Welcome to our latest column from Scott Armstrong of The Sportsman tipster service.

Each Friday, Scott provides us with a rundown of all the best weekend racing action – including the key  horses to follow and those to oppose. You can also find a recap from him each Monday on the SBC Blog with his reaction to the weekend’s events. Thorough, frank and not afraid to take a contrary view, Scott Armstrong is a racing man whose opinion you can’t afford to be without.

The £200,000 Betfair Chase is the feature race of a superb Saturday’s racing with this year’s renewal being well up to scratch hosting four of the first seven in the betting for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

There can be little argument that the best horse coming into the race is the 5-6 favourite Long Run. Nicky Henderson’s stable star is officially rated a mammoth 182 and has 11lb in hand, despite opposing four formidable rivals in a field of six. Still a youngster he has achieved so much already, dismantling the Cheltenham Gold Cup field by seven lengths, breaking the course record in the process and becoming the first six-year-old to win the race since Mill House in 1963. Continue reading →

North & South is our new football column, featuring advice from North & South of Hadrian’s Wall with some of the best bets in England and Scotland.

The English expertise is provided by top flight experts Premier Football Bets whilst Scottish Football Expert and SBC Editor Greg Gordon, gives us some of his best bets from North of the border.

This week with no Premier League matches, due to the International football break, we have advice from Scotland as follows…

Scottish League

Annan to bt Clyde Scottish Third 11/10 (2.1) Wm Hill, Coral (2.08 Pinnacle, 2.05 SBO, Bet 365, Sportingbetbet, VC, Unibet, evens general) 1.5pt

This young Clyde side now face some levelling up this week with two of their tougher home fixtures back to back. On Tuesday they were utterly toothless in a 1-0 defeat to Alloa and that is despite having home advantage and a man advantage for around an hour of the game. Their one clear-cut chance came in 85 minutes and the 10 men of Alloa actually enjoyed greater opportunities despite rarely breaking out of their own half. Saturday sees league leaders Annan in town and I’d expect their strength and physical presence to get Annan over the line in this game. Continue reading →

Welcome to our latest column from Scott Armstrong of The Sportsman tipster service.

Each Friday, Scott provides us with a rundown of all the best weekend racing action – including the key  horses to follow and those to oppose. You can also find a recap from him each Monday on the SBC Blog with his reaction to the weekend’s events. Thorough, frank and not afraid to take a contrary view, Scott Armstrong is a racing man whose opinion you can’t afford to be without.

It’s a cracker of a weekend with plenty of big names to enjoy, and Scott highlights his best value for 2 of the big races – the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial. He expects big things of Wishfull Thinking at 15/2 in the former, whilst Paul Nicholls runner ‘Hinterland’ is expected to make an impact in the latter. Also keep an eye out for Chicago Grey to take the 3m, 3f Handicap Chase and Fingal Bay in Saturday’s Grade 2 Novice Hurdle.

Racing has returned to Cheltenham with the three-day Open meeting and with it brings many big names from the jumping sphere to savour. On Saturday, jumping action also comes from Wincanton and Uttoxeter, whilst Lingfield hosts a fine card with two Listed races but the key meeting is of course at the home of the National Hunt.

The Paddy Power Gold Cup is invariably one of the best-quality handicaps of the season and this year’s renewal is another cracker. Continue reading →

If you enjoy this article, then you can pick up similar insight on further key betting topics for both Horse Racing and Sports Betting with a Secret Betting Club membership.

Introducing the New Whip Rules

Under the heading: RESPONSIBLE REGULATION: A REVIEW OF THE USE OF THE WHIP IN HORSERACING, The British Horseracing Authority has concluded its wide-ranging and detailed Review into the use of the whip in Racing, which first commenced in November 2010.

The report, Responsible Regulation: a Review of the use of the whip in Horseracing – has been published in full and is available here. The Review will lead to a significant tightening of the rules and penalties relating to the use of the whip by jockeys, as well as a renewed focus on jockey training, to ensure that the best equine welfare standards are maintained throughout the sport.

The new rules will have wide-ranging ramifications for everyone in racing but, as is our primary focus here at SBC, we are most concerned on the implications for those who seek to profit from betting on the sport.

What The New Whip Rules Could Mean For Punters
Continue reading →

One of the best ways to get one over on the bookmaker, is to take them on in events they know precious little about, or simply don’t have the time to research properly.

