HORSE RACING
The cold snap of winter arrived in November and the testing ground that came with it provided no shortage of mayhem for in-running punters to get stuck into.
Perhaps the most notable meeting of the month came on November 6 where a couple of pre-race favourites won at tasty in-running prices as leaders wilted in the Market Rasen bog. In the 1:20, Moustique de L’Isle was 5/2 jolly at the off but one lucky Betfair punter hit the jackpot for a fiver when it was matched at 1000 before the dour winner eventually wore down Tribal Dancer. A further £108 had also been matched at prices from 170 upwards.
It was a similar story with Lyes Green in the 3:20 when jockey Leighton Aspell seemed to have left the 13/8 favourite with too much to do. Imperial Royale had kicked clear approaching the final turn but the heavy ground came to Aspell’s rescue as the leader tired badly on the run-in and the grey was able to power past like a good thing – but not before Betfair had seen £116 matched at 44 in-running.
Testing ground had also made for some fun and games at Towcester three days earlier and such was the pace of most races, time was in ample supply for punters to pile into a variety of leaders and late finishers throughout the afternoon. The highlight of the day’s action came in the final race when Sword of Damascus won the 4:00, despite over £25,000 having been matched on Betfair about the favourite Inherent at prices between 1.2 and 1.07 after he had skipped to the front on the final bend.
There was also couple of photo-finishes that fooled the money.
In the 3:20 at Lingfield on November 15, Mohafazaat had looked to have been caught on the line by Kyles Prince with the latter being matched for more than £18,000 at 1.01 but it transpired that Richard Hill’s mount had held on.
Meanwhile, the 1:45 at Leopardstown on November 1 saw Baron De’L matched at 1.31 but James Joyce got the nod having been accommodated at 10 in the photo-finish betting on Betfair.
FOOTBALL
The domestic football season is beginning to take shape with the usual suspects now pushing their way through towards the Premiership summit but it was the mid-November international break that provided the month’s biggest trading highlights.
While England are suddenly world champions in waiting once again, according to the tabloid press after their 3-2 victory over Argentina in Geneva, the Betfair in-running match betting market on that fixture was every bit as topsy-turvy as the media’s relationship with the national team.
With Argentina 2-1 ahead with four minutes to go, the South Americans were backed as low as 1.12 while England touched a high of 170, being matched for £766 at 100 and above. A last-minute equaliser by Michael Owen then sparked frenzied action as the draw was backed at 1.07 before Owen popped up with his injury-time winner.
Meanwhile, the France v Costa Rica friendly in Paris on November 9 saw a stunning second half comeback from the French. Trailing 2-0 at the interval, Les Blues had drifted out to 18.5 from their pre-match price of 1.37 on Betfair before eventually running out 3-2 winners. The draw had been trading at 1.31 moments before Thierry Henry bagged the decisive goal on 87 minutes, while Costa Rica had earlier traded at 1.42 when 2-0 up.
In the Premiership, an Anton Ferdinand injury-time equaliser for West Ham stunned local rivals Tottenham and Betfair punters alike after the Spurs victory had traded at 1.01. There was £2,937 matched at the minimum price, while a further £70,874 was done on Spurs at prices down from 1.10 to 1.02.
In the Carling Cup, Doncaster Rovers caused yet another upset when adding the scalp of Aston Villa to that of Manchester City. The League One side were 13/2 underdogs before the game and the correct score was matched at 230 on Betfair with a total of £150 staked on them winning 3-0 at 200 and above.
North of the border in Scotland, Celtic slipped up at home to Dunfermline just when it looked like they were going to stretch away from the pack and bring a sense of normality back to a riveting SPL campaign. The Pars were backed at 48 on Betfair before recording their 1-0 victory at Parkhead with over a grand matched on the away side at 30 and above.
TENNIS
November saw one of the most dramatic matches in the history of tennis betting when Roger Federer was beaten in the final of the Masters Cup by Argentine David Nalbandian.
More than £10m was traded on the match in Shanghai with Federer dipping to a low of 1.04 on Betfair after taking the first two sets, both via a tie-break, but the Swiss was unable to extend his winning sequence in finals to 25 as Nalbandian dug deep to produce one of the most amazing fightbacks in recent years.
Earlier in the tournament, Federer had made hard work of securing his place in the final four against Ivan Ljubicic. More than £360,000 had been traded on Federer at 1.01 when he went a break up in the final set but backers were made to sweat when Ljubicic broke back and found himself just two points from victory.
SPECIALS
The winter months were brightened up for special bets punters by the arrival of day-to-day action in the form of ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ and there was a fair amount of fluctuation about for shrewdies to have made the fortnight pay.
The Betfair market on the first elimination offered no fewer than five junglemates at 3.2 or shorter but it was the gamble on ‘Any Other’ from a high of 32 to a low of 1.34 that proved successful as late-arrival Tommy Cannon was given his marching orders.
The outcome would have been a relief to someone when hosts Ant & Dec narrowed the field down to Cannon and David Dickinson in the moments before delivering the verdict, Dickinson had earlier been laid at 190.
In the days before the first elimination, Kimberley Davies had been backed from 9 into 1.34 with eventual-winner Carol Thatcher having traded at 2.02.
Prior to that, punters on the tail-end of a gamble for Jilly Goolden to perform the fifth Bushtucker trial were stung by dead-heat rules on Betfair. The celebrity wine-taster had been backed from 6 into 1.2 but she was asked to nominate a fellow junglemate to perfom the task with her, meaning that those who backed her at odds-on lost money. Goolden chose Thatcher to the delight of those who had backed the former Prime Minister’s daughter at odds up to 44.
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