Cheltenham Top Jockey & Trainer

By Profit Swing

Punting was never meant to be easy but yesterday will stay with me as a real sickener. Yesterday morning I was informed Weird Al our confident RSA Chase selection was injured (thank god we waited for non runner no bet) but that was a mere aperitif to the frustration of last nights golf.

Firstly our star selection Poulter shot 64, the low round of the day. Sadly he shot 75 on Saturday so it was academic but reminded me why I had put him up (he claimed to have felt unwell on Saturday however it clearly wasn't life threatening). Again that was a slight irritation as I watched in a mixture of anger and disbelief as Mr McDowell our 81 selection missed a three-foot tiddler on the 17th to go fourth guaranteeing us a twenty-point win. This was the same McDowell who had putted superbly all day. He finished sixth,  the nightmare finishing position for each way backers.

After a night's sleep things always seem clearer and if we keep to our plan and look for selections who are overpriced we will be fine and there will be a tournament when a player misses a short putt and lets us in to collect, trust me!

Thank god we have the greatest sporting week in the world in the form of the Cheltenham Festival to console ourselves with and I spent much of the weekend studying the top trainer and jockey markets.

We shall start with the top trainer market where of course Paul Nicholls is favourite and rightly so. It is just I do not think he is entitled to be 1.5 favourite. I’m not convinced his bankers will all win. On my ratings I had Nicholls and Nicky Henderson as joint favourites because Henderson has good chances in the Champion Hurdle whilst Paul Nicholls is mob handed in the Gold Cup. However in the juvenile hurdles and the handicaps I think Henderson has more strength in depth so when I saw Paddy Powers prices I knew it was time for a major wager. I’m convinced this will go down to the wire between the two and the last race of the festival is of course named after Henderson's father so he has four entries going for us!

Pick: Nicky Henderson top trainer at the festival 5 Points Win 5.5 Paddy Power

The top jockey market is similar in that I feel Walsh is too short against Geraghty. They both have sensational books of rides each day. In my book Geraghty is a 4.0 chance so we will play on Betfair where he is much bigger. I am also advising a small bet on Graham Lee who is a crazy price considering he is riding two favourites and a host of live outsiders

Pick: Barry Geraghty top rider at the festival 3 Points win 6.4 Betfair

Pick: Graham Lee top rider at the festival 1 Point win 130 Betfair

Good luck with those and remember there will be a full preview of tomorrows card on line by 11.30 each day of the festival, try and get some sleep tonight!

Profit Swing