12/1

Esqillon won, Gold medallist non runner, Mon Ami won as the price suggested, Waterloo Corner a head and short head 3rd with Western Roots 4th, Taken won, and even NAntes consented to lead 1-0 in first half and 2-1 second half for a nice 2.32 bet. A good day

Today,though, we face bad ground and abandonments so perhaps its better to focus on football

KEMPTON is soft, heavy in places

145
BETTING FORECAST: 15/8 Prince De Bersy, 6/1 Edgbriar, 13/2 Go Amwell, 7/1 R´Cam, Rodrigo Gonzales, 10/1 Khumbu, 12/1 Thats Confidential, 16/1 Alfred´s Tower, Wheres Johnny, 33/1 Meersbrook, Sycho Fred, 50/1 Mr Dass .

SPOTLIGHT VERDICT: Prince De Bersy has clearly the best form but was well beaten in August on the last occasion he encountered soft ground. Fellow winners Go Amwell and RODRIGO GONZALES should be suited by today's conditions, but there are also some unexposed types to watch out for in the betting.[RA]

Interesting that Prince de Bersy is now 7/2 in the early prices - no real confidence - Edgibriar has shortened to 7/2 and may be worth place only betting with a little on the win

345
BETTING FORECAST: 15/8 Mister Quasimodo, 5/1 Ever Present, 11/2 Salhood, 8/1 Yaboya, 10/1 Alphabetical, Manbow, Randwick Roar, 12/1 Alfadora, 14/1 Roznic .

SPOTLIGHT VERDICT: MISTER QUASIMODO (nap) has fulfilled every bit of last winter's promise as a novice, if not more, against some tough opposition this season. He has plenty going for him against rivals with something to prove in the conditions or off new high marks, though it's possible last season's improver Ever Present will have benefited a good deal from his recent Kelso return and be more of a threat here.

Price gapper, won on heavy ground, been competing in class 1's so worth support I feel , ideally to trade in running given the soft ground and the fact this is a scoop 6 race ( for a reason?))

Small fields at LINGFIELD mean you could dutch the first 2 in certain races. No stand outs though

Heavy ground at Punchestown and Dionne WARWICK

125
BETTING FORECAST: 11/10 Old Benny, 6/4 Verasi, 8/1 Be Be King, 14/1 Gritti Palace, 16/1 The Risky Viking, 50/1 Predicament .

SPOTLIGHT VERDICT: Unless Be Be King manages to shake off the blues on this first outing for Milton Harris the finish is likely to be fought out by VERASI and Old Benny, who were first and third in a Grade 2 at Lingfield last month. The revised weights suggest Old Benny might take revenge but Gary Moore's charge had a bit in hand there and can confirm superiority.[DH]

Against my better judgement what with this being 3 miles in heavy, level stakes on Old BEnny and Verasi at current prices of 5/4 and 2/1 leave us covering those most likely

FOOTBALL

A full programme today
Manchester United look to have it easy against the Magpies -Over 2.5 goals at 1.77 is quite appealing as a TRADE not a 90 minute bet. The half time /full time MAn Utd/Man Utd is 1.79 which enhances the odds of 1.29 to win outright. You could, being ultra safe, dutch MAn Utd/Man Utd and Draw /Man Utd.

We could also approach this game by backing Man Utd at 1.29 and laying off once they have ( as expected?) scored first.

THe Arse take on Birmingham at 3pm and again are 1/6 to prevail despite their African absences - what effect will these absences have? At least Adebayour is still playing. Arsenal are the same price as MAn Utd pretty much but Brum were only beaten 1-0 at Old Trafford and may adopt the characteristic defensive set up against the big boys and a new Arsenal team for the duration of the African Cup of Nations. FOr me, Arsenal to win 1-0 , 2-0, 2-1, 3-0 and 3-1 at odds of 7.4, 6.4, 11, 8, 12.5 is worthy of level stakes support.

Villa v Reading looks good for an over 2.5 goal trade if REading can continue to score at least one ( as they have done in their last 6 games) - I cannot see Villa not scoring and am hoping for a 1-1 scoreline with plenty of the match remaining

Anelka makes his debut for Chelsea today against the Spuds. Chelsea without the African contingent do not look a weakened side at all if their performance against Everton can be relied upon.

I may try the bets below in the half time/full time market given Spurs recent performance against another top 4 side in Arsenal where it was stale mate at half time. Rather speculative given Anelka's presence though

	Draw/Chelsea	5.4
	Draw/Draw	6
	Draw/Tottenham	13.5

Boro missing Yakubu today? ( African cup of nations) - Worth laying in the match odds market

Some other games of interest and worthy of a mug punter accumulator ( again to entertain you as one team ballses it all up)
BArcelona at home, Lyon at home, Linfield away (saw them on telly recently and they were a decent outfit), Celtic at home, St Mirren at home.
So prepare to laugh out loud as at least one of the above fails to perform as expected and I end up wearing my MUG PUNTER T shirt.











FOOTY

Another success yesterday and the only game of interest for me this evening is NAntes at home - I will chance Nantes toi win half time/full time at 2.32 which is good odds. I just hope they can score in the first half without reply