With the highlight of the National Hunt Horse Racing season, the Cheltenham Festival, now under a month away all the bookmakers will be working away behind the scenes trying to bring the best betting offers your way.
Betfred are the first bookies to break ranks with their Betfred Gold Cup Ante-Post betting offer. While the bookies are trying to wait to not give the game away Betfred have steamed out their Gold Cup offer straight away for their customers. Horse racing punters understand the for’s and against’s when it comes to ante-post betting, you get the chance to take some good odds but run the risk of your horse not running and losing your stake. Well Betfred have decided that from now if you place your ante-post bets on the Betfred Gold Cup and come the magical day your horse doesn’t run they will refund your whole stake in full. That’s right, Betfred are doing non runner, no bet from now on in so get your Cheltenham Gold Cup bets down now and get the best odds you can.
If you haven’t got a Betfred sports betting account then the news just gets better for you as well. All new customers to Betfred are rewarded with a free bet as a welcome offer up to £50. To claim this £50 Betfred Free Bet simply open a new account by clicking the link below. Once your new Betfred account is ready then place your first bet and Betfred will match that with a free bet of up to £50. What better way to start betting with Betfred!!!
Written by on Feb 22nd, 2012. Have Your Say!. 
As per usual Betdaq have looked at the current weeks betting events and picked the best of the sporing action to give their customers some great betting offers. Betdaq have really started to push their commission back offers for customers giving them even bigger winnings and betting value and this week there is 3 different betting events that Betdaq have the chance for you to get your commission back on.
The first Betdaq betting offer is for the Tuesday night Champions League fixture between Napoli and Chelsea. It is a really open fixture with no clear favourite so this offer might help you pick your bets. In the Napoli v Chelsea match if Chelsea are winning at both half time and full time then Betdaq will refund all the commission on all single bets placed on this match up to a massive £300.
Moving onto this weeks Golf action we have the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship taking place in Arizona, USA. In this tournament Betdaq have decided that if any Englishman win the event then they will refund the commission on all outright betting markets for the event. As with the previous betting offer just place you single bets on the betting exchange and Betdaq will refund commission up to £300 if an Englishman win the tournament.
Finally moving to Sunday we have the hugely exciting North London derby match taking place between Arsenal and Tottenham. These matches are always hot blooded affairs and Betdaq have realised this. They have decided that if there is a red card in the match then they will refund all commission on al the single betting markets surrounding this match. As long as you single bets are placed on the exchange then if there is a red card then Betdaq will refund commission up to £300.
If you haven’t got a Betdaq account then you can sign up to take advantage of these betting offers but also claim a fantastic Betdaq free bet as a welcome bonus. Betdaq have up to £200 in free bets for new customers so sign up today and take advantage of all these excellent betting offers from the Betdaq betting exchange.
Written by on Feb 22nd, 2012. Have Your Say!.
Sweeping changes to the controversial whip rules are set to come into effect before the Cheltenham Festival.
Rather than it being an automatic breach when a rider uses the whip eight times on the Flat and nine times over jumps, the figures will instead become the trigger point for the stewards to review the ride in question.
In another radical change, repeat offences will not result in the penalty multiplying. Each offence will now be treated on its merits. Repeat offenders will, however, be referred to the disciplinary panel of the BHA.
In his first major challenge since being appointed the British Horseracing Authority‘s new chief executive, Paul Bittar proposed fresh amendments which were approved at a board meeting on Tuesday.
The board has given the thumbs-up to a fundamental change to the rules which is due to be implemented in early March, as well as revisions to the existing penalty structure which will come into effect on Thursday.
Stewards will consider how a rider has used the whip in the course of exceeding the allowed number of strokes before deciding whether a breach has occurred and a penalty is warranted.
Bittar said: “Over four months have passed since the introduction of the first set of rules following the whip review. It is clear that while many objectives of the review are being met, and in particular those pertaining to horse welfare, a rule which polices the use of the whip based solely on a fixed number of strikes is fundamentally flawed.
“In practice the new rules have repeatedly thrown up examples of no consideration being given to the manner in which the whip is used as well as riders being awarded disproportionate penalties for the offence committed.
“The challenge is to have in place a rule and penalty structure which meets the objectives for fairness and proportionality outlined in the Whip Review while retaining the positives which have been a product of the changes to date.
“These include the virtual removal of all serious breaches and an overall reduction in the number of offences. We are confident there is not a welfare problem associated with the use of the cushioned whip in British racing.”
Written by on Feb 22nd, 2012. Have Your Say!.
Jockeys have welcomed the radical changes to the whip rules planned by the British Horseracing Authority.
New rules are to be introduced in advance of the Cheltenham Festival following a BHA board meeting at which the proposals were approved.
“The PJA is pleased by today’s decision by the British Horseracing Authority to make important amendments to both the rules and the penalties relating to the use of the whip within racing,” said a statement from Paul Struthers, chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association.
“The adjustment to the penalty regime is welcome, as the previous penalty structure was not appropriate.
“However, of greater importance is the general change of approach to how the rules are fundamentally framed and applied, which was the overriding issue, not just for jockeys but for racing generally.
“This change recognises that a ‘grey’ issue cannot be proportionately and fairly regulated by a ‘black and white’ rule, and that jockeys are skilled horsemen who care passionately about horses and are being denied the ability to use their full skill and judgment throughout the course of the race.
“If this is implemented as the PJA believes is the intention, jockeys will no longer be punished for genuine, wholly unintended mistakes nor for otherwise perfectly acceptable rides.”
The statement continued: “I will continue the dialogue with the BHA as they finalise the guidelines for how this approach will be implemented. Around 90% of the offences under the rules that came into force in October 2011 would not have come close to constituting an offence under the old rules.
“Jockeys have collectively made Herculean efforts to change their riding styles overnight and deserve enormous credit not just for that but for their patience whilst discussions to find a sensible solution to the major issues were taking place.
“Everyone hopes that once the revised interpretation of the rules comes into force, racing can return to talking about the positives, rather than focusing on and reinforcing an inaccurate and unwarranted impression of both the sport and its jockeys.”
Written by on Feb 22nd, 2012. Have Your Say!.
Leading Champion Hurdle hope Grandouet is undergoing surgery on his near-hind leg.
Owner Simon Munir confirmed the five-year-old was to have an operation on Tuesday evening for the injury that came to light over the weekend.
Grandouet, trained by Nicky Henderson, was to have had a prep run for next month’s Stan James-sponsored race at Cheltenham in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on Saturday.
However, he was withdrawn from the race at the 24-hour final declaration stage after having banged his leg in his box on Thursday night.
Connections hope to know more on Wednesday about the horse’s chances of still being able to take his chance in the Champion Hurdle.
Grandouet has been around an 8-1 chance for the feature on March 13 after staking his claim with victory in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham on his latest start in December.
Written by on Feb 22nd, 2012. Have Your Say!.
