Long Live 'Long Run'

Long Run was to be my biggest bet of the festival's four days.  Firstly because it was time for the older horses to show their age, and the youngblood to come through to take over the mantle of King of the Hill, and the form book stood by such a scenario.  The second was becasue day two and three were so crap I needed a way out of the hole I had dug for myself.

Being decidely conservative in my approach, I logged on the night before to find Paddy Power quoting Long Run at 9/2, with Insured 3 places at 7/2 which I thought was huge given previous results at Kempton.  However, given my previous two days results I wasn't about to preach my opinion as being a sure thing and quietly declared these thoughts to the privacy of me, myself and I.

Insured 3 places means you get your money back if he is second or third and paid the quoted price if he wins.  I decided I'd bet the insured 3 places.  When I logged on the next morning before heading out for a cycle, it had reduced from 7/2 to 11/4, three quarters of a point was not an inconsiderate amount of cash given the amount staked, but what can you do.  I placed the bet and headed out for a 3 hour cycle.

Upon my return I retreated to the couch , turned up the surround sound and mimicked every action of Sam Whaley-Cowen (the jockey) as he covered every blade of grass on the new course.  Had I a whip in hand the couch would be threadbare and ragged, get in there you good thing.

On the soccer front, tonight I will bet a treble:

Over 2.5 - Gladbach v Kaiserlautern 4/6

Both to Score - Chesterfield v Rotherham 4/6

Both to Score - Southend v Hereford 4/6

3pts @ 4.63

Cheltenham continued

In Greek mythology the Sphinx baffled travellers with her unanswerable riddle – eventually it was solved by Oedipus and the Sphinx had to commit suicide. Had she instead asked travellers to name a winner of any of the 20 runner handicaps at Cheltenham she may still be alive today.

From the time Oscar's Well clattered the last hurdle, on day two, while in contention for at least a place, my selections have been cursed ever since, and curse was exactly what I did, sitting at work, headphones on, excel on one screen and RTE player on the other.  The whole office were no doubt enlightened to hear the "ohaaaw, Fuck ya" I bellowed as he hit the final obstacle. 

Day three, my only bet was a double on Poquelin & Big Bucks, and not even I can stop the mighty Big Bucks from winning his third World Hurdle in as many years.

Tomorrow my only bet will be in the Gold Cup, I have decided the poor unfortunate equine chaser that will fall victim to my betting curse shall be "Long Run", I apologise to all connections in advance for placing the stoppers on him.

Training
Today I managed a short two and a half hours on the bike, which consisted of a few loops of Edmonston Rd/Stocking Lane.  After last week when I reached the initial climb and felt lifeless, it was a pleasant reversal of form to feel quite good after a week's rest.  The legs were strong and I kept the gear ratio higher than normal in order to build the required strength in the legs.  A short 45km in total, but more intensive climbing than average.

The weather shall decide my direction and distance tomorrow, currently contemplating visiting Slieve Mann for the second time this season.  I think we shall become good friends between now and the first Saturday in July when the Alps come to the fore, and crucify thousands of  (select your own word) brave/mad/idiotic cyclists on their mission to scale four of them.

Cheltenham Day Two

All my hard work at Cheltenahm day one was sucked up by the soccer yesterday evening.
Seconditis

Spirit Son (2nd)
Caroles Legacy (2nd)
Garde Champetre & A New Story (2nd & 3rd)
Quevega (won)
Peddlers Cross & Menorah (2nd & nowhere)

Fortunately I had an each way treble which pulled out 12 points profit for the day (Caroles Legacy, Tullamore Dew, A New Story).

Then it got all sucked up by the soccer, 1 1/2 out of two on both doubles, longshot also lost for a nine point loss, plus I had a 2pt double on Man Utd and Bayern.  Even though Inter's first goal was offside the bet still would have lost.  -11 pts on soccer, +1 pt for the day.  Feels like I lost a fortune, ha.

Todays fancies at Cheltenham are:

1.30 Beshabar
2.05 Oscars Well
2.40 Time For Rupert
3.20 Mater Minded
4.00 Call The Police
4.40 Plan A
5.15 Raise The Beat

My first bet will be an each way accum on the first 6 which pays 250k+ if they all win, should not be too much trouble I hope.

Cheltenham

It's that time again, when everyone turns their attention to the equine cream of the crop for 4 days in March, whether they follow racing regularly or not.  I'll have a few small bets tomorrow but I'm no expert on the horsey front so handle with caution.  My amateur selections shall consist of :

1.30 Spirit Son
2.05 Medermit (nap)
2.40 Caroles Legacy
3.20 Menorah (treble)
4.00 A New Story
4.40 Quevega (nb)
5.15 Tullamore Dew


On the soccer front, clawed back 4 pts on sunday and another 3.7pts tonight via a 2pt double (Norwich/Bristol & Getafe/Bilbao Both to score double @ 2.88).

Tomorrows soccer bets below:


Over 2.5 - Sheff Wed v Peterborough
Both to Score - Crewe v Southend

4pts @ 2.36
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Both to Score - Ipswich v Watford
Both to Score - Macclesfield v Lincoln

4pts @ 2.78
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Longshot
Both the above bets combined.

1pt @ 6.55

Gazumped!

 Training

My initial intention of revisiting Slieve Mann & Shay Elliott on Saturday was wandering wearily in my mind when those well informed meteorologists predicted snow, or at least very low temperatures.  The need to visit the far reaches of Glenmalure subsided rapidly, and was replaced by the vision of hill repeats of Edmonston Rd/Stocking Lane as my Saturday training. 

Leaving my comfortable abode at 9am, my thoughts en route to Edmonston were summarising the day ahead as 45 mins (approx) per loop, times 6 loops plus 30mins there and back total, should see me arrive home for 2pm, showered and changed in time for the football scores to begin streaming in.

In actual fact, after 20 mins on the bike and beginning the climb of Edmonston Rd I felt exhausted, as if I was finishing a five hour cycle instead of beginning one.  My legs were as weak as water, couldn't get into a rythym and just wanted to go back to bed, which is exactly what I did after another 20 mins of climbing.  I didn't even make the turn off to descend Stocking Lane, I simply turned about face and descended Edmonston.  The mind was screaming onward to Slieve Mann, but the body ruled the roost and guided me home for a surprisngly needed rest day.  I'll do the ThinkBike spin tomorrow.

 Sports Betting

Poor results today a the soccer, -14pts on posted bets.  Sometimes I follow my own advice and sometimes I stray.  Today I also bet Bolton to beat Birmingham once I saw the line ups thinking there was some value in their price; the profit was soon gobbled up by my Over 2.5 bet losing in the Man Utd/Arsenal clash.  How this bet failed to win is a mystery given the chances in the second half.

I then bet Real Madrid to win to nil, which was in hindsight the bet of the weekend, Hercules havent scored in their last ten away games, at 5/6 it was a steal.  I was -10pts at this stage for the day.

Luckily I recovered all losses at the greyhounds at Shelbourne via Broadstrand Lad (7/4 winner), Colourful Fox (7/2 loser), Quick Lee (11/4 winner), which enabled the great escape with a half point profit for the day.  Maybe tomorrow will be more successful, bets below:

Over 2.5 - Cagliari v Udinese     10/11

Over 2.5 - St Pauli v Stuttgart     4/7

4 pts @ 3.00

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Correct Score - Chievo v Fiorentina     13/2

1 pt @ 7.5

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Under 2.5 - Chievo v Fiorentina      4/7

Win to nil - AC Milan                     4/5

3 pts @ 2.83

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