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Centrebet Capers RACING It was one of those moments where you know you are going to lose, but it really didn't matter ... Makybe Diva's win in the Melbourne Cup is already entrenched in Australian sporting history as the gutsy mare defied all sorts of facts and figures to bring up the three-peat. Debate about the condition of the track placed question marks over her start putting a slight dampener on pre-post betting. This changed quickly following the decision to run. Our big race punters kept well away from Diva, but the once a year bettors, as well as hundreds of new account holders, all wanted a piece of the 4.00 on offer. One of those prepared to bet against the history-making win had been a fan of hers for two years. He paid the penalty for not considering sentiment when he dropped $21,000 on Eye Popper at 8.00, and $27,000 on Leica Falcon at 6.50! The pre-race trends were for both of these runners, as well as Railings. When all three missed a place it went a long way towards paying bets on the winner. On the day of the race nearly 90% of the bets were for Makybe Diva with only one of $10,000 at 4.20 greater than $800. Our loss could have been substantially larger had the big punters also wanted 'on'. Given her record over the years, bookies everywhere are glad that connections have retired her. CRICKET The first Test between Australia and the West Indies gets under way in Brisbane with the Aussies hot favs at 1.32. The timely and surprising performance from the West Indies against Queensland has definitely helped the betting on this Test with the Windies backed to win nearly $60,000, at 11.00, early in the week. While most believe they will not win, the quote of 11.00 is definitely decent odds. This price got more attractive when Australia were forced to go in with an altered line-up due to Langer's broken rib. Some also have lingering doubts about fast bowler Nathan Bracken at this level. The aggressive nature of the sides, as well as the weather and seaming pitch, have seen the draw blow out to 4.80. We have taken a handful of bets of $1000 at this price. Mostly though, all the money is with the Aussies, even though they have drifted. One early bet last week was for $10,000 at 1.25, with another $25,000 at 1.30, but with Langer replaced by Michael Hussey, and Matt Hayden struggling for most of the last twelve months, it seemed way too short. We wound the price out to 1.32 on Wednesday. This had the desired effect as we struck several big bets, including a wad of $40,000. Betting on the Test will be updated at each break with all the usual exotic options offered throughout the game. Also out in the middle are India and Sri Lanka who are contesting a seven-match one-day series. Viewed as a 50/50 series before it started, it is now one-way traffic with India leading 3-0. Betting on this series has been decent with punters happy to stick with the flamboyant Sri Lankan's despite the mounting floggings. India has started each match as fav's, but we remain slightly ahead on the series. India is 1.58 to take a 4-0 lead. We have taken a $5000 bet for them at this price, but more significantly, we have taken two bets of $4000 for Sri Lanka. Friday will see the fourth match in the best-of-five one-day series between South Africa and New Zealand. The home side lead 3-0, but two of the previous matches could have gone either way meaning the Proteas are 1.65 to win. As yet there has been little action. RUGBY LEAGUE As it was last year, the Tri-Nations series is proving to be an entertaining and worthwhile exercise. Following the opening clashes between the Kangaroos and Kiwis the battle has moved to England with the home team now desperate to notch a win. Great Britain and Ireland supporters expected the match-fit locals to defeat the travel weary and depleted Kiwis. History records their expectations were misplaced and they must now sweat on victory over the Kangaroos. The Poms opened $1.55 favourites against the Kiwis giving 5½-points start, but did not start playing until the opening minutes of the second half. Our punters were wise to the discrepancy. Their support - including $8,000 from a New Zealand client and $10,000 from a Sydney client at the start - firmed the Kiwis from $2.45 into $2.30 and diminished the start into 4½. Last week's result has seen the Kangaroos installed as $1.33 and 9½ point favourites. This has prompted early money for the home side at the start and may be a reaction to the Kangaroos starting with a new half-back who is untested at this level. GOLF Given the time of the year, it was not surprising the Chrysler Classic was missing some of the TOur elite. What was surprising was the result with Sweden's Carl Pettersson recording his maiden PGA tour victory and his first since the Open de Portugal back in 2002. Pre-tournament betting was headed by Vijay Singh ($8) and Retief Goosen ($13), but Singh's flat stick went off the boil and Goosen suffered from being less than 100% fit. In what was a disappointing betting affair Singh and Goosen were also best backed, both being previous winners. On the European Tour, Irishman Paul McGinley capped off his most consistent year ever with a two-shot victory over Spaniard Sergio Garcia. It was the Irishman's first win in four years and laid to rest his the lingering disappointment of losing this event in 2001. The other success story belonged to Scot Colin Montgomerie who claimed his eighth Varden Trophy for winning the European Order of Merit. The 'Fifth Major' of the Tour takes place this week with The Tour Championship teeing off at East Lake in Georgia. Tiger is favourite at $3.50 - perhaps a short quote considering his last win the event came in 1999 - but with form clouds hanging over his main dangers Tiger is definitely the man to beat. That said, Garcia and Furyk at $13 are worth a look. So to are a host of players at $21, including Donald and Toms. Indeed punters believe the European Tour may prove to be the best form indicator with Garcia and Donald backed to win over 100k at $13 and $21 respectively. DANCING WITH THE STARS We are all shocked how much Ian Dickson had improved his dancing technique, so we were even more shocked following the public's eviction of Dicko. Dicko had improved so much that he had displaced Chris Bath as favourite last week, and had plenty of backing at 2.25, including two separate bets of $800. Bath was second pick at 2.50 and we also had some money for Ada Nicodemou including three $500 wagers at 3.50. With Dicko out of the picture, it will be an all girl final, with Ada up against Chris. Both are Channel 7 identities and you can make of that what you will. Although Bath received perfect 10's on Tuesday night, she will go in to the final as slight outsider at 2.00. Ada starts at about 1.72. Our punters appear to agree with this assessment as the bulk of the early business has been for Ada who has a massive following with the younger audience. AUSTRALIAN IDOL Daniel Spillane was odds on to leave Australian Idol, so it came as no surprise when he fell short of the final handful. Spillane's 'eviction' leaves four to battle it out for the major prize. Emily Williams maintains her position as favourite (1.90), but most betting over the past few days has focussed on Dan England. After Daniel left, we opened Dan at 3.50. He was subsequently backed to win close to $4000 at various prices before he hit his current price of 2.85. The public are also starting to warm to Lee Harding who has attracted most of the small bets this week at 5.00. Kate is the outsider of the field at 13.00, the longest price she has been for many weeks. Consequently, she is also the warm 1.65 fav to leave this week. Until next week, good punting For further information contact Gerard Daffy at Centrebet on 02 9206 8715 or centrebet@centrebet.com
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