The very best tennis betting players rise to the top no matter the conditions, able to find ways to deliver their best game irrespective of venue, atmosphere and even opponent.

Alas, not everybody is Roger Federer, although that would at least make for a competitive Wimbledon. Different playing surfaces are the biggest factor in affecting player performance.

Hard court is the bread and butter of the ATP tour, although there are variations within that form of surface. Many develop an aptitude for performing on clay, while others eagerly await the arrival of grass courts on the calendar.

The Grass Is Greener

However, there are few players among the ATP tour who would consider themselves as specialist grass-courters, and with good reason.

Players can feasibly go through an entire season and accumulate all of their points on either clay or hard courts, avoiding the other surface with steadfast resolve.

If a player only deigned to venture out onto grass courts, they'd find themselves very busy around June but with little else to do for the rest of the year.

Federer has become synonymous with Wimbledon (winning 8 titles will do that), but the Swiss legend has also claimed 11 titles across the two hard court majors.

Those who thrive on grass have to find ways to survive on other surfaces if they are to have success throughout the year.

Federer heads the betting markets for Wimbledon, as is customary, but the usual suspects behind him (Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic) regularly challenge across all surfaces.

via GIPHY

The lack of grass tournaments is bemoaned by many, usually those players who are adept on the surface. If grass had equal weighting to other surfaces, Feliciano Lopez would likely be reflecting on a career spent in the top 10 rather than sniffing around its edges.

Lopez claimed his maiden ATP500 title at Queen's last year, with the veteran powering past a quartet of players ranked in the top 15.

Lopez is an anomaly in terms of Spanish players, with his compatriots generally more at ease with the grind of a clay court. Lopez's more attacking approach can be exposed on the unforgiving clay but enables him to either carve out winners or set up clinical volleys on grass.

It helps that Lopez has a vicious serve that is easier to fall back on, on grass rather than other surfaces.

Lopez is a notable exponent of the serve-and-volley approach that used to be inextricably linked to Wimbledon, although it is sliding out of fashion.

 

The Dying Art Of The Serve-Volley

Its diminishing popularity is disheartening for a number of reasons. Tennis thrives on the clash of styles, and watching players both employ and respond to serve-and-volleys can be an engrossing experience.

Also, it still works. In fact, the serve-and-volley approach can often be a great leveller between players usually of disparate ability on other surfaces, with the strategy negating many elements of the opponent's game because the points can be over so quickly.

Nadal can testify to that, having lost to Dustin Brown at Wimbledon in 2015. The victory from the then world number 102 was an outrageous display of bold shot-making and attacking strategy, with Brown a renowned maverick who can fluctuate between excellent and erratic.

Nadal has further evidence to testify to the virtue of serve-and-volley. In 2017 he demonstrated that he is a mere mortal on grass, with Gilles Muller resilient and exquisite in a 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 15-13 victory in the last 16 at Wimbledon.

The epic encounter wasn't characterised by poor play by Nadal, but rather by Muller's continual ability to pull out mighty serves and spectacular winners.

On any other surface, Nadal would fancy his chances against Muller and Brown (and Lukas Rosol and Steve Darcis, two other generally unspectacular players who found new heights to overcome Nadal at Wimbledon).

Of course, on clay, Nadal would fancy his chances against all four of those players occupying the court at the same time. That may be slightly hyperbolic, but Nadal has exerted such a tight stranglehold that he has almost squeezed the life out of every French Open since he won his first in 2005.

Eleven titles later, it is impossible to gauge if there is a worthy successor to the title 'King of Clay' as Nadal's supremacy has distorted all concept of what it means to be a clay-court specialist.

 

All Hail The King Of Clay

Among all the shouty adoration of Roger Federer and Andy Murray at Wimbledon, it is easy to forget that Nadal has a brace of Wimbledon titles of his own and will always be considered among the favourites in London.

However, the Spaniard is indubitably more terrifying to play on clay, to the point that Roger Federer has even stopped entering the French Open in recognition of the futility of it all.

The slower nature of clay rewards players with outstanding athleticism, trustworthy defensive skills and strong mental fortitude. Nadal has all of this in spades, with the former two making winners on any other surface turn into returns of consummate ease for Nadal.

The mental resilience means that Nadal remains patient during the long rallies and picks his moment to strike with deadly precision.

