Hats off to Ladbrokes with their Cheltenham NR-NB

HATS OFF - they are the worst price on nearly every runner in the 4 races.....an excuse to chop everything up in my eyes....not having a run before hand HFly wont be shorter than their current 7/4 on the day

they're gonna be worst price clearly if they are going nrnb....

and is'nt the fly going to run in the irish champion.....??

it's a pity a few of the others dont do it....then we could get a bit of price competition with nrnb....with only one it does'nt get juice flowing....

sorry forgot about the Irish Champion.....

I dont blame then for chopping others up as they dont want to give it away but dont try and make out its a big gestures.....why dont they give people the option of 9/4 'all in' or 7/4 NRNB on HFly and others....

after chopping them all up the book percentage eradicates the fact they are NRNB plus they get the PR from it should HF or others be pulled a few days before the race

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jan/12/grands-crus-synchronised-gold-cup


Money back makes Grands Crus and Synchronised Gold Cup safe bets

• Outside chances will surely shorten by Cheltenham Festival
• Ladbrokes offering money back on non-runners


With the two best-known British steeplechasers in training taking on the most exciting staying novice chaser of the season, the betting market for the Betfred Gold Cup at Cheltenham is already well established.

There were predictably few surprises among the 34 entries revealed on Wednesday for the race and, in an attempt to drum up some business, Ladbrokes and the race sponsors are both offering prices on a non-runner, no bet basis.

That makes taking an ante-post position considerably more appealing and the two I would want to be with on that basis are Grands Crus (8-1 with Betfred) and Synchronised (12-1 with Ladbrokes) given that if either make it to the race, they will both surely be trading at shorter prices on the day.

David Pipe says he still has not made his mind up about the Gold Cup for Grands Crus but the fact that he is considering Cheltenham's Argento Chase as the horse's next race surely suggests he is, at the least, dipping his toe into the water against older rivals. Staged over the same course as the Gold Cup, but over a furlong shorter trip, it will give Pipe a good idea as to where Grands Crus stands, with the consistent Time For Rupert set to provide a useful benchmark in opposition.

I would expect Grands Crus to go off as favourite to beat Time For Rupert in that race and victory could both see his odds crash for the Gold Cup and effectively force Pipe and owner Roger Stanley to aim high instead of sticking to novice company in the RSA Chase. And if he does not run, then you get your money back.

As a punter, I find Jonjo O'Neill one of the most frustrating stables to follow, but he is a very hard man to dislike. Despite the times that I have cursed the betting market's remarkable ability to prove a more accurate guide to his horse's prospects than the formbook, I cannot pretend I was not pleased for him when Synchronised upset a few reputations in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.

Plenty of pundits have been ready to put down that form and Quito de la Roque almost certainly did not quite run up to form in third while runner-up Rubi Light may not have fully seen out the trip. But the Synchronised who won that race is simply not the same horse as the one who slogged round for third in the Midlands National last season, dragging his hind legs through most of the fences on his way round and looking like he would need six miles to reach top gear.

A promising return over hurdles at Aintree in October was followed by a really good run in the valuable brush hurdle race at Haydock on Betfair Chase day, where he came home with such a rattle that it looked like he had only joined in at the top of the straight.

Impressions that Synchronised had for some reason turned a corner in his form were confirmed when he attacked his fences on his way to a comprehensive Leopardstown victory that has left O'Neill in doubt that his horse has to be considered "a real Gold Cup contender".

The trainer says that the choice now is whether they take Synchronised to run in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown on 12 February or wait for Cheltenham the following month, but that decision will have to be taken in conjunction with the horse's owner, JP McManus.

"I couldn't have been more pleased with him in the Lexus and he's definitely right at the top of his game, but it was a hard race and when he came home he knew he'd been in a fight," O'Neill told me on Wednesday.

"He's not the biggest and he does like a bit of time between his races so we're just waiting to see how long it takes him to come back to himself. He is quite an easy horse to read, thankfully, and we'll hopefully know when he is right again.

