Guineas Preview
Flat racing spread betting fans will be relishing the true start of the flat season at the Guineas meeting in Newmarket on Bank Holiday weekend. Anyone who likes to have a spread bet on racing will be praying that another Sea The Stars emerges this season and if that is to be the case, it seems most likely at this stage that it will be Aidan O'Brien's St Nicholas Abbey. The big hope of Ballydoyle routed a decent field in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster and spread bettors will have seen the form being franked recently by Elusive Pimpernel in the Craven Stakes. Spread punters have been raising a glass to O'Brien in this race in recent years, with him winning three of the last five renewals. It's yet to be seen at this stage how many he will run in the race, but it's often the case that if he only sends over one horse, that one turns out to be pretty special.
The Irish have certainly held the Indian Sign over their English rivals in this race recently and spread bettors will be interested to know that they've now won six of the last eight renewals. Buyers of SP's with Sporting Index will be hoping for a repeat of three years ago when Cockney Rebel won the race at 25/1. Spread sellers will be pleased to hear that 79 favourites have obliged in the 201 runnings of the race, but won't be quite as pleased when they find out that George Washington and Zafonic are the only two winning jollies in the past 17 years.
Winning distance punters on the spreads will be interested to learn that the biggest winning margin was Tudor Minstrel's eight length victory in 1947. The closest in recent memory was two years ago when Henrythenavigator just held off eventual Derby winner New Approach by a nose. Sea The Stars came home 1.5 lengths clear of Delegator 12 months ago.
There was a shock for most spread bettors in last year's 1,000 Guineas when Ghanaati became the fastest ever winner of the race at a widely unregarded 20/1. Barry Hills, winning the race for the first time in his illustrious career, prepared the filly in an unusual way with two appearances as a two-year-old on the all-weather. When you consider that Ralph Beckett also prepped Look Here on the sand before she won The Oaks, it is a tactic that a number of trainers are likely to adopt over the next few seasons. Spread punters are therefore advised not to rule anyone out due to a lack of experience on turf.
The English trainers have a much better record in the fillies' classic, winning 12 of the last 15 renewals, although only two of the last five. Special Duty, trained by Criquette Head-Maarek - who has already won this race three times - is likely to go off at the top of the Sporting Index win index. She will be trying to emulate her compatriot Natagora, who became the 15th French winner of the race in 2008 and spread SP buyers should be aware that two of the past three favourites have been successful. However, there is no reason for them to be too despondent as eight of the last eleven winners have been priced between 10/1 and 20/1.
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