We mark your betting card for 2012

Marking your card for 2012


Feature
Michael Duffy

THE CERTS

1. Toulouse to be top French team in the Heineken Cup (8/11)
THE European Cup has been a brilliant success and now even those with only a limited knowledge of rugby (like yours truly) are taking a big interest, particularly in the knock-out stages. At the moment it looks difficult to pick an outright winner but one bet that does stand out with Paddy Power is Toulouse to go the furthest of the French sides.
They look to have a bit more class than Clermont all round and it may be between themselves and Leinster for outright glory.

2. Ruby Walsh to be top jockey at Cheltenham (1/2)
THERE is no doubt that Tony McCoy deserves all the plaudits he gets but when it comes to Grade One action in the National Hunt game, then one of his rivals clearly stands out.
Ruby Walsh has been top jockey at the Cheltenham Racing Festival for the last four seasons, and six out of the last eight, and barring injury it’s impossible to see past him again, given the ammunition he has from the Mullins’ and Nicholls’ yards.

3. Charlton to win promotion from League One (3/10)
THE lower leagues in England are always difficult to bank on but Chris Powell’s Charlton side are currently in fine form and it’s next to impossible not to see them filling one of the top two spots in League One come May.
Defensively they are very solid, having only conceded eight at home this season, and Bradley Wright-Philips has hit 14 goals already in this campaign. They look to be heading back to the Championship.

4. Germany to qualify from group in Euro 2012s (2/7)
IT can be hard to find banker bets in the European Championships such is the high standard of opponents in all the groups. It will be no walk in the park for the Germans against the likes of Van Persie, Ronaldo and, to a lesser extent, Bendnter, but Joachim Low’s side were different class during qualification and they look too consistent to falter at the group stages.

5. Mayo to win Connacht Championship (8/13)
COULD the draw have been any kinder to James Horan’s Mayo? A home semi-final against London or Leitrim means barring a slip-up akin to last year’s debacle in Ruislip, Mayo should put back-to-back Connacht titles together in 2012.
Galway, Roscommon and Sligo, to a degree, are all in the process of rebuilding and after last year’s run to the semi-final, it would be a major shock if Mayo don’t retain the Nestor Cup.

ACCUMULATOR pays 6/1


THE VALUE BETS

1. Grandouet to win the Champion Hurdle (6/1)
NICKY HENDERSON has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal for this year’s Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham but I am in no doubt which one has his best chance.
We all know that Hurricane Fly is a class act but he is a fragile sort and even if he shows up on March 13, he may be vulnerable due to his lack of racecourse action this season. Grandouet is only a five-year-old but his victory in the International Hurdle over course and distance showed him to be a much stronger horse than last season and his high cruising speed means he will never be too far off the pace.

2 Mark Selby to win the World Snooker Championship (7/1)
SNOOKER is in the process of real change with Barry Hearn attempting to mass market the sport to a wider audience. How he is going about it is questionable but certainly there is no standout player at present, with the betting for this year’s World Championship wide open. However, there is no doubting the class of Mark Selby, who currently sits on top of the world ranking and he will not want for hunger in trying to claim his first World Championship at the Crucible. ‘The Jester from Leicester’ can come good in 2012.

3 Simon Whitlock to win the Premier League of Darts (15/2)
INTEREST in darts continues to grow at a rate of knots and Irish interest will peak this year as the Premier League bandwagon rolls into Dublin’s O2 on March 22.
Phil Taylor is no longer Mr Invincible with Lewis, Anderson and Wade all laying claim to his crown. However, Aussie Simon Whitlock is also seemingly getting better with every major tournament and his explosive 180 hitting could make him very difficult to beat in the short format of the Premier League.

4 Bayern Munich to win the Champions League (6/1)
IT might seem crazy to take on the defending champions in this year’s competition but with them slugging it out for La Liga, they may well take their eye off the ball in Europe.
Bayern are not getting it all their own way in the German league but their class should shine through there and it is highly unlikely Basel will repeat their Man Utd heroics against the Germans in the last sixteen.
Bayern possess real class going forward and in midfield, and if their defence steps up to the mark, they can be a real danger from the quarter-finals on.

5 Cork to win All-Ireland SFC title (4/1)
MAYO famously dumped the 2010 champs out of last year’s All-Ireland race but we would have to admit that the Rebels were a tired and injury-ridden side that Croker afternoon.
They should be back to full strength this season and they will be out to prove that there is much more to come. Expect them to go well in the league also so taking the 4/1 available for Sam Maguire at the moment with Boylesports would be a wise move.

ACCUMULATOR: If you put a €10 accumulator on these five tips, and the first four came in, you would be collecting on €176,400 if the Rebels won the All-Ireland in September.