In the Australian Cup, Shocking will now take his place after originally being scratched last week, and in an open field the Mark Kavanagh trained galloper is solid in the market at $7.50. With his excellent record at Flemington of three starts for three wins including the Melbourne Cup, Shocking will be very competitive in what doesn’t appear to be the strongest of Australian Cups.

In Sydney, the Group One Randwick Guineas looks to be a very even race, with the consistent Shoot Out well supported at $3.60. On a great program, top Golden Slipper aspirants step out in the Skyline Stakes and the Sweet Embrace Stakes.

Finish first with IASbet’s Australian Guineas and Cup Specials. Get your money back, even if your bet selection comes second and take on the champions with our head-to-heads and Special markets.

Saturday 20th March. 7:10pm at Etihad Stadium.

Sportsbet Odds

Western Bulldogs 1.91

St Kilda 1.91

Preview

The 2010 AFL season is yet to kick off and we already have an epic on our hands for the NAB Cup grand final.

If this game is half as good as the 2009 preliminary final against the two sides (where St Kilda went onto win by 7 points) we will be in for a cracker.

Both teams have played good footy (when needed) leading into the final showing off some new talent along the way which could be the telling part of Saturday nights game.

For the Saints Rhys Stanley and Ben McEvoy have inspired in the last few weeks and both have been named to play in the grand final. Their height and speed played a welcome part in last weeks 70 point dismantling of Fremantle.

The Bulldogs have answered their forward line critics from last year and recruited the perfect player to sit in the square Barry Hall. He has kicked some very important goals and taken some match winning marks in this NAB Cup series. He will be  a major worry for St Kilda’s back line which has been a little unorganised recently, especially in the two 1 point wins in rounds 1 and 2 of the NAB Cup.

The doggies have heaps to play for this weekend as it is their first grand final appearance of any type since 1970.

Both teams will be going into the grand final with near full strength sides. St Kilda has recalled Nick Riewoldt and Brendon Goddard while Daniel Giansiracusa and Ben Hudson are named to play the final for the Bulldogs.

The only major outs expected in the game will be St Kilda’s lead midfielder Lenny Hayes with a corked calf and Bulldog Captain Brad Johnson with an Achilles problem.

Tip and Best Bets

It will be a very close game with both teams matching up well around the ground. Barry Hall will be the deciding factor in the game. You can put him down for at least two to three goals and I think this could be the final margin.

Bulldogs by 15 points

I like Bulldogs between 1-19 with Sportsbet paying $4.50 (see here for latest odds). If the Bulldogs get a couple of goals up late in the match with will slow the game down and scoring will scares.

For the more conservative punter, Sportsbet have a betting market for either team to win by under 15.5 points. I think there plenty of value in this bet at $3.10 and will be putting a few dollars on it.

Don’t forget to join Sportsbet’s AFL Million Dollar Tipping competition. See our tipping review here for details.

Sportsbet are giving new customers up to $200 in free bets. Checkout their site here for more info on this great offer.

If you havent already got a Sportsbet account now is the time to join, with the following two offers and up to $200 in free bets  Sportsbet is the smart choice.

Australian Cup

Back any horse that isn’t trained by David Hayes to win or each way, if your horse runs 2nd behind a Hayes horse, your stake will be refunded.

David Hayes has 4 horses running in the Australian Cup and is looking for back to back wins in the race. Sportsbet is refunding wagers on any horse that runs 2nd to a winning Hayes horse in the Australian Cup.

Australian Guineas

Back any horse other than Denman to win or each way, if your horse beats Denman but does not win the race, your stake will be refunded!

Peter Snowden’s Denman is at short odds, but can he run 1600m at Flemington? If your horse can outrun Denman but loses the race, Sportsbet will refund your bet. They are hoping Denman doesn’t run last, otherwise they will refund every bet except the Winner and Denman!

