THE BERNIE THE BOOK COLUMN
AUTUMN HERALDS WINTER SPORTS... AND WINTER WAGERS
THE CLOCKS HAVE GONE BACK! Or is it forward?, I am never sure, but two things are for certain... the nights are getting darker and the racing starts before Noon!
GMT also heralds traditional English Winter sports in freezing cold and wet conditions so I am naturally starting off with The Ashes in Australia!!
THE ASHES
The first of a five match Ashes series kicks off in Perth on the 21st of this month and I fancy England to serve it up to the Aussies in their own backyard. England are readily available at 5/2 to win the Series (note: it can be a draw) but I fancy a small wager on a 3-1 victory at a juicy 12/1. Why?
Primarily two reasons:
firstly - the fearsome, white hot terrifying Australian bowling attack on bone hard Australian pitches might be substantially blunted by the injury to talismanic captain Pat Cummins for at least the first test (maybe two?) and
secondly - I believe there is a growing maturity and spine to the English batting line-up and, more pertinently, a steely resolve to our greatest batsman Joe Root, who will surely tick off his wish list success in Oz before his retirement.
To that end I think 9/4 for Top English Batsman (the fossil that I am can’t refer it as batter!) for JOE ROOT is stealing money over the five test series and should be wagered for the maximum.
As to the Aussies, I think TRAVIS HEAD at a whopping 4/1 has to be similarly played to the maximum.
NB: the double pays a shade over 16/1
As I alluded to above, the temporary loss of Pat Cummins to injury leaves the Top Aussie Bowler field wide open and I think dependable NATHAN LYONS, who will bowl more overs in the Series than anyone else is well worth backing at 9/4
PHTM NOVEMBER 2025
While we are down under, this Tuesday, admittedly at 4am UK time! sees….
HORSE RACING - THE MELBOURNE CUP
….Australia’s greatest race, the race that stops a nation, the MELBOURNE CUP from Flemington Park. I must confess, in the global betting arena, Antipodean racing is not high on my list but one early morning last month at a God forsaken hour I was switching channels (as you do!) and saw VALIANT KING storm home in a grade 3
trial...strewth as they say in Sydney and immediately backed him at 16/1 for the cup. Now 8/1! Someone must have seen it too, so if you are awake at 4am on Tuesday, you might be on the rank, then tune in and spread the cash.
SNOOKER
As promised let’s turn our attention to the snooker. The UK Snooker Championship (the first of the holy trinity), culminating in the World Championships, begins in York at the end of the month and to my mind, there are question marks over the old guard. Consequently I think the new kid on the block, and current World Champion, ZHAO XINTONG is a sporting selection. History may well tell us that getting 13/2 about him adding to his Sheffield glory was a massive price.
FORMULA 1
And finally, with three rounds to go and two sprints (93 points still available), it’s worth backing the irresistible force that is MAX VERSTAPPEN (scores 32 points at Scrabble!) to overhaul Lando and Oscar and retain his world driver’s crown at odds of around 7/2.
Until next time Good punting
Bernie the Book 79
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