Nadal's ridiculous physical strength sometimes overshadows his technical ability to shift between defence and attack seamlessly, while the topspin he can generate makes him the complete player on clay.

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The relative lack of speed robs big servers of their ability to boom down ace after ace, which means that players used to holding with reasonable ease find far more of their serves coming back to them on clay.

A look at the players who consider clay their favoured surface finds common themes emerge; the likes of Albert Ramos, Pablo Cuevas and David Ferrer have been able to sustain themselves in the higher echelons of the world rankings because of their topspin forehands.

Dominic Thiem has similar weapons in his armoury and looks set to win the French Open as soon as Nadal calls it a day, although it does look increasingly likely that Nadal will just win the French Open from now until the end of time.

Thiem is particularly striking in that he is extremely dependent on the ranking points that he accumulates on clay, unable to translate his game well to hard courts or grass.

Thiem's struggles on hard court are slightly odd, with a powerful serve and forehand that should give him the ability to dictate points. Perhaps it is a question of strategy, with Thiem so comfortable with his tactics on clay that he is unable to adapt successfully on different surfaces.

 

Could Edmund Be A Star?

Kyle Edmund is an atypical British tennis player; with Wimbledon swinging around and a British player ranked 17 in the world, you'd expect the national press to be bigging up Edmund as a potential title contender.

Of course, Edmund may well go deep at Wimbledon with his game that can trouble anyone. Yet Edmund plays his best game on clay and may rank the French Open as his best shot of a Grand Slam title (again, once/if Nadal gives up).

Edmund has already reached the Australian Open semi-finals and is priced at odds of 80/1 to go a couple of steps further in next year's competition.

Yet Edmund became comfortable on clay at an early age, finding that the slower courts gave him more time to uncork his forehand with both precision and power. With improved athleticism and a refined backhand, Edmund has all of the tools to be a threat on clay.

Of course, good players generally thrive on any surface, but it is the familiarity that can often breed extra confidence when a player takes to their preferred surface.

Take Victor Estrella Burgos, a hardy exponent of clay courts across the globe. The former top-50 player won the first three iterations of the ATP 250 tournament in Quito, a Nadal-esque level of dominance.

While Estrella is handy on all clay, he found a second home in Quito by adapting to the staggering altitude as well as the playing surface. Whether Nadal and Federer could adapt to such an environment may remain one of the great unanswered questions of our time; however, you'd suspect that they might do just fine.

 

In the mood for a quick rally on the courts? get all of the odds you want at www.888Sport.com

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

Weeks of speculation over Cristiano Ronaldo’s future came to an end on Tuesday. The Portuguese superstar completed his transfer to Juventus for a fee in the region of £88 million.

A move away from the Santiago Bernabeu had been in the offing since Real Madrid won yet another Champions League, but it was still hard to really believe the rumours until an official announcement was made.

It’s almost surreal. Rumours of a transfer have previously been a crude decoy for a pay rise. This time it was obviously different, but Juventus were always way down the list of potential suitors.

The timing was strange for a transfer of this magnitude, too. They could have waited for the World Cup to end for maximum attention, and neither party made any flashy announcement.

The Old Lady got their man. A 33-year-old, five-time Ballon d’Or winner fresh off another remarkable season. Sure, there will be shouty criticisms in corners of the internet, but it’s hard to argue with the deal from Juventus’ perspective.

Expect A Busy Summer In Turin

This could be the first of many dominos to fall this transfer window. It’s been slow going for the rumour mill thanks to the World Cup, but sales from Juventus are inevitable now with Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala both linked with moves away. We could be seeing one or two Juve stars move to the Premier League before the window shuts.

Max Allegri’s squad may look quite different by the opening day of the Serie A season. The Turin-based club are massive favourites for yet another title, however, at 4/9.

Across multiple managers and teams, Juventus have won seven straight. Adding Ronaldo to the mix surely only enhances their chances of further success, even if it causes a minor rebuild of the team.
The loss of iconic goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon further emphasises the changing of the guard. Buffon was synonymous with Juventus, and his struggle to match his domestic success with a Champions League triumph had become one of the great footballing stories.

This era of Juventus dominance was built on shrewd deals and an Italian defensive core. Ronaldo is a move away from that, and maybe, just maybe, a significant moment for the whole of Italian football. It’s been a while since Serie A attracted the sport’s biggest names.