While other bookmakers and the TAB have him between $1.55 and $1.65, IASbet is willing and able to lay him at $1.80. “It’s not a foregone conclusion, there is rain forecast and the race may well be set up for horses to run over him.

I expect Denman to lead from his outside barrier and it may not be an advantage to be on the rail” said IASBet’s John Dow. The son of Lonhro has won nine of his last ten with his only defeat being at the same distance in the Caulfield Guineas. “I think history is about to repeat itself.” said Dow.

IASbet are well know for their horse racing markets. They cover every Australian and some International events and offer the best odds around.

Sportsbet Blog have also orgainised an exclusive $100 free bet with IASbet just for making $50 worth of bets. Win or lose you still get the $100 free bet. Simply use the promo code SBLOG100 when making an account to take advantage of this free bet. See the IASbet website here for more info on this special offer and info on how to make an account.

IASbet also have a promotion on at the moment that gives users 25% more on multi bets. Multies may be harder to win but with 25% more it sure makes it sweeter!

Sportsbet have attracted thousands of people to their tipping competition in the last few years and this year is no exception with new sports and prizes added making it one of the most popular footy tipping sites on the internet. They welcome office/family competitions and have made it very easy to setup private leagues so you can do battle with all your friends and co-workers.

Sportsbet Footy Tipping is free to play and winning is easy. They give away heaps during the year including weekly, monthly and mystery prizes which is great for making tips fun even when you may be well down the tipping ladder.

This year they are covering a full range of sports including the AFL , NRL, 2010 World Cup, IPL, A-League and the Spring Carnival.

The first NRL match for the season is March 12th and the first AFL match is March 25th so make sure to join today so you don’t miss the start of the season.

Entering is easy and free. Simply click here to goto the Sportsbet Tipping site and register your details and your away. Better still if you decided to make a deposit with Sportsbet they will match it 100% eg. Deposit $80 and end up with $160! Click here for more info on this offer.

2010 Sportsbet Million Dollar Tipping Prize Summary
Aussie Rules     over $380,000 cash & prizes
Rugby League     over $380,000 cash & prizes
World Cup     over $30,000 cash & prizes
A-League     over $75,000 cash & prizes
EPL     over $75,000 cash & prizes
Spring Carnival     over $60,000 cash & prizes

The star New Zealander firmed from $6.00 in to $4.60 with sentimental favourite Blacks A Fake also firming from $4.20 to $4.00 after drawing barrier three.

“Washakie has the gate speed to hold the front if challenged by Blacks A Fake, that’s why we are still betting $4.00 for “Blackie”. I think he’ll he have to do too much work” said Sportsbet’s Matthew Campbell.

Race favourite Monkey King (pictured above) drifted slightly from $2.10 to $2.30 after drawing barrier five. “Ricky May might take a peak at leading but I think with the speed on he will take a position in behind and still be the one to beat” said Campbell.

Although Sportsbet think Blacks A Fake will do it tough I think he has what it takes and has over many occasions shown why he is a superstar in the harness racing world. At $4.00 and taking barrier 3 I think Blacks A Fake is well worth a bet.

Sportsbet are the Inter Dominion Final specialists with betting on the big event right to the race start. They have a special offer giving you up to $200 worth of free bets just for making a deposit! Checkout the Sportsbet site here for more info on this free bet offer.

“It’s a wide open race now without the champion filly,” said Hartnett. “The three place getters of the Lightning Stakes are now the top three in the market in Nicconi ($5.50 into $3.20), Wanted ($6.50 into $3.40), and Shellscrape ($11.00 into $4.50).”

“I think Shellscrape finds his right race here. He hasn’t raced at the Valley, although he is very suited to the 1200m and he likes the cut out of the ground.”

IASbet has a range of head to head markets available on the William Reid Stakes, including Nicconi ($1.80) vs Wanted ($1.90), Shellscrape ($1.70) vs Light Fantastic ($2.15), Turffontein ($1.70) vs Sniper’s Bullet ($2.15), and Master O’Reilly ($2.75) vs Mentality ($1.45).

