As a bookie you always go into the festival with a battle plan, and I was at the Cheltenham preview evening at Towcester on Wednesday night sounding out friends from around the industry for the inside track.

First off here’s a couple of horses I’ll be laying big time next week.

My plan is to hit the ground running and lay Dunguib in the Supreme Novices. I think he’ll start odds against and not the silly odds you can get now. Why? Well he’s a soft ground bully, he can’t jump and his jockey’s a novice!

Another big lay will be Denman – it looks like nobody wants to back him this year after the AON so we might have to push the price out to get some money in the satchel.

Get the Value and Back Early!

The best tip I can give punters is to remember that totesport are going Non Runner No Bet.

This is great value for money and you’ll get prices that’ll be long gone by race day. Last year 24 out of 26 winners paid out more if you backed them early so it pays to get your cash on now.

Khyber Kim is a case in point. At 7/1 for the Champion Hurdle he’ll only get shorter. Same applies to Alfie Sherrin in the Pertemps Hurdle. He’s owned by Harry ‘the dog’ Findlay and won’t start bigger than 7/2 on race day as his connections are big players in the betting jungle.

On the other end of the scale I think Solwhit, Rite of Passage (ridiculous price), Long Run and Karaback will drift over the next few days.

Gary’s Bankers…

My banker for the week has to be Big Bucks to retain the World Hurdle. He’s 4/7 right now but looks more like a 4’s on shot to me.

Kalahari King (7/1) looks a great each way bet in the Queen Mother. Twist Magic can look very dodgy at the start, I don’t think Big Zeb will get round and Barker would have more chance with Ronnie Corbett on board!

For my last banker I’m backing Tataniano (7/1) to finish the week on a high in the Grand Annual. Connections have opted for this race over the Arkle and he’s sure to be popular in what is now the ‘get out stakes’.

Ones to Watch

For the Arkle I’ll be going for Sports Line. If he’s as big as 8/1 on the day you can find me in the Best Mate enclosure handing out free toffee apples. Later on it’s the Cross Country Chase – otherwise known as the JP McManus Benevolent Fund – where I expect Garde Champetre (2/1) or L’ami (10/3) to win another one for JP.

Another solid looking bet would be Character Building (11/1) in the William Hill Trophy. He also looks a good weight for the National and will be a big hope for David Pipe.

For the Albert Bartlett we’ve already seen money for The Betchworth Kid (8/1) and it’s fair to say we’ll be waving the white flag if that one romps up the hill!

The Fox Hunters Chase is usually a lucky race for me and last year I backed Cappa Bleu for a small fortune. This year I’m going for Kilty Storm (12/1). He didn’t perform well under Martin Pipe but went back to Ireland and has been burning it up in point to points ever since. If the ground is soft by Friday 12/1 looks great value to me.

And finally the big one…!

As I said earlier I’ll be laying Denman big time this year for the totesport Gold Cup while Kauto Star looks the class of the field to me. I think an each-way bet on Tricky Trickster (16/1) and Imperial Commander (10/1) will give you two great runs for your money. I was chatting with Paddy Brennan at Towcester and he tells me Imperial Commander is the fittest he’s ever been, unlike this writer!

Enjoy the build up to the festival and I’ll be back on Tuesday to give you some more thoughts on the day one action.

In the meantime, be lucky!
Gary

Punchestowns (10/3 ante-post) has recovered from a bruised foot and will run in the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday 17 March, Nicky Henderson has confirmed.

Last season’s World Hurdle runner-up suffered a scare last Thursday and Henderson’s plans to check on his fitness were scuppered by frost.

Punchestowns is set to go up against stable mate Long Run (2/1 favourite ante-post) and the likes of Diamond Harry and Weird Al in the big-race line-up and Henderson reports his charge is now “back in good form”.

“We had a scare with Punchestowns last week when he had a bruised foot which held him up for a couple of days, but I don’t think has affected us dramatically,” Henderson told talkSPORT.

On his stable-mate and rival for the RSA Chase, Henderson added: “Long Run is something else. I’d like to think he might be something very special, but we’ll find out next week.”

Don’t miss your chance to check out RSA Chase Cheltenham Festival betting opportunities and ante-post horse racing bets on totesport.com.

Jenson Button has accepted he must be “quick out of the blocks” in Sunday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix to stand any chance of successfully defending his drivers’ crown (Formula One betting).

The world champion is well-placed to make such as assertion given that he won six of the opening seven races last season on his way to securing a maiden championship with Brawn GP.

