Opinion: Punters' Cheltenham roar could last four days
The danger signs are there for the nation's leading bookmakers, says Cheltenhamfestival.net's Nick Wilby, many of whom are fearing a dismal four days in the Cotswolds.
On Tuesday 13 March the famous ‘roar’ will get the 2012 Cheltenham Festival under way, although there is every chance that this year’s meeting might be regularly punctuated by loud cheering from punters. The danger signs are out in place for the nation’s leading bookmakers, many of whom are fearing a dismal four days in the Cotswolds.
For the 200,000 people that attend the Festival and wager £600m on the event, the four-day showpiece can often turn into a slog with the bookies clash in the betting ring almost as pulsating as the action on the track. More often than not racing fanatics leave Prestbury Park having paid for the layer’s summer jaunts, with it nearly always a profitable meeting for operators.
But while tackling the layers at Cheltenham can often be harder than the daunting fences themselves, a number of short-priced favourites in some of the meeting’s leading races could have the bookies ducking for cover in 2012.
The way that the odds are shaping up for the four principal races at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival suggests that the bookmakers might be licking their wounds come Gold Cup Friday. Customers love backing favourites with Hurricane Fly, Sizing Europe, Big Buck’s and Long Run looking the likely winners of the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, World Hurdle and Gold Cup respectively.
The bookies had originally offered odds of 50/1 that all four champions could return to Cheltenham and defend their crowns in the above races, although those odds have been embraced by canny racing fans and the 20/1 on offer is set to get even shorter as the Festival approaches.If all four were to score, then it would leave the bookies battered and bruised, but that won’t deter their enthusiasm and the industry’s leading betting firms will be looking to take on all of the fancied runners at the meeting.
If the four returning champions make the bookmakers pay for their bravery then the roars of happy punters will last long into the summer and the layers won’t be able to get out of the Cotswolds quickly enough.
Nick Wilby is the senior racing writer for CheltenhamFestival.net, Cheltenhampro.com and Bettingpro.com