Sporting Selections

Last updated Tuesday, March 27, 2007 8:21 PM

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We tipped Warren earlier this year and will tip him when conditions are right again. This week he plays on a course which should reward his strengths - he is top 25 for Distance and GIR. He has a little course experience - he played here in 99 in his rookie year and importantly made his first real cut of his professional career.

We are already on Jose for the Masters next week at 150/1 (December) but he also warrants a bet here at this price. Although his course form is nothing great - which is surprising as he says it sets up like Augusta - he did open up last year with a 65 to be joint leader. His last 2 efforts of 9/6 are much bettter than most on show can offer and 66/1 is far too big

Judging from betting patterns the owner is fairly confident that the horse could repeat its success of 2 years ago - sure to be a "steamer" over the next few days.

The horse that finished 3rd last year has been given a decent chance this year at the weights as he is set to carry only 10.3. Last April he came into the race on the back of a poor run in the Foxhunters at Cheltenham - this year he finished a decent 4th. We believe come the day he will start as one of the favourites

Basically this is a huge pricing error - the true price is really about Evens and if the 4/1 is cut it is probably worth backing down as far as 2/1

Goosen to miss the cut

This may seem a strange bet as Goosen is in such good form but the fact of the matter is in 6 visits he has missed the cut 5 times. He has admitted he can not "get comfortable" with the course and his one decent finish came in 2002 when the course played very different to normal as it was very wet.

Our one longshot of the week - he fits the mould of a winner here and has steady course form over the years. Parry won the Heineken Classic this year and defended his win at Doral solidly with a 6th place finish.As he is not a name player he is available at big odds - the 240 on Betfair is more than generous.

Bolli returns to the Nationwide Tour where he was very successful last year with a win and 5 other top 5's. He has played poorly on the PGA tour this year on the West Coast but all his good form has been in the deep South where he returns this week to a course where he finished 5th last year.

Malaysian Grand Prix

The fancy prices of last year have gone but that doesnt mean there is no value here. Renault can maintain their great start to 2005. We cannot separate the drivers so this combined bet offered here allows us to support both.

Bay Hill without Woods,Els & Singh

We had thought about backing Perez in the outright market but he has shown before he is too hot headed and nervous with the big players around. Take out the 3 favourites and he is a decent proposition - 1 shot out of the playoff on Sunday and 2 top 10's in 2 starts here in the past.

Bay Hill Invitational Top 5

Reasons as below - this price just seems a bit over the top

We find it very hard to split these two. They are both essentially claycourters with very solid hard court records, in fact Chela seems to show much more consistency on hardcourts these days. The odds have drifted enough for us to play.

Bay Hill Invitational Top 10

We couldn't put anyone off having a small bet outright but we feel the value with Goydos lies in him finishing in the top 10. He won here in 96 and finished top 10 in 01 and 02. He is playing on a major medical extension this year and managed a 4th place in 1 of his 2 starts this season at Pebble Beach.

The Australian missed the cut last week in Qatar but prior to that was 1st and 3rd in Asian events - indeed he could have won the second one had he not called a penalty on himself. He has played 2 events in China and finished top 10 in both including on this course in 2003.

Blake to bt Gonzalez

Blake has made quarter finals here the last 2 years. He has had a hard time getting back his confidence after injury mid 2004 but this week his results suggest he is not far away. These two played in Auckland with Gonzalez squeezing a tight opening set before pulling away. Blake is in better shape now.

Qatar Masters - w/o Els

There is much to like about the big Swedes' chances this week, he was top 10 last week in a much stronger field to back up his top 5 in NZ. He has solid course form including a 2nd here a few years ago. We think it best to back him without Els as he could easily walk away with it and Karlsson is not blessed with the strongest of nerves!

Na was t4th here last year at 250/1 - those sort of odds will not be available again on this young player. He has already had 2 runner-up slots this season and played solidly at Doral for another top 20 - we can see him going off much shorter.