Honest Ted the 4BR Bookie has taken a bit of a pasting of late, and the results of the European and Spring Festival handicaps didn’t do him any favours either.
Punters favourites
The punters knew a favourite when they saw one in the parade ring in Belgium, and so they enjoyed a pretty good pay out as Cory, the 4-1 favourites (see the last 4BR Bookies item) before the contest, romped home by 8 lengths in Ostend.
Awful weekend
In fact it was a pretty awful weekend for Ted as the top six finishers were all low priced runners in the pre contest betting. Only Brass Band Rijnmond (a 40-1 shot) saved him from having to hitch a ride home on the back or an articulated lorry with the illegal immigrants at Calais...
Only Brass Band Rijnmond saved him from having to hitch a ride home on the back or an articulated lorry with the illegal immigrants at Calais4BR
Blackpool
Things were not much better when he set up his stand at Backpool either.
Rothwell lived up to their pre-race billing as 7-1 joint favourites to take the Grand Shield Group 1 race, with 12-1 shot GUS joining them at the British Open Derby stakes in September.
Gutter
Meanwhile, in the Senior Cup, 8-1 shot Marsden took the title with joint favourites Skelmanthorpe and Kingdom Brass joining them in the promotion enclosure. Only Burry Port – a 20-1 outsider stopped Ted ending up sleeping in the Blackpool gutter if someone had placed a £5.00 Yankee on those four getting through…
In the Senior Trophy there was slightly better news as joint second favourites Milnrow took the title, and were joined in the promotion enclosure by 7-1 shot Riverside and the two rank outsiders of Derwent Brass and Laganvale.
Masters
As for the forthcoming Cambridge Stakes?
Fodens are the clear favourites to regain the Masters title, although they have done a Devon Lock on occassions with the winning line in sight, whilst a lot of dosh will surely go on Rothwell too, although some punters may be wary of them running on empty by the time they take to the stage.
Others in the mix seem to be reigning champions Desford with their new Australian jockey, the the European invasion led by Willebroek, Buizingen and Metropole.
Good odds on Fairey and Carlton Main too and Virtuosi GUS will have their dander up too.
Odds:
4-1: Fodens
6-1: Willebroek, Rothwell, Desford
7-1: Carlton Main, Virtuosi GUS, Fairey
10-1: Buizingen, Mteropole, Redbridge, Reg Vardy
15-1: all other runners
National Finals betting:
More bad news for Ted as it was revealed that our test piece tipster had got the odds pretty well right when suggesting that a modern crowd pleaser from the Peter Graham stable would be used.
The 3-1 shot will be called ‘The Torchbearers’.
Clear favourites:
After the recent round of results at the European and Grand Shield, the odds on a National winners have changed somewhat with Cory now clear favourites and Rothwell picking up a few extra punters after romping home at Blackpool.
Odds:
4-1 favourite: Cory
5-1: Black Dyke, Fodens
7-1: Rothwell
8-1: Desford, Carlton Main
10-1: Fairey, Hepworth, Scottish Co-op
20-1: Kirkintilloch, Redbridge, Tredegar
All the rest are now 40-1 outsiders at the moment
Cory Grand Slam:
As for Cory doing the Grand Slam?
Odds on Cory winning the Welsh, European, World, Open, National and Brass in Concert Championships have come down from 33-1 to 15-1 after their win at Ostend.
Can anyone stop them now?