The 30-year-old survived an end-of-season wobble – in which he managed only two podium finishes in the final 10 grands prix - and late surge from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to take the crown, so knows the importance of a strong start to 2010.

Now with 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Button expects competition to be “electric” and is realistic about his chances of repeat glory.

He said: “I feel I’ll need a dominant start again this weekend.

“I think every championship, for any champion, it’s important to be quick out of the blocks.

“So yes, it is important for all of us to be up there at the front here in Bahrain.”

Don’t miss your chance to check out Formula One Grand Prix race bets and ante-post F1 betting opportunities on totesport.com.

It is looking increasingly likely that Binocular will feature in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham despite his trainer, Nicky Henderson, ruling him out of the race a month ago due to a muscle condition. He is currently 9/1 seventh favourite for the feature.

Binocular finished third in last year’s event and Henderson’s hopes are high this time around. He is drawing confidence from Binocular’s performance against current favourite, Go Native (11/4), in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

“We weren’t happy with him on the day, it wasn’t him, yet he was still only beaten a length and a half by Go Native, so we only have to find two lengths and we are back where we are,” Henderson stated.

Binocular’s participation in next Tuesday’s race is dependent on him pleasing connections in a workout on Friday but he came through a tough test on Wednesday when Tony McCoy rode him over 13 flights of hurdles.

“He had a hiccup, but he’s back now. He’s in really good form, AP (McCoy) came down and schooled him yesterday and we think we are three-quarters of the way to getting him back to where we need him to be.

“There’s just one more bit of work to do tomorrow when again AP’s going to come and ride him. And if he’s happy there I think we’ll give him the green light.”

Henderson accepts that Binocular is not currently at his best but he is remaining optimistic about Cheltenham.

“He hasn’t impressed everybody all season. He won his last start very easily, but even so it wasn’t quite the same Binocular we know we can have.”

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Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is hoping to get one over on Juventus on Thursday evening (Juventus 8/15, Draw 11/4, Fulham 6/1 match odds) and make history in the process.

The transformation of the Cottagers since Hodgson took over in December 2007 has been phenomenal. Then, they were facing relegation but now they are enjoying their best ever European campaign and are comfortably tenth in the Premier League.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s match, Hodgson stated, “Given our position when I came to the club in 2007 I don’t think many people would have actually given any credence to the fact that we’d be this far forward now in our development.”

Fulham go into the game on the back of two goalless draws and they would be happy to take that result away from the Stadio Olimipico di Torino. They are 11/1 for the 0-0.

Fulham knocked out the holders Shakhtar Donetsk in the last round and confidence is high. However, Juventus are overwhelming favourites for the match (8/15). Defender Brede Hangeland scored in the away leg against Donetsk and he is a 40/1 shout for First Goalscorer in Italy. He is 12/1 to score at any time.

The Cottagers will be without captain Danny Murphy, who is banned. Nicky Shorey and Stefano Okaka are cup-tied whilst Andy Johnson, Clint Dempsey and John Pantsil are all out with knee injuries.

Juventus are weakened too though, with Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini and Amauri injured and Felipe Melo suspended.

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Boss Rafa Benitez has called for the “real Liverpool” to stand up when they take on Lille in the first leg of the last-16 of the Europa League in France on Thursday (Lille 21/10, draw 23/10, Liverpool 13/10).

The Reds were beaten 1-0 at lowly Wigan in the Premier League on Monday night as they drew their third blank in their last four league games to seriously dent their top-four hopes (11/4).

But Benitez’s under-achievers get the chance to bounce back in Europe (5/1 Europa League Outright) and the Spaniard has urged them not to fluff their lines.

He said: “You cannot change things but we have an opportunity now in the Europa League and must try to do our best.

“A game right now will be a chance for the players to show their character.

“The last 10 games we have been all right. We had character, everyone was working hard, helping each other and working together.

“It was a surprise and hopefully this [Wigan] result is just a blip and we will see the real Liverpool on Thursday.”

Liverpool will be without midfielder Yossi Benayoun (ankle) but centre-half Daniel Agger should be available after illness.

Lille, who currently sit in sixth place in Ligue 1, have lost only two league games out of 14 at home so far this season.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged Wayne Rooney to beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 42 goals from two years ago over the course of the remainder of the season.

The England hitman moved on to 30 for the campaign after hitting a brace in the 4-0 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday night as the Red Devils comfortably progressed 7-2 on aggregate.

Rooney (3/10 to finish as top scorer)  is currently the leading marksman in the Premier League with 23 goals to his name, four more than Chelsea’s Didier Drogba (12/5) with Darren Bent (20/1) of Sunderland further back on 18.