"The question is whether the Hennessy is his 'Gold Cup' or whether we take on the big boys at Cheltenham. We'll talk it through with JP and Frank [Berry, racing manager] and see how he is in a couple of weeks' time."

Testing conditions clearly are not essential to Synchronised as he won well enough without them last time, but if the ground were to come up soft at Cheltenham (far more likely since the course established a firm pro-watering policy for the Festival), he could end up at half his present odds given that none of Kauto Star, Long Run or Grands Crus would be guaranteed stayers in testing conditions. O'Neill says he cannot explain the horse's improved form this season, but neither he nor we need to understand it to know at 12-1, with your money back if he does not run, he's worth a bet.

Goonjims, are you off you t1ts mate ?

I wonder how many punters had a good bet on Captain Chris for the QMCC only to wake up this morning to find he is not even entered for the race. If you had backed him at 8/1 with Ladbrokes on the other hand you will be feeling might relieved.

I'd also point out they were top price 25/1 NRNB on price wise horse Oscars Well whilst other firms were a lot shorter.

Not often I stick up for a bookie, very rare in fact, but you simply cannot knock them for going NRNB. There are No Rule 4 deductions either.

Around mid december 2010, i did two terrible looking €1 each way lucky 31's for Cheltenham 2011 with lads.

King George: Riversie Theatre 12's

Champion Hurdle: Go Native(n/r) and Binocular(n/r)

QMCC: Big Zeb 7-2

Wordle Hurdle: Karabak(n/r)

Gold Cup: Planet of sound(n/r)

For €126 invested, i'm fairly sure i got about €244 back, i remeber it being just shy of double my money but wouldn't have even got tipsy if i'd done it with the antepost books fwiw.

It is superb publicity, that costs nothing for laddy's. However the reality is, they are joint best price on only 2 runners in the Champion Hurdle, out of well over 40 runners. Best with none in the Queen Mother, 3 in the World Hurdle and 9 in the Gold Cup. Of those 9 the shortest priced are Syncronised at 12s then Time For Rupert at 20s. After that there are. Cancel that. They have cut the other 7 so it's only 2 now in the GC. They are outright best on NO HORSES so don't think they are doing you a favour. You will be able to get their prices, or better, on the day

Only those who are terrible at antepost will welcome Lads trying to remove the value from it.

To be good at antepost and GET THE VALUE IT OFFERS COMPARED TO DAY OF RACE PRICES you need to anticipate targets well. The hapless person who started this thread needs to clear off onto the horse racing forum with all the mugs taking abysmal impossible to win in the long run without inside info prices on day of race markets and leave true antepost punters to use their expertise to take the value it offers them.

Make no mistake antepost will die if this spreads to other bookies and you may as well close this forum.

Presume this was started by a gutless arber who wants to make his arb book and get none runners back as a bonus, clown.

eric,

I agree with you

Well, I agree with the sentiment in that I certainly don't want everyone going NRNB and halving prices.  The rest of it is a little ott, old chap.

eric and goonjims correct.

nr no bet ante-post,[an anachronym itself]can only mean reduced prices,which may be better on the day of race.
if it became widespread ante-post would not exist.

the whole point of ante post is to beat the book[with the risk of selection running]
ladbrokes and the rest are not philandthropists,and any 'concession' usually has a sting in it's tail.

ante post has,imo become harder with connections reluctant to commit to a target till late in the day and doing u turns  at the last minute.

so personally my ante post betting is almost non existant now.
but you can;t have your cake and eat it with nr no bet.

And btw, they are SHORTEST on EVERYTHING quoted in the QM, all exept 3 in the CH, same in the WH and the same 3 in the GC. So of all horses quoted in the 4 main races, they are shortest on all exept 9 horses. So don't be fooled into thinking they are doing you a turn in offering NRNB.
My advise is wait until either they all do it, by which time you will more or less know what you are going to bet, in the championship races at least. Or just wait for the bookies bun fight with their day of the races offers.