Napoli, Juventus’ closest competitors, are out at 6/1 to win the Scudetto. The price speaks volumes. Napoli could have a markedly different (weaker) squad themselves and are under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti instead of Maurizio Sarri, who masterminded their breath-taking football last season.

It’s possible, of course, that things go drastically wrong for Juventus and Ronaldo’s arrival upsets a club cruising domestically. That seems no more than a remote possibility, though, making Napoli’s 6/1 price still too short.

 

Dreaming of Europe

Juventus’ real desire is European glory. They’ve conquered Italy and reigned supreme for the best part of a decade, now it’s time to do what Buffon never could.  

No club has lost as many European Cup/Champions League finals as Juve (7). Two of those came since 2015, and five since they last won the competition in 1996. Ronaldo, in stark contrast, has won five Champions League finals in his career, including four of the last five.

One player is not going to take Juventus from nearly men to victors, that’s just now how football works, but it certainly increases their chances. Every fan, every manager in the world would rather that match defining chance was falling to Ronaldo rather than Higuain.

Ronaldo is a ruthless competitor and leader. It would be foolish to right that off as an irrelevance when evaluating Juventus’ chances in Europe’s premier competition.

What has made Real Madrid’s spell of Champions League dominance so remarkable, though, is the luck required to win knockout competitions. Good fortune, freak performances and an array of other factors influence a team’s chances of lifting the Champions League. The winners are not necessarily the best team, the same as with any knockout tournament.

Picking an outright winner is hard as a result. Juventus’ chances are obviously enhanced, but even choosing a favourite is challenging until we’ve seen where players move. Real Madrid will still be fancied by many, particularly if they were to add a couple more attacking superstars like Neymar and Eden Hazard.

 

Champions League or Bust

Ronaldo has adapted well as he’s aged. His influence on the match has lessened, but his impact in the final third is as great as ever. Decline physically has been held off – and maybe it will be indefinitely – but this is not a decade long project for Juventus.

It is probably a two or three year job for Ronaldo, giving a relatively small window for Juve to end their quest for that elusive third Champions League.

The impact this deal has on European football as a whole, and more specifically Italian football, is enormous. Without continental glory, though, Ronaldo’s time in Turin will be a relative disappointment, such is the expectation on one of the greatest footballers the sport has ever seen.

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

The introduction of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) was intended to remove any doubt from what otherwise might be considered to be debateable refereeing decisions, with the aim of providing improved fairness and impartiality during matches.

However, the irony here is that the use of VAR technology itself has become one of the biggest talking points at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, polarising views on whether it's actually fair or not.

We take a look at how VAR came about, what its use actually means, its impact at the World Cup so far, along with how the technology could shape the future of decision-making in football.

How Did VAR Arrive At The World Cup?

After being trialled in competitions such as the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in England, as well as in the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A, the use of VAR at the 2018 World Cup was approved in March of this year by the International Football Association Board in Zurich.

Many leading referees around the globe were already very familiar with VAR technology, having put the concept into practice during trials taking place for the last two years. The first high-profile event in which VAR was used was the 2016 Club World Cup, then at the 2017 Confederations Cup.

All the refereeing teams participating at the 2018 World Cup have had intensive training for the use of VAR, spanning the last two years and particularly since the sport's governing body announced that it would be used at the tournament, with match officials taking part in detailed seminars and practice events. These included fine-tuning the technology itself and practical application during practice matches.

 

Intended Use Of VAR And How It Should Work

According to official statements, the use of VAR during matches is defined by “three main incidents (plus one administrative) which are identified as game-changing”. These are detailed as follows:

1 - Goals

The role of the VAR is to assist the referee to determine whether there was an infringement that means a goal should not be awarded. As the ball has crossed the line, play is interrupted so there is no direct impact on the game.

2 - Penalty Decisions

The role of the VAR is to ensure that no clearly wrong decisions are made in conjunction with the award or non-award of a penalty kick.

3 - Direct Red Card Incidents

The role of the VAR is to ensure that no clearly wrong decisions are made in conjunction with sending off or not sending off a player.

Administrative – Mistaken Identity

The referee cautions or sends off the wrong player, or is unsure which player should be sanctioned. The VAR will inform the referee so that the correct player can be disciplined.

