Personally, I had an exciting day on Saturday which started with the live Newcastle game (I am an Everton supporter for my sins but luckily my head ruled my heart on this occasion), and followed that with racing from Doncaster which turned out all right at the end of the day, even if I did have to switch to and fro between channels.  Valery Borzov is a horse I have been following on and off for what seems a lifetime and he had already won a couple of races this season, even though I missed him when he was a 12/1 shot (typical). He looked way too big to me in the 2.00, and I backed him to win stealing a bit of 40.0 on BETDAQ) as well as to place (some 12.0 was available but not for long) and sat back with a beverage to watch the race. As he made then running I did, for one joyous moment, believe he was going to win at massive odds but he was soon swallowed up inside the final furlong before battling to hold on for fourth at the line in a photo, at least meaning I collected the place part of my bet which sadly wasn’t larger than the win side! 

Looking at the weights, the going, and previous comments by jockey Tom Queally about Principal Role I was interested in laying her on BETDAQ for the 2.35 but only at a price I was willing to take on. Forecast at 2.3 or so in the racing press everyone else in the world must have felt the same as I did, as she drifted like a barge all morning out to 4.0 at one stage which was a little too rich for my taste – sometimes it’s best to live to fight another day. And even though she lost, now I have calmed down I am sure it was the right decision for me at the time. Sadly for me the November Handicap is one of those races where I just have to get involved (will someone please tell me why?), but I was not interested in the morning gamble on Pekan Star.  Using my usual fuzzy logic I soon worked out that Richard Hills was better connected to Godolphin than Ian Mongan and thus Burj Nahar had a better chance than Willing Foe – obviously lol? Backing him win and place at 29.0 and 7.2 with BETDAQ (and compare that to SP, it’s a no brainer), I sat back smugly confident but we all know Willing Foe was second while my selection could still be running he was so far behind the others and I ended the day a little up but not enough for my liking.

Looking ahead for this weekend (I am a glass half full kind of person and the only way is always up), and I have been reading about the interviews with Nigel Twiston-Davies yesterday ahead of the three-day Cheltenham Open meeting. He seems to quite like the chances of Billie Magern on Saturday but was even more positive about Pigeon Island who runs in the amateur riders handicap at 1.10 on Friday. He hasn’t run for 212 days but is reported to be fit enough to do himself justice, they have booked Mr Derek O’Connor to ride (third on Knowhere for the stable here last year), and he must have each way chances at a decent price. On Saturday, the same stable seem pretty keen on the chances of  Viking Blond in the 4.10 at Cheltenham and I think two small bets will do for me on the horses. He ran nicely on his seasonal return at Chepstow over three miles on his chasing debut and although prices are unknown, a couple of points could well pay dividends.  

I did have a quick look at the boxing this weekend but as expected the odds are just too short and I expect a comfortable victory for the brilliant Manny Pacquiao but at odds of 1.12 I suspect I will have to just watch without financial involvement though I would not put anyone off taking the 3. 15 for him to win on points though let’s face it, anything can happen in this game. Nope, it looks like football again this weekend and this week with the international break life isn’t easy for a poor hard working scribe like me!  It may sound a bit daft to call a 1/2 shot “good value” but surely even a second strength Ghana team should be too good for Sierra Leone, a far smaller country without the footballing tradition of their neighbour?  WALES look interesting at odds of 2.1 to see off Norway as they are gradually getting their act together of late and cannot be missed at that sort of price, while I am sorry to be so unpatriotic to say this but SPAIN are bringing a strong squad to Wembley presumably to make a statement before Euro 2012 and should be too strong for England even if their odds of around 1.91 with BETDAQ are hardly inspiring.

This week’s selections summary:

Horse racing
1pt Win 1pt Place PIGEON ISLAND 1.10 Cheltenham Friday
2pts Win VIKING BLOND 4.10 Cheltenham Saturday

Football
4pts Win GHANA to beat Sierra Leone (approximate BETDAQ Odds 1.5)
1pt Win WALES to beat Norway (approximate BETDAQ odds of 3.1)
2pts Win SPAIN to beat England (approximate BETDAQ odds of 2.0)


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