We call this ‘niche betting’, whereby you develop more expertise in a very specific area of betting – and in doing so, are able to spot when the bookies prices are wrong.

One such proven niche betting expert is a chap who goes by the name of Skeeve, who despite hailing from Eastern Europe – is now a renowned expert on non-league football in England.

It may sound bizarre that someone so far away can be clued up on the fact Braintree are missing a key midfielder or that Chelmsford’s on-loan star is suspended due a sending off in the Hampshire Senior Cup, but it’s true. Continue reading →

In this regular Monday segment, racing expert Scott Armstrong rounds up all the action of note from this weekend’s racing for SBC Blog readers.

The flat season wound up with the International Breeders Cup proving very difficult to fathom with the Breeders Cup Mile won by the rag Court Vision at 66-1. Worry not as the jumping sphere takes over now and I’m like a kid at Christmas with the big guns starting to emerge from hibernation.

On Saturday Quito De La Roque laid down a threat to Long Run’s Gold Cup double aspirations with a gutsy one-and-a-quarter length triumph over Sizing Europe in the Down Royal Champion Chase.

Bostons Angel and Quito De La Roque – two of the most successful staying novice chasers in Ireland met in the Grade 1 Fort Leney Novices’ Chase at Leopardstown last December with honours going to Bostons Angel. The form of the whole season however suggests Quito De La Roque is the superior horse. Having thrashed Bostons Angel over hurdles in 2009/10 Quito De La Roque made a jumping error at the second last in the Fort Leney but unperturbed he stayed on strongly to lose by only three-quarters of a length. If Quito De La Roque had run in the RSA Chase last season I think he may have won it and it should pay to follow this strong stayer over the coming months. The Gold Cup where Quite De La Roque has been cut to 20-1 looks to be tilting at windmills in terms of troubling Long Run but if connections set their sights lower he can put up a bold show at the Festival. Continue reading →

Football Tips from Both Sides Of The Border

North & South is our new football column, featuring advice from North & South of Hadrian’s Wall with some of the best bets in England and Scotland.

The English expertise is provided by top flight experts Premier Football Bets whilst Scottish Football Expert and SBC Editor Greg Gordon, gives us some of his best bets from North of the border.

Scottish League

Hibernian to bt Dunfermline SPL 5/6 (1.83) Wm Hill (1.80 Bet 365, Betfred, Tote, Sportingbet, 1.78 Pinnacle, 1.77 SBOBet) 1pt

The Hibees will look to build on their gritty goalless draw at Parkhead last time out and they have every chance against a Dunfermline team missing Mason and Thomson, the two midfielders they have that relish tackling. Continue reading →

Welcome to our latest column from Scott Armstrong of The Sportsman tipster service.

Each Friday, Scott provides us with a rundown of all the best weekend racing action – including the key  horses to follow and those to oppose. You can also find a recap from him each Monday on the SBC Blog with his reaction to the weekend’s events. Thorough, frank and not afraid to take a contrary view, Scott Armstrong is a racing man whose opinion you can’t afford to be without.

The Breeders Cup Stateside spectacular is the highlight of the weekend’s racing while in the UK there is a decent flat card at Doncaster including the November Handicap and some fine chasers and hurdlers make their seasonal outings at Wincanton.

The Breeders Cup Mile is the headline race of the weekend and the European horses head to Churchill Downs with a decent record of 19% wins from all runners at the track. The exceptional mare Goldikova will be hoping to say her farewell’s to a reverent public with a massive win and I believe she can. Successful on all three previous races in the Breeders Cup she loves this track and the manner of Stateside racing. Continue reading →

In this article, the analysts from the excellent Form Lab software analyse the current Premier League goal glut

Football pundits are falling over themselves to explain how the recent goal fest proves that the Premiership is the best league in the world. With eight goals in the recent London derby and seven goals at the Manchester derby, football fans have certainly been getting their money’s worth.

While many now point to this as being the start of a golden season, the reality is that this season is more likely to be simply…..average. Let us show you why.

The first 10 weeks…

In the 99 games seen so far in the Premier League, there has been an average of 2.97 Goals Per Game (GPG). This is comfortably above the 2.59 GPG average for this point in the season, but still below the record average of 3.00 GPG for the first 10 weeks in 2009/10. Continue reading →