To explain how VAR itself is used in these match situations, the following steps are taken:

Step 1 – When an incident occurs

The referee informs the VAR, or the VAR recommends to the referee that a decision/incident should be reviewed.

Step 2 – Review and advice by the VAR

The video footage is reviewed by the VAR, who advises the referee via headset what the video shows.

Step 3 – Decision or action is taken

The referee decides to review the video footage on the side of the field of play before taking the appropriate action/decision, or the referee accepts the information from the VAR and takes the appropriate action/decision.

This all seems fairly straightforward in principle, but how does it work in practice at the 2018 World Cup in Russia?

Throughout the tournament, there is a video assistant referee team supporting each of the 64 matches taking place, situated in a central video operations room located in Moscow.

The VAR team for each match is made up by the principal video assistant referee (VAR) and his three assistants, which are referred to as AVAR1, AVAR2 and AVAR3.

The main VAR watches the main match feed on a quad-split monitor and is responsible for communicating with the referee on the pitch.

AVAR1 focuses on the main match camera and informs the VAR about incidents being reviewed.

AVAR2 focuses exclusively on offside decisions, whilst AVAR3 is focused on the TV programme feed we see at home, evaluating incidents and providing communication between all members of the team.

 

Statistics from the World Cup

Perhaps the most notable Impact of VAR is the number of penalties awarded at the 2018 World Cup.

After the final Group B encounter between Iran and Portugal, in which there were two penalties awarded in that match alone and 9/2 Golden Boot favourite Cristiano Ronaldo saw one of them saved, a total of 20 penalty kicks had been awarded in the 36 games played up until that point.

Only just beyond the half-way point of the 2018 tournament fixture list, this smashes the previous record of 18 penalty kicks awarded at the 1990, 1998 and 2002 World Cups, and greatly surpasses the 13 penalties awarded during the entire 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Clearly, the introduction of VAR appears to have had a strong bearing on the highly increased number of penalties being awarded.

Up to and including the Iran-Portugal match, seven penalties were awarded with the direct intervention and assistance of VAR. This begs the question as to whether they would have been awarded, or not, without VAR being available to referees.

 

Reactions to use of VAR at the World Cup

When it comes to England’s fortunes at the 2018 World Cup, with the Three Lions priced at 9/1 to win the tournament, their first two Group G matches generated considerable debate regarding how effective, or not, the use of VAR has been.

During the narrow 2-1 victory against Tunisia, the North African side scored from the spot after what looked a clear-cut penalty decision, with Kyle Walker having elbowed Fakhreddine Ben Youssef inside the area.

Meanwhile, England striker Harry Kane was clearly rugby-tackled to the ground by a Tunisian defender Yassine Meriah at a corner, yet neither the referee or VAR intervened.

So how could such a deliberate foul and potential penalty decision have been missed? Well, it’s all down to interpretation from the match referee. Irrespective of what VAR sees, the referee can still make the final call.

Interestingly, former English referee David Ellary is now the technical director of the International Football Association Board, which oversees the laws of football and has played a decisive part in the implementation of VAR at the World Cup. Nevertheless, he takes a positive view that VAR has been of ‘maximum benefit’ and has contributed to a ‘fairer World Cup’ overall.

 

The future of VAR in football

There’s no doubt that VAR will continue to create much discussion during what remains of the World Cup, while it’s a technology that’s here to stay at elite levels of football.

Despite being trialled in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup last season in England, the 2018-19 campaign in the Premier League will not feature VAR during matches, after member clubs voted against its implementation.

Whether there will be any pressure to implement VAR in the Premier League beyond next season remains to be seen.

By contrast, VAR will continue to be used in the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A, despite there having been widely-reported teething problems with the technology during trials last season.

Meanwhile, La Liga president Javier Tebas has been highly enthusiastic about how VAR has performed at the World Cup, announcing that it will be introduced for the 2018-19 top-flight season in Spain.

One of the key aspects on the road ahead for VAR and its inevitable use throughout the highest echelons of football, and possibly into lower levels of the game too, will be clarity of education regarding how the system works.

The biggest causes for confusion amongst players at the World Cup has often been to question when VAR is actually used. Whatever side of the fence we may be on regarding how VAR is used, hopefully, familiarity will bring a much better understanding of how and when the technology can prove effective during matches.

