Odds Alpha #11
Last Week
On what was an eventful weekend for the horse racing world, The Grand National was clouded by the presence of animal rights protesters on the track, who were ultimately successful in delaying one of the most prestigious races in the sporting calendar.
This meant that the horses were kept parading (increasing tension) for longer than they’d have wanted. Very sadly, trainer Sandy Thompson said this delay was impactful in the fall and subsequent death of his horse, Hill Sixteen, who had never fallen at a racetrack before.
What’s clear from this fiasco is that the animal rights protesters are poorly informed and have little to no knowledge of thoroughbred racehorses, or racing yards. 99.8% of the 90,000 thoroughbreds who race in the UK and Ireland each year have an incredible quality of life. That 0.2% are a tragic statistic that the racing industry is constantly seeking to reduce. Hopefully people realise that the thoroughbred racehorse is an incredible specialised species that we cannot simply abandon.
Aside from that, Sale Sharks were successful in their game against Bristol, spurring on their title charge with a 36-20 victory away from home. As I pointed out last week, I thought they would be boosted by the return of Tom Curry, who ended up with the Man of the Match medal around his neck (figuratively speaking, as they gave a joint prize to him and his identical twin brother, Ben). With a semi-final secured now, the goal will be ensuring that the game takes place at home.
For Manchester City, their title charge also received a boost at the weekend, with rivals Arsenal squandering a 2-0 lead and ending up with only 1 point from their 2-2 draw against West Ham. Sadly though for our betting purposes, City could only squeeze 3 past Leicester in their win. How close we came…
This Week
As I write on Thursday, Chelsea were dumped out after another defeat at home, this time to Real Madrid. Their woeful form continues… Also Man City comfortable saw of Bayern Munich
Looking at the Premier League this weekend, Arsenal will have to put a statement down on Friday night at the Emirates against Southampton, which I think they will. They have constantly pulled it out of the bag this season when it’s really mattered and, with a heavily oiled London home crowd on their back, can put down a serious performance here.
The Tip: Arsenal to win - 2.5 goals @ 2.39
Details: 8pm BST on Friday 21st April 2023
The link: bet here
There is a slightly muted fixture elsewhere in the PL list because of postponements, however, Liverpool should build on their midweek demolition of Leeds against Nottingham Forest. They have been patchy, to say the least, this season, but Nottingham Forest have also been in poor form themselves too.
In the IPL, I’d like to take advantage of our tournament bet, the Rajasthan Royals, who visit the Royal Challengers Bangalore on the back of a fantastic run of recent form. They currently sit in 1st place after their 4 wins from 5 games so far, whereas RCB sit towards the foot of the table with only 2 wins from the same amount of games.
The Tip: Rajasthan Royals to WIN vs. RCB @ 1.83
Details: 11am BST on Sunday 23rd April
Link: bet here
Asides from those two bets, a sporting event I have always been very fond of will take place this weekend - The London Marathon. It’s an event that really brings together I was hugely impressed by how well Amos Kipruto won the event last year and I could see him going back to back.
Crypto
Wow, what an eventful week it has been, with shitcoins really being the centre of the narrative. The main headline from that standpoint is that $PEPE has done 1000x, although there was also a strong performance by $CHAD. These surges never fill me with confidence about the type of people who are buying crypto...
Nevertheless, ETH also broke through $2100 and BTC through $30,000, although they have given back those gains to an extent now. I remain convinced that this will be a volatile period for crypto as the macro picture continues to be uncertain. If you are looking at backing any ALT coins, you must really treat them as a gamble and only afford to bet what you can lose.
As always, good luck wherever you are playing this week.