IASbet will also give you a $100 free bet when using the promo code SBLOG100 when making a new account. Simply make $50 worth of bets and the $100 free bet will be deposited into your account.

Checkout the IASbet site here for more info and to signup to this great offer.

Keep one eye on the telecast, and the other on Betfair, and make the most of Betfair’s dynamic markets. They’ll be open from when the referee blows his whistle until, well… he blows it again at the end. With opportunities every second, that’s over 54,000 seconds (plus injury time) of opportunities.

Betfair are accepting in-play bets on heaps of sports this summer including the Australian Open tennis, the Australian Summer of cricket and A-League soccer.

As well as having the largest market of in-play bets Betfair also have a summer promo giving you the chance to win Apple Ipods, XBox 360’s and Free Bets just for betting with Betfair!

Betting during a match is easy. Simply make an account at the Betfair website here, then call 1800 TELBET (that’s 1800 835 238) 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to speak to one of their efficient betting staff and place your in-play bet.

For more info on how Betfair works and how to get your hands on a prize checkout their website here or see our Betfair Review.

Betfair has a huge range of betting options – from top scores to the day when the test match will finish, to the amount of runs scored in the opening partnership. You won’t be bored watching the test, and there are plenty of good value bets.

Australia is $1.27 with Betfair to win the test, while the West Indies are right out at $15.50. The Australian odds are too short for a hobby punter like me, though expect them to be snapped up by many.

There are also odds for the top scorer for each team. For the first innings, Ricky Ponting is favourite in the Australian camp at $4.20, but the two I’m looking at are Shane Watson and Mike Hussey. Both are at $6.00, and both are top-quality batsmen. Watson has been batting well, and Hussey, despite calls for him to resign earlier in the year, has hit some good form in the One Day form of the game. They are both at $3.00 to score a century.

The West Indian team is harder to judge, so I’d stay away from betting on the top scorer unless you are feeling confident. Shivnarine Chanderpaul is at $4.10, while all-rounder Dwayne Bravo provides some value at $7.40.

It’s tough to tell on what day a test match will finish, but there are juicy odds if you can tell. The odds for the test to finish on Day 1, 2, or 3 are $2.50, while the favoured session is the Afternoon of Day 5 at $2.12. I like Day 4’s odds. Each session is at $5.10, and while it is difficult to pick a particular session, I think the Afternoon is looking the most likely.

There are a few things that stick out in my mind as good bets. The first is Shane Watson as top scorer for Australia at $6.00. The second, perhaps a little hopeful, is that the West Indies’ opening partnership will score more than Australia at $2.32. The third is the $2.02 for Watson to score more than Simon Katich.

This year’s horses include Kidnapped, who has won at Group level before. While he may not be quite to the standard of some other 3 year olds, like those who raced in the Victoria Derby, he is a classy gelding who might progress to Group 1 level next year. His form has been good; he won the Group 3 Inglis Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington on Derby Day. Kidnapped is favourite with Betfair at $2.75

Turf Express ($12.00) has also won at Flemington last start, in the listed Myer Spring Fashion Stakes last week. The Gai Waterhouse-trained colt is used to life in Sydney, but his win at Flemington proves he can race here as well. This will be his first Group race, and he has not won at this distance before, but he is still a chance.

Majestic Music ($5.00) is experienced for a three year old. The filly has won at Group level before, and has to be one of the favoured horses here. She wasn’t good enough in the Thousand Guineas, finishing seventh, but she backed up impressively with a win in the Lexus Hybrid Plate on Melbourne Cup Day. Her experience and form has to put her in the top three here.

I am going for Majestic Music here. Kidnapped has form at Group level, so I’ll put him here as well. Khas Kura ($4.40) has been racing well at a lower level, and for a little value, look at It’llbefantastic at $16.00

MY TIPS:

Majestic Music

Kidnapped

Khas Kura

It’llbefantastic