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

Football has the World Cup, boxing the heavyweight championship of the world. Tennis lovers adore Wimbledon and cricket fans have the Ashes to look forward to.

UK and Irish horse racing enthusiasts are not without their big days out either, with the likes of Royal Ascot, Cheltenham Festival and Glorious Goodwood marked in the diary from the turn of the year.

The pinnacle of the sport of kings is, without doubt, Group One flat racing – and rightly so. Reserved for the big occasions, it brings the kind of prize money that attracts the biggest names in the sport, including top trainers, riders with ambitions of being named champion jockey and, of course, the runners themselves.

Ask any horse lover for their top-five animal of all time and, without question, Frankel will feature in just about every list.

Why? Well, the multi-award-winning colt finished his career unbeaten from 14 starts and he consistently won the biggest and best Group One races, from announcing his arrival when bagging the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in 2010 to signing off with the Champion Stakes medal in 2012.

Sports fans are waiting patiently on the next wonder horse to emerge and, although there’s currently a few waiting in the wings who fancy a pop, some even boasting the Frankel bloodline, it’ll take something special to fill those shoes.

His Group One honours included the Queen Anne Stakes, Lockinge Stakes, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Sussex Stakes, twice.

The latter is one of the main fixtures on the Glorious Goodwood meet, which is scheduled for a 2018 renewal between Tuesday 31^st July and Saturday 4^th August.

The vastly popular racing spectacle is a real hit with fans, both dedicated and casual, with the five days playing host to no less than three of the UK’s 36 annual Group One flat races. The perfect stage for a young pretender to prove their orth.

One of the biggest betting events of the year Glorious Goodwood has something for everyone, including big price winners aplenty. Let’s look at the three Group One races and what clues punters can take from previous runnings.

Sussex Stakes

What better place to start than with the race won by the great Frankel back-to-back in 2011 and 2012? That makes him the one-mile contest’s most successful runner, ever.

Will that be surpassed? Here Comes When tasted glory in 2017 for Jim Crowley and Andrew Balding, holding off odds-on favourite Ribchester by a neck in the closing stages despite carrying the weight of a 20/1 price tag.

It was a breath-taking finish but that’s nothing new in a race that was first run way back in 1878. 2016 champion The Gurkha beat silver medallist Galileo Gold by a neck before retiring with a record of two wins and three placed efforts from five starts.

Solow landed the cheque in 2015, ½ a length ahead of Arod and Kingman was only a length better than Toronado at the finish 12 months previously. If you plan on betting on the Sussex Stakes, the stats would suggest a tight contest and wafer-thin winning distance. That’s worth keeping in mind.

Without Parole was a hot favourite in the ante-post betting for the 2018 Qatar Sussex Stakes and that came as no surprise to followers of the trends. First of all, the three-year-old colt has the Frankel bloodline coursing through his veins.

That’s more than enough to catch the attention of those happy to bet blind. He’s also trained by John Gosden who won this race in 2014 with Kingman. A perfect four-leg winning start to life as a racehorse certainly didn’t put anyone off either.

Without Parole goes with huge expectations but certainly appears to have the shoulders to carry the burden. Everyone connected to the sport hopes he’s the second coming. Too much to ask? We’ll see.

Goodwood Cup

This competitive Group One flat is decided over two miles and can be traced back to 1812 when Shoestrings was etched into the history books.

More recent backers of the race have enjoyed their fair share of drama with Stradivarius beating pre-race favourite Big Orange by just shy of two lengths in 2017 off a thrilling 6/1.

The second was heading for a hat-trick having scored in 2015 and 2016 but a beaten favourite is certainly nothing new in the Goodwood Cup.

Big Orange won the race first time around off a 6/1 quote himself, beating the more fancied Quest For More who went off a 9/2 poke.

Kieran Fallon rode Cavalryman to the winner’s enclosure in 2014 at 5/1 with the favourite that day, Estimate, finishing last of the eight. Bettors who like to keep a close eye on the patterns will need no further encouragement to take a chance on an outsider winning the Goodwood Cup.

Other points of note in the race are jockey Jamie Spencer has won two of the last three renewals, but both were on the back of Big Orange. Frankie Dettori was in charge of the failed treble attempt.

