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Centrebet Capers RACING They say that the Melbourne Cup is the 'race that stops a nation' and if mighty mare, Makybe Diva does line up in next Tuesday's big race, there is no doubt the nation will stop. Never before have we seen a horse gather so much publicity as what she has both leading up to her Cox Plate win and in the days following. Nobody knows if she will contest the Melbourne Cup but if she does, she may go around as the shortest priced favourite since Gay Icarus (2.75) in 1971. We had first hand evidence of how popular Makybe Diva had become with both new, and once a year punters last Saturday. She was backed from 2.30 on Saturday morning to start at 2.00 and 83% of the bets we took on the Cox Plate were for her. So now we have a tricky situation where she is 3.80 for the Cup but not a definite starter. That hasn't made too much difference however as 50% of the bets taken this week have been for Makybe Diva, although having said that, there aren't any massive wagers. As yet, we haven't seen a significant move in the market for Vinnie Roe who was an unlucky second last year. He comes from a big betting stable and is a proven stayer but is coming to the end of his career. However, as he is a proven performer, perhaps backing him each way may be the safest way to go. CRICKET Next week Australia will tackle the West Indies in the first Test to be played at the Gabba. The talk is that the Aussies may take in two spinners on the turning Gabba wicket and that will not be good news for the Windies, who struggle in those conditions. That is reflected in the betting with Australia hot favourites at 1.33 and we have already taken nearly $25,000 at that quote. The draw has been hard to lay at 4.00 and we don't expect to see any interest unless the radar shows rain on the way, we have seen some support for the West Indies to win the Test at 10.00 led up by two bets of $1000. Australia is 1.15 to win the series, with the West Indies at 15.00 and a drawn series at 6.00. There is a host of cricket coming up over the next week or so and the action will get under way on Friday night when South Africa host New Zealand in the second match of their one day series. The South Africans staged a terrific fight back to win the first match courtesy of a big knock by Justin Kemp and although they went into that match as favourites, it was a very good result for us after all and sundry wanted to be on the Kiwis. They firmed from 2.30 into 2.00 before play began, including bets of $8000 (2.10) and $7000 (2.05). We haven't seen that level of support in game two, with the Kiwi's at 2.15 and South Africa at 1.67 and it looks as though most of the money will be for South Africa to go two up in the series. INTERNATIONAL RULES It was this time last year that there were a few who called for the end of the International Rules concept after Ireland belted Australia by 36 points in Ireland, but the pendulum swung when the two met in Perth last Friday night. Ireland went into the game as favourites at 1.57 and while the betting on the game was down on what we expected, there were a few decent sized bets taken. The Irish attracted bets of $8000 (1.63) and $7500 at 1.58, but we did have a few takers for the Australians, with the largest of those bets being $4000 at 2.30. Now the big question is how can Ireland bounce back after such a flogging? The second and final match in the series will be played Friday night at the Telstra Dome. While we are expecting a better showing from Ireland, Australia has to be warm favourites, and they are at 1.28. RUGBY LEAGUE The Kangaroos scraped home against New Zealand 28-26 in the second tri-nations clash in Auckland last weekend. We opened betting on this match with the Kangaroos 1.25 favourites and giving up a handicap of 11½. That price immediately firmed into $1.20 following a series of bets and the handicap moved to -12 ½ following a bet of $15,000. Punters obviously thinking the Kiwis didn’t have much chance without Clinton Toopi, Lance Hohaia and Jason Cayless. On game day, as the rain started falling, things turned around with all the money coming for the home side, including one bet of $8,000 from a well known New Zealand client. The avalanche of money forced the Kiwi’s price in from 4.50 to 4.00. In the end the Australian side managed to record a victory albeit an unconvincing one and not by enough points for our liking. This week sees Great Britain playing its first match of the series and given New Zealand’s poor record on British soil we have installed the home side as 1.55 favourites with the Kiwi’s at 2.45. MOTOR BIKES Marco Melandri defeated his good friend Valentino Rossi in last Sunday's inaugural Turkish MotoGP, but it wasn't the result we were looking for. Melandri had been a steady improver over recent races and we had layed him to lose nearly $15,000 in bets at 13.00 before they began the practice sessions on Friday. Rossi was the favourite at 1.40, and although we had taken bets of $2500 and $1800 for him we weren't deluged with bets as we were the previous week in Australia. Melandri was 5.00 after the first day's practice and 3.50 when he lined up on the grid, with Rossi out to 1.75. At those prices there was money for both, with Rossi drawing a bet of €2000 from a Finnish client, while we took a series of smaller bets for Melandri as many thought this was 'his race'. They were right as he capitalised on another mistake by Sete Gibernau, who really does have a problem when pressure is applied. It is little wonder that nobody want to back him to win any of these races any more. AUSTRALIAN IDOL After facing the bullet last week, Emily Williams is back in favour with punters at 2.00 following on from another 'touchdown' performance on Sunday night. Emily's rendition of the Tina Turner hit 'River Deep, Mountain High' certainly was impressive but you just never know how the public are going to vote on these types of shows. It was a major shock that Anne Robertson was voted off on Monday night as she had been solid in the betting to win overall at about 6.50. Dan England finished in the bottom three and has blown out to 5.50 but we aren't writing him off just yet, even though Lee has snuck inside him in the betting at 3.50. Lee is 1.66 to be the best male, and Emily is 1.20 to beat home Kate in the best female market. DANCING WITH THE STARS There was a mini plunge early this week on Chris Bath to take out Dancing with the Stars but following Tuesday night’s show she has been displaced as favourite by Ian Dickson. Monday saw three separate bets of $1000 came for Chris Bath at 2.40, 2.20 and 2.10, and she actually touched odds on at one stage. However, Tuesday night belonged to 'Dicko' and as he was basking in the accolades being bestowed upon him by the judges, we were changing the odds around. He is now into 2.25 favourite ahead of Bath at 2.50 and then a decent gap to Ada Nicodemou at 3.60 but realistically, all three are popular personalities, so are a chance of winning. 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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