And Ferguson said: “It’s a challenge [for Rooney to get 42 goals]. I was just happy for him to reach 30, to be honest with you.

“But he keeps on improving and he was sensational again.”

Rooney was brought off in the second half against Milan but Ferguson has confirmed it was precautionary as he is still troubled by a slight knee problem.

“He is still carrying an injury, nothing serious, but with a game on Sunday (against Fulham) we wanted him off early,” said the Scot.

Rooney has now scored four Champions League goals after surprisingly drawing a blank in the group stage.

Ronaldo’s 42 goals from 2007/08 included 31 in the Premier League.

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“Do-or-die” is how midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo has described Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Lyon as his Real Madrid side attempt to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg (Real Madrid 3/10, draw 4/1, Lyon 9/1 match odds).

Ronaldo believes that home advantage will be telling and that the flair of ‘Los Galacticos’ will overcome the physical power of the French outfit.

He said: “We are familiar with Lyon. They are a strong team physically speaking, but it’s our turn to play at home. I am convinced that this team will respond and that we will make it through to the next round.”

Madrid are 5/1 about a 2-0 win and Ronaldo is 3/1 joint favourite to be First Goalscorer and 2/3 in the Anytime Goalscorer market.

Meanwhile, defender Sergio Ramos is also confident ahead of the clash. Madrid arrive in off the back of seven straight La Liga wins, including a thrilling 3-2 success against Sevilla at the weekend. Madrid clearly have the momentum as Lyon are going into the game off  the back of a goalless draw against lowly Boulogne. Ramos is 14/1 to be First Goalscorer and 4/1 in the Anytime Goalscorer market.

The defender is also convinced that Lyon will “fall back to defend” and that this will suit Madrid. He has confidently predicted a 3-0 success for the Spanish outfit, which is available at 7/1.

However, Real have disappointed in the Champions League in recent seasons, failing to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament in each of the past five seasons. A repeat of the first leg – a 1-0 Lyon success – is on offer at 12/1.

Don’t miss your chance to check out Champions League match betting and ante-post football betting opportunities with totesport.com.

AC Milan boss Leonardo is remaining tight-lipped about whether David Beckham will start against his old club Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The Italians are trailing 3-2 from the first leg and need to score at least twice to secure progression. They are 25/1 with totesport.com to make history by winning 2-0 at Old Trafford as United have never been knocked out of European competition after winning an away first leg.

Beckham will add another attacking dimension to the Milan side and the 34-year-old is expected to make an appearance against the club he left in 2003 at some point. This makes the 11/1 Last Goalscorer about Beckham tempting, particularly if Milan are forced to go all guns blazing to secure the goals they need.

If Milan are to succeed, they will need to keep Wayne Rooney quiet. He will return to the United side after missing the weekend’s Premier League trip to Wolves with a minor knee injury. Despite the absence, the England striker will be fresh and determined to prevail against his international team-mate. Rooney is the 7/2 favourite to be first scorer.

Ronaldinho has expressed his concern over Rooney, confidently suggesting “if we can stop him our own options soar”.

The Milan star is predicting “a very attacking game with many goals” and Totesport are offering 3/1 for 3 goals and 9/2 for 4 goals this evening.

Don’t miss your chance to check out Champions League match betting and ante-post football betting opportunities with totesport.com.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said he would like to see his side be drawn against either Manchester United or Chelsea in the next round of the Champions League.

The Gunners (8/1 to win the Champions League) booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition with a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Porto at the Emirates Stadium o Tuesday night, comfortably overturning the 2-1 deficit from the first leg.

Even without Cesc Fabregas Arsenal were in complete control right from the off with a Nicklas Bendtner hat-trick and one each for Emmanuel Eboue and Samir Nasri making sure  they reach the last eight stage for the third season running.

Wenger has now set his sights on meeting Manchester United (8/13 to beat AC Milan in the 90 minutes betting) or Chelsea in the next round of the competition.

Despite having lost to both home and away in the league this season Wenger believes it would be good for his young side to face one of the two English teams in the next round.

“I have a funny feeling, maybe it’s good for us to play an English team,” said the Frenchman.

“We have not done well against Chelsea and not done well against Man Utd this year and it would be a good opportunity to show that we can do it against them.”

The omens would not be good for the Gunners if they were to draw United (11/8 to win the Premier League) or Chelsea (6/4) having lost to both sides the last time they meet in European competition.

However, there is no guarantee Arsenal will be drawn against a British club with United still having to see off AC Milan on Wednesday night while the Blues have to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg against Inter.

Check out Totesport.com for all the Champions League betting action.