A rare slip for the winner of the magnificent seven as he has ridden three Goodwood Cup champs in his career – Kayf Tara (1999), Schiaparelli (2009) and Opinion Poll (2011).

Since the latter got home, the Italian pilot posted 3-8-11-2. He's always worth a second look and he can never be written off at this level, but he has some way to go to match Lester Piggott’s bar of five race wins.

Nassau Stakes

The final leg of three on Glorious Goodwood week that's often run on the Saturday. 1m 1f lies ahead of the pack and 2017 saw a jaw-dropping £600,000 prize pot divided up, with over £340,000 of that going to the winner.

That was Winter for the partnership of Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien who also came out on top the year before with Minding. At the line that was only Moore’s second Nassua Stakes win but it would be a brave backer who would bet against him adding to that.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien is a bit more familiar with the Goodwood winner’s circle as he has taken four: Minding (2016) and Winter (2017) after Peeping Fawn did the business in 2007 and Halfway To Heaven a year later.

The Irishman seems to enjoy a double. The all-time leading trainer remains Sir Henry Cecil on eight and it’ll be some time before we see that surpassed.

Strangely for the big meetings, and especially for Glorious Goodwood, the favourites show up well in the Nassau Stakes with the shortest odds winning three on the bounce - 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The shortest of them was Minding in 2016 when doing as expected off a tight 1/5. Marked like losing wasn’t an option, the talented filly had things a little more difficult than expected with runner-up Queens Trust getting within 1 ¼ lengths of an upset.

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

The Qatar Goodwood Festival – popularly known as 'Glorious Goodwood' – is one of the highlights of the flat-racing season and takes place in little over three weeks, from 31 July - 4 August.

Here is your day-by-day overview of the Goodwood Festival with some of the horses you can expect to the contending the feature races.

Tuesday 31^st July

The Tuesday highlight is Goodwood’s newest Group 1, the Qatar Goodwood Cup worth £500,000. Stradivarius narrowly denied Big Orange his third straight win in the race in 2017.

The first four home in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot are on course to meet again in the Goodwood Cup. Stradivarius, Vazirabad, Torcedor and Order Of St George are among the entries for this feature race which forms part of the Long Distance category of the QIPCO British Champions Series.

Order Of St George is one of seven entries for Aidan O’Brien. His septet also includes the three-year-old Kew Gardens, successful in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

The Queen could be represented by the William Haggas-trained Call To Mind, winner of  the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup Invitational Stakes over two miles at Belmont Park on his latest start. Her Majesty has twice enjoyed success in the race, winning it in 1965 and 1966.

 

Wednesday 1^st August

The Qatar Sussex Stakes is one of the highlights of the flat racing calendar, with prize money of £1million attracting a top-class field. This mile-long Group 1 race has previously been won by Frankel and the French sensation Solow.

The John Gosden-trained Without Parole is set to take on older horses for the first time in the Sussex Stakes.

The unbeaten Frankel colt made it four wins from four starts with victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes, on his first run in Group 1 company.

David Simcock was satisfied with Lightning Spear’s performance at Royal Ascot despite yet another defeat and he is looking to land a Group One victory in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood- a track at which he has won the Group Two Celebration Mile for the past two seasons.

Dermot Weld has said he has “no regrets” about skipping the Irish 2,000 Guineas with Imaging and the colt is likely to line up next in the Sussex Stakes.

On his last start, Imaging landed the Tetrarch Stakes at Naas and had the subsequent Irish Guineas hero Romanised back in sixth. He is currently a 25/1 chance with us here at 888sport.

 

Thursday 2^nd August

Ladies’ Day is the most glamorous day of the meeting and the top racing compliments the ambience of the afternoon. The prestigious Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes is the highlight of the eight-race card, worth £600,000. Previous winners include Ouija Board, Minding and Midday.

Urban Fox gave a three-and-a quarter-length beating to Investec Oaks winner Forever Together in the Group 1 Juddmonte Pretty Polly Stakes and now heads to the Nassau Stakes.

Classic winner Billesdon Brook will be stepped up in distance for a crack at the Nassau according to her trainer, Richard Hannon.

The Qipco 1000 Guineas heroine could not repeat her Newmarket heroics in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, although she was far from disgraced in fourth place behind Alpha Centauri.

Beaten Queen Anne favourite Rhododendron has the Nassau Stakes in her sights according to Aidan O’Brien.

