Cambridgeshire and Arc
HQ plays host to some of the top juvenile races of the season, but the big betting contest that spread bettors will be getting stuck into is Saturday's Cambridgeshire. The 1m1f trip down the Rowley Mile straight course means there is no hiding place and punters who like a spread bet will be looking for the potential Group horse who is well better than their handicap mark.
There is only one place to start and that is with John Gosden who has won two of the last three renewals and landed his first Cambridgeshire in 1994 with the eventual Group 1 performer Halling. His main hope looks to be Nationalism this year and he will certainly be sent off at the top of the Sporting Index win index and could actually go off one of the shortest priced favourites ever. Spread punters siding with the three-year-old will be encouraged that he has won on both good-to-firm and soft ground, so the unsettled weather doesn't hold too many fears.
The SP market is always an interesting one for spread bettors at Newmarket on Cambridgeshire day as there are usually massive fields. The highlight is very interesting itself with a wide selection of winning prices over the past decade. There have been five single-figure priced winners since Katy Nowaitee's success in 2000, two winning favourites, but also a 25/1, 33/1 and 100/1 winner.
As soon as Saturday is over with, attention turns to Paris and the 2010 running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Sea The Stars cemented his position as one of the true greats 12 months ago and in doing so became the second hot favourite to land this famous race following on from Zarkava's victory in 2008. Spread bettors don't have such a hot jolly to latch on to this year, but there are plenty of stats and trends which might point them in the right direction.
Aidan O'Brien has only won this race once, but looks to hold a strong hand with Fame And Glory and Cape Blanco. Spread bettors interested in getting with four-year-old Fame And Glory on the win index will be concerned that 71% of the last 21 winners (15/21) have been three-year-olds, though. Andre Fabre is the king of the Arc, having won the race a record seven times, but he doesn't look to have a strong candidate this year.
Mick Channon's seven-year-old Youmzain has only won six of his 31 career starts, but has still earned connections an eye-watering GBP3.3m in prize money. Much of that is thanks to him finishing second in this race for the last three years and it would be truly wonderful to see the old boy finally win the big one. However, spread punters should be aware that the last seven-year-old to win this was Motrico in 1932 and no other horse older than five has won since 1919.
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