London, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/10/2012 -- Along with one of the season’s sprinting highlights, the July Cup, there is also the famed Falmouth Stakes for the fillies and mares to keep spread bettors entertained.
Last year history was made when Dream Ahead won the July Cup under Hayley Turner, making her the first female jockey to win a Group One race outright, surpassing the achievement of Alex Greaves who dead-heated for first in the 1997 Nunthorpe Stakes.
It’s been a fair race for favourite backers with a third winning the last 12 renewals, but spread bettors should be wary of selling SP’s as only two horses in that time have won at below 4/1. There have been five winners at 10/1 or bigger including Frizzante at 14/1 and Pastoral Pursuits for Hughie Morrison at 22/1.
That was trainer Morrison’s first win in the race but he followed up two years later with Sakhee’s Secret and, along with Irish maestro Aidan O’Brien, is the only dual winning-trainer in the last 12 runnings. O’Brien boasts a third triumph with Stravinsky from 1999 and his only runner this year, After, is the rank outsider at present.
All of the last 12 July Cup winners had run in the last 30 days and 11 of the last 12 had run at Royal Ascot the month previously, which would appear to rule out the likes of Sepoy, Hitchens and the aforementioned After. However it should read as a big plus for Bated Breath and Society Rock who both put up good showings at the Royal meeting.
The spread betting firm warns distance buyers to tread carefully. Mozart in 2007 won by 3 ½ lengths but the son of Danehill is a massive anomaly, as only Pastoral Pursuits, Oasis Dream and Fleeting Spirit have recorded winning margins of over a length since 2001.
Richard Hannon hasn’t won the July Cup in 20 years according to Sporting Index, but spread bettors shouldn’t ignore the claims of the champion trainer’s live outsider, the talented Libranno, who has been impressive in landing Listed and Group 3 races on his last two starts.
In the Falmouth Stakes, Friday’s Group One feature, Aidan O’Brien is responsible for four of the 21 runners at this stage but Sporting Index notes, perhaps surprisingly, that the Falmouth is one of the only UK Group One’s to elude the handler which doesn’t bode well for spread punters who follow Ballydoyle horses.
Four favourites from the last 12 editions have obliged, three of them at below 5/2 so it could be a good market for spread sellers. A word of caution though, as Rajeem pulled off a 50/1 shock in 2006 while three of the last four winners have been 13/2 or bigger including last year’s surprise winner Timepiece at 16/1.
Johnny Murtagh has a hat-trick of Falmouth successes on his CV but the Irish have a terrible record in the race and spread bettors might be keen to sell his mount Alanza’s chances. The mighty mare Goldikova won the race for the French in 2009 and they have another big chance with Golden Lilac who will be a popular choice for spread players as she bids for a fourth Group One.
About the Sporting Index
The Sporting Index Group is best known as the world’s largest sports spread betting business, offering the widest range of markets and taking some of the largest bets on sporting events around the world. Markets include rugby spread betting, cricket spread betting and football spread betting. The Group has 180 staff, all based at its London HQ. It is privately owned and is the undisputed world leader in sports spread betting, dominating the global market with an estimated 80% market share. Today it makes thousands of markets on upwards of 500 events every week, offering the sports fan the opportunity to bet on a wide variety of sports, political and showbiz events, as well as on a portfolio of unique virtual games. Clients transact via its websites, award winning mobile phone applications, and a 24/7 voice telephony service. Sporting Index’s B2C business continues to grow in the face of a fiercely competitive online betting market.
At the heart of the business is a world class trading, modelling and liability management capability that is widely acknowledged as amongst the best in the global betting market. The Group combines the latest technology with unrivalled trader expertise to service its core sports spread betting clients as well as an increasing number of wholesale customers who rely on the company’s fixed-odds in-play pricing data to underpin their own sportsbook operations via the Sporting Solutions brand. This has quickly established itself as a leading data provider with a number of flagship betting brands signed up. Sporting Index is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority and the Gambling Commission.