Aidan O'Brien's Lockinge winner disappointed when finishing only ninth in the curtain raiser at Royal Ascot and will be stepped up in trip.

 

Friday 3^rd August

The sight of a large field hurtling at speeds of over 40mph in a Goodwood sprint makes the £300,000 Group 2 Qatar King George Stakes one of the highlights of the year - taken in 2017 by Battaash.

The Clive Cox-trained three-year-old Heartache will revert back to five furlongs for the first time this season when taking on her elders in the Group 2 King George Stakes.

After a disappointing return in the Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock, she put in a much better display despite failing to see out the six-furlong trip in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

Charlie Hills’ Battaash registered an impressive success in the 2017 renewal of the race, scoring by two and a quarter-lengths under Jim Crowley. He ended 2017 as the highest-rated five-furlong performer in the world after a spectacular victory in the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp.

David Griffiths' star veteran Take Cover could become the first three-time winner of the race, following wins in 2014 and 2016.

Griffiths could also saddle 2013 Dash winner Duke Of Firenze who finished sixth in this year's renewal of the five-furlong contest at Epsom.

Ballydoyle maestro Aidan O'Brien has made 10 entries, headed by the King's Stand Stakes sixth and eighth, Different League and Washington DC.

 

Saturday 4^th August

The six furlong cavalry charge of the Qatar Stewards’ Cup is a sight to behold, with over 20 sprinters thundering down the Goodwood straight. It is not a contest for the fainthearted punter.

Previous winners of this iconic sprint include Loch Song and Dancing Star and this year the winner will scoop a rather impressive £250,000.

Heading the weights for the six-furlong Stewards' Cup Handicap is Projection who was last seen when fifth in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The current ante-post favourite is Dreamfield trained by John Gosden. The Godolphin-owned four-year-old lost his unbeaten record when going down by the narrowest of margins to the 33/1 outsider Bacchus in the six-furlong Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot on June 23rd.

Hoof It, successful in the Stewards' Cup way back in 2011 lines up again as does the Commonwealth Cup third Emblazoned.

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

In episode one of a seven-part YouTube series, grime sensation and social media star Big Narstie gets tips from football commentating legend Barry Davies, as part of our challenge to Big Narstie to shake up the football punditry establishment and turn himself from Rapper to Reporter in Russia this summer.

Episode two of Rapper to Reporter sees Big Narstie team up with folk band ‘Russian Tornado’ to create a truly unique football World Cup rap!

 

He's learned commentary skills from a legend and rapped with a local folk band, but now Big Narstie needs to brush up on the Russian lingo as he embarks on the third step of his journey to transform from Rapper to Reporter.

Any World Cup reporter worth his salt needs to know a few key local phrases, so we sent Big Narstie to a Russian language school in central London to refine his skills. Ever wondered what Base Defence League translates to in Russian? You're about to find out!

And what a cast he gets to quiz, as England managers and players from previous World Cups are subjected to Narstie's unique interview style, including Bobby Robson, Gary Lineker, Glenn Hoddle, David Beckham, Sven Goran Eriksson, Steven Gerrard and Roy Hodgson (all played impeccably by top football impersonator Mark Langley).

BT Sport's Lynsey Hipgrave is on hand to guide Narstie through the art of the interview - safe to say, it wasn't a ride without a few bumps!

This is just the latest in a series of challenges Big Narstie needs to overcome if he's to earn a gig as a reporter in Russia this summer, having already got commentary tips from Barry Davies, learned Russian culture with folk band Russian Tornado and picked up the lingo at language school. Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Betting on baseball can be an enjoyable endeavour, as the action can depend on the outcome of every single pitch thrown throughout a game. But betting on baseball is even better when you know exactly what to look for before you place your bets.

In this guide to betting on baseball, find out what you should look for before placing your bets on the game, including some key differences between baseball betting and wagering on other sports.

Pitching Rotations

Every sport has some kind of system where reserves exist to bolster a starting lineup. In some sports, like basketball, these reserves feature throughout each game while a sport like football only sees a limited number of substitutions per match.

Baseball is unique in the way substitutes are used, in that position players frequently see the same starters appear each day. Pitchers, meanwhile, are used interchangeably to preserve the health of their arms.

