THE BERNIE THE BOOK COLUMN CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL SPECIAL
IN BARELY TWO WEEKS TIME (TUESDAY, 12TH MARCH) the annual pilgrimage from Ireland to all points in Gloucestershire begins and for four glorious days any- one remotely interested in horse racing will worship at the altar of the Cheltenham Festival and the annual bat- tle between the English and the Irish begins again. Read- ers to this column will know that over the last few months I have been mentioning certain horses but now with barely a week of studying left, it is time to nail my colours to the mast. Firstly, some do’s and don’ts. 1. Shop around for the best price. Do this by consulting Oddschecker and compare the best price offered by a conventional bookmaker with the odds on Betfair Exchange.
2. Look for bookmakers offering NRNB (None Runner No Bet) as even at this late stage horses are sometimes declared for a number of targets and you don’t want to be left with a losing voucher on a horse that’s won another race. Similarly horses, like humans, are prone to injury and the number of losing vouchers I have had over the years from horses who don’t make the gig are many.
3. Read the signs and look out for late, late money for a horse. The amount of money needed to bring a horse’s odds in by even just half a point is astronom- ical, so it follows to take in these market trends when they happen.
4. It follows then to have access to as many bookmaker accounts as you can set up. Most, if not all, will offer huge incentives to open up an account which can ob- viously mitigate any losses but more than that, like they say in all western economies competition is healthy.
5. Try and always get best odds guaranteed from your bookmaker. It is always galling when your selection comes in and you’ve got a diminished return.
Take heed of these five points, it will stand you in good stead. Enough of the lecture – Cheltenham is for enjoyment. Broadly speaking the 28 races are divided into Champi- onship races and Handicaps and whilst the fields for the Handicaps are still nebulous, the targets for the various horses have largely been decided in the Championship races. Let me focus on those and the bet I propose.
MARCH 2019
The bet is called a HEINZ because it comprises of 57 bets (geddit?) This is made up of the following: 15 x Doubles 20 x Trebles 15 x 4 Timers 6 x 5 Timers 1 x Accumulator from one selection in six races. But I propose two selections in each race which would now make the following (if in any doubt ask your bookmaker to make out your betting slip). 60 x Doubles 160 x Trebles 240 x 4 Timers 192 x 5 Timers 64 x Accumulators, all combinations.
I know what you’re thinking, but at 10p per stake (and I have confirmed with three bookmakers today that they would be happy to accept that stake) the 716 bets total £71.60. Still a lot, I accept, but bear in mind that this is your original bet over four days and the lowest accumu- lator return alone at these stakes would net £1,162. If we are being fanciful the highest accumulator return would net £74,869. You do the maths! Aren’t you enti- tled to one shot of owning your own island in the Caribbean? The selections and races are as follows: SUPREME NOVICES
Al Dancer 4/1 Mr Fisher 14/1
THE ARKLE CHAMPION HURDLE
THE BALLYMORE HURDLE THE RSA CHASE THE GOLD CUP
Le Richebourg 10/3 Glen Forsa 9/1
Apples Jade 9/4 Laurina 9/2
Battleoverdoyen 5/1 City Island 10/1
Delta Work 4/1 Topofthegame 9/2
Clan Des Obeaux 9/2 Kemboy 10/1
See you in St Lucia, the first Mojita is on you!
Bernie the Book 89
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