Weekend Review: Bookies bamboozled as punters steam ahead at Cheltenham

It was a Cheltenham Festival for punters to savour as a host of favourites across duly obliged, leaving bookies counting their losses.

After two extremely difficult years for the sport, a record four-day crowd of 280,627 was treated to exceptional racing, with some historical moments made in Gloucestershire.

The 3/1 favourite A Plus Tard won the Gold Cup in stunning fashion, storming up the famous hill with Rachael Blackmore on board to win by a massive 15 lengths ahead of stablemate Minella Indo. This was the second year running trainer Henry de Bromhead secured a 1-2 in the race.

Blackmore became the first jockey in the 21st century to win both the Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle at the same meeting, having piloted 8/11-shot Honeysuckle, owned by former Entain boss Kenny Alexander, to victory on the opening day.

Honeysuckle 🥇
A Plus Tard 🥇

Rachael Blackmore is the first jockey since AP McCoy in 1997 to do the Champion Hurdle/Gold Cup double at the same festival 🙌 pic.twitter.com/p3BvXDYlN2

— Racing Post (@RacingPost) March 18, 2022

Constitution Hill arguably gave the performance of the week in the Supreme Novices Hurdle in the opening race on Tuesday, bounding 22 lengths clear of stablemate Jonbon, with fans eager for a match-up with Honeysuckle at next month’s Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “Cheltenham from a layers’ point of view was about as bad as it’s been in recent memory as favourites and punters alike ran wild.

“The Gold Cup topped both the turnover and losses list as A Plus Tard won impressively under the even more impressive Rachel Blackmore, but the pain was fairly relentless as 12 favourites got the job done,” he added.

Bet365’s Steve Freeth commented: “We were on the bridle going into the Mares Novices Hurdle on Thursday but then it turned massively with us losing seven of the last 10 races. Love Envoi was a horrific result for us and 40/1 shot Chambard was a surprisingly bad one in the race after as punters fought back.

“We kicked off Friday in a similar vein with Willie Mullins backers filling their boots, including a very expensive Billaway/Elimay bet boost. Banbridge landing the finale was a welcome result to conclude a very busy Cheltenham Festival which left us with a bloody nose.”

There were some positive results for the bookies as a fairy-tale ending for Tiger Roll failed to materialise in the Cross Country Chase.

Meanwhile, the mouth-watering clash in the Queen Mother Champion Chase failed to materialise as slight odds-on shot Shiskin pulled up after eight fences, with Nicky Henderson’s charge clearly not taking to the rain-sodden ground due to Wednesday’s downpours.

In the end, 5/2 second favourite Energumene, owned by renowned professional punter and Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom, cruised to the win by more than eight lengths.

Betway’s Chad Yeomans said: “The punters had plenty of luck on day one with a number of winning favourites winning and it looked as though Wednesday could be a good day for them too as there we plenty of fancied runners.

“After the first two favourites did the business, we needed a change in fortune and we got one with a 50/1 winner of a 28-runner handicap, that was followed by an odds-on favourite getting beaten in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase and Tiger Roll getting gubbed on the line was another good result, despite the eventual winner being popular in the market throughout the day,” he added.

Energumene streaks clear to win a dramatic Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase 🏆
ITs a first win in this race for @WillieMullinsNH 😲#Cheltenham2022 | #ITVRacing pic.twitter.com/pWQ4izMJVM

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 16, 2022

Virgin Bet head of trading, Janis Strauts, revealed the operator saw its sportsbook margin dip into the negatives in what was the most popular week of the year so far.

He said: “The busiest week of the year so far is over, and customers enjoyed some juicy profits along the way. Cheltenham provided us with a fair mix of results for all types of punters – both strong betting favourites winning comfortably, combined with some upsets for those looking for big price winners.

“Overall, Virgin Bet had a negative 5% margin following Cheltenham with customers taking advantage of many of the promotions running on site. Punters had the time of their lives betting on our enhanced offers on many Cheltenham special markets and price boosts, where customers at least doubled their stakes placed,” he added.

Elsewhere, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Crystal Palace sewed up the four semi-final spaces in the FA Cup.

City’s (3/10) second-half blitz of Southampton (15/2) saw Pep Guardiola’s side run out 4-1 winners, while Crystal Palace (EVS) heaped further woe on Everton (14/5) with a 4-0 win.

Chelsea (9/20) eased past Championship side Middlesbrough (11/2) 2-0, while Liverpool (1/4) got the better of a spirited Nottingham Forest (9/1) 1-0 thanks to Diogo Jota’s goal.

WE'RE THE FAMOUS CRYSTAL PALACE AND WE'RE GOING TO WEMBLEY!

🦅 4-0 🔵#CPFC | #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/q4LjxcOhI5

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) March 20, 2022

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “The FA Cup quarters at weekend were predictable and punter-friendly – though we now have the irresistible prospect of a Liverpool vs. Manchester City semi-final at Wembley to savour.

“FA Cup outright betting – City 11/8, Liverpool 9/4, Chelsea 5/2 and Palace 11/1. Fancy Liverpool to steam ahead and land the fabled Quad? That’s 16/1 – and for City to emulate the 1999 Treble exploits of neighbours United, it’s 13/2,” he added.

In the Premier League, Tottenham (7/10) took advantage of West Ham’s (4/1) Europa League exploits with a 3-1 win in N17 as Arsenal and Leicester secured expected wins over the weekend.

Gill said: “Only three games in the Premier League this week but all pretty much went as expected. West Ham weren’t without their backers, but overall things went smoothly for punters.

“A similar story as well in the FA Cup without a shock to speak of. Liverpool only notching one against Forest left us marginally ahead in that one, otherwise once again it was a punter’s weekend there too,” he added.