The stress of pitching on the human arm is immense, as the overhand pitching motion is not a natural one. Therefore, to keep pitchers in the best physical condition possible, teams have pitching rotations in place to prevent a starting pitcher from throwing too often.

These rotations usually consist of five pitchers, but can feature four or six depending on where the team's depth lies. When it comes to betting on baseball, this is important because the starting pitcher on any given day can make a world of difference when it comes to placing a bet.

For example, the Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the most formidable clubs in the world when Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for them.

Kershaw's run as one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball has made the team tough to beat when he is their starting pitcher for the day. As a result, the Dodgers are usually favoured when Kershaw is pitching.

On the flip side, some of the other pitchers on the Dodgers are less dangerous than Kershaw. Therefore, the Dodgers might be an underdog or less heavy a favourite when someone other than Kershaw is up in the starting rotation.

Knowing how a team's starting pitching rotation is set up is vital, because it helps explain the odds that each team is facing heading into a game, while simultaneously highlighting any matchup advantages that a team has.

When it comes to betting on baseball, evaluating this facet of a matchup is one of the first steps that anyone should take before making a decision.

 

Ballpark Evaluations

Most sports see a game played on a playing surface that is the same no matter where a match is held. A football pitch has the same dimensions at the upper levels of the game. A basketball court is the same from arena to arena.

But baseball is unique in that the dimensions of the field vary greatly depending on what venue a game is being held in. This is one of the most fun quirks about the game of baseball, and remembering its existence can be so important when it comes time to place a wager on the sport.

Field dimensions in baseball can vary in different ways. One such way that they can vary is the actual distance to the wall from home plate at each stadium. Some stadiums feature longer or shorter distances to the wall to left, right, or centre field.

This can mean that it is easier or more difficult for players to hit home runs at those parks, depending on where the dimensions lie and what the hitting strengths of a given team are. The height of each wall can vary as well, making the degree of difficulty of hitting a ball over said walls change with those heights.

What makes the unique nature of each ballpark so important to betting on MLB and other baseball leagues is the fact that some ballparks can cater to the strengths of certain teams better than others. A great example of this is Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

Fenway Park features a short distance to the left field wall, which happens to be an extremely tall wall. This fence is known affectionately as the Green Monster, and has become one of the most iconic ballpark quirks in all of baseball.

The Green Monster, in addition to being a fun thing to remember about the game, is also a component of Fenway Park that really benefits a specific style of player. That style of player is the right-handed hitter who is able to hit for power.

With the wall being a short distance from home plate, and with it being so tall, players are able to routinely hit the ball off the Green Monster even on plays that would be routine fly ball outs at other parks.

Once a ball is hit off the Green Monster, it is usually a single or double for the player who hit the ball.

Of course, hitting the ball over the Green Monster for a home run is a regular occurrence as well, but the Red Sox have been known to bring in powerful right-handed hitters for the express purpose of hitting balls off of their giant wall to pick up easy hits.

As a baseball bettor, knowing which teams have advantages at which ballparks based on the dimensions of each field is a very important task.

If a team is loaded with power-hitting right-handers, for example, they could find themselves at an advantage in a game held at Fenway Park. Using this information to your advantage is something that simply does not exist in other sports, and makes betting on baseball a fun challenge.

 

Matchups, Matchups, Matchups

Anyone who has success betting on baseball knows how important matchups are to that success.

Whether it is how a team matches up against a specific pitcher, or how their pitchers match up against a given batting order, these matchups can offer a ton of insight that you simply cannot obtain from other sports.

One of the best uses of matchup data is evaluating how a team performs against certain types of pitchers.

For example, you will never hear about how a basketball team performs against left-handed point guards, but there are tons of statistics available for how baseball teams do against left-handed pitching.

If a team is particularly proficient against a certain type of pitcher, that is often a cue to continue evaluating whether or not that team is worth backing with a wager.

These matchup evaluations can be done down to the individual batter versus pitcher level, as all players have career numbers available against each pitcher they are scheduled to face.

Using this data to your advantage can be the difference between placing winning bets and simply hoping for the best with each bet.

With so many things to consider when betting on baseball that other sports do not require thought on, betting on baseball can be very exciting.

Making sure to use all of the data and information at your fingertips can turn betting on baseball from something that is simply exciting into something that can be both exciting and fruitful, as long as you remember the above tips.