Crusade for Cheltenham Clarity

"Life, woah life” [click here to listen whilst reading - recommended]

 Whenever I feel bogged down by events that occur to us inhabitants of earth, Des'ree's fine lyrics loll around my head and remind me of how insignificant we all really are, from a cosmological point of view anyway.  I'm sure that was her intended message.

I wrote that paragraph a couple of weeks ago but didn't finish off the chain of thought as Kevin Pullein in the Racing Post coincidentally published a piece with a similar theme in the paper, inadvertently denying Palphabet followers an undoubtedly cracking read.  As I didn't want to look like the Johann Hari of gambling blogs, I nipped it in the bud, looking for a slightly different angle.  The ultimate goal, however, was to attempt to define that moment of clarity that us punters have from time to time.  I'm referring to the supra-dreamlike vision of a victorious betting slip or Betfair interface, when everything just comes together in harmonious profit.

 January's P&L features one such moment:

Adrian "Jackpot" Lewis regained the PDC World Championship title, despite the best efforts of a wasp, a draught created by an open Alexandra Palace door and the first few sets of James Wade's accurate arrows.  Maybe "The Machine" enjoyed his own moment of clarity, shortly before the realisation that he was going to deny me the opportunity to pocket £1200 (minus lay-offs) caused him to metaphorically gouge out his eyes with tungsten-tips and collapse like Costa Concordia with Captain Coward at the controls.

The ability to see things clearly, then, is an advantage and fortunately January provided me with my first few transparent windows towards Cheltenham Glory:

Willie Mullins top trainer at 13/8 (Hills)
http://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing-betting/specials/season-specials/cheltenham-festival/top-trainer/best-odds/

Ruby Walsh top jockey at 8/11 (Hills)http://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing-betting/specials/season-specials/cheltenham-festival/top-jockey/best-odds

Soll to win the National Hunt Steeple Chase at 12s with Hills, Stan James and Betfred, only 8s with the Magic Sign after success in Ireland midweek
http://www.cheltenham-festival.co.uk/races/national-hunt-steeple-chase-odds.php

Big Buck's to win the Ladbrokes World Hurdle NAP at 4/9 (Hills)
http://www.cheltenham-festival.co.uk/races/ladbrokes-world-hurdle-odds.php

Hurricane Fly to win the Champion Hurdle at Evens with Paddy Power
 http://www.cheltenham-festival.co.uk/races/champion-hurdle-odds.php

Finally, for now, and I start to shake a little bit just writing it down: Kauto Star to win the Gold Cup at a mouth-watering 4/1 generally, and nearly 5s on Betfair
http://www.cheltenham-festival.co.uk/races/cheltenham-gold-cup-odds.php

I'd recommend looking for the best prices and placing a few singles and one whopping festival accumulator whilst listening to this.  I welcome your comments on my selections and aim to do a more in depth post during the week expanding on my reasons for the above selections, maybe looking for some more single-bet value plays. 

I am confident that the return awarded for this straightforward six-fold will mean that by the evening of Friday 16th March, when the festival racing is over, I will be so consumed by joy and alcohol that I won't be able to see anything, clearly or otherwise.  This excellent acca calculator from http://www.betcalc.com/accacalc.php illustrates my point as clear as a freshly polished pane of glass.

DP