2012 specials

lol I could after time for England today. I can't stop backing winners.

Just backed Only Vintage, plus 4 or 5 other winners this afternoon.

i'm having my best day of the year

did my absolute absolutes y'day tho

actually, thinking of Cider , saw his comments on The Voice somewhere and tend to agree.  I think it will need to be an outstandingly good show with excellent scheduling to really take off.  If it doesn't get off to a flyer, could really struggle.  I'm not convinced the appetite is really there for yet more talent shows atm.

Obv, hope to be well wrong and that it takes off and is a lively betting heat.

Best day of the year

Mine too. Just had a loser

Yep, agree I can't see The Voice doing XF type numbers in terms of viewers.
Could be a reasonable betting heat tho.

I'm not getting my hopes up - BBC stuff has been pretty desperate over recent years, esp the Spring shows although they have tended to be dancing/casting type things.

Hope I'm wrong tho.

great news

Alesha Dixon has quit the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel, it has been confirmed.

The former Mis-Teeq star will not rejoin colleagues Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli when the BBC competition returns later this year.


Let's hope we get someone who knows what they're on about like Karen Hardy.

Karen would be great. Even though I've never minded Alesha

tbf she has improved.

Better not get too pleased about it, knowing the Beeb they'll get someone far worse and far less qualified who can barely string a sentence together.

Had the last winner at plumpers too and a saver on the 2nd. Should have had the f/c

aftertimingtastic

I'll print out my betduck account history if cider insists

just cant stop winning eh five leaves? :)all this horse talk..get back to the topic..specials ;)

sorry

the horse racing thread was below this one too.

I only bet small and for a little bit of fun when specials is quiet

yeah, sorry for wrecking your thread map.

need one for sad old gits' inane banter

haha , i cant watch racing to be honest, I get up too late what with working nights :(

Little Mix to split before the end of 2012     6/1
seems unlikely they'#ll split up by the end of 2012,

Dixon gone to BGT.

oh no, i hoped we'd got rid of her from tv all together..can't stand her!

loopy TM astrologer woman predicts twins in Will and Kate's chart - not nec this year tho.

Just checked with whills and the have given me back my 44 quid on brand/perry. fair do's to them.

George - did they both officially announce it before 2012 then? I thought she hadn't said anything?!

nah just him but I can't be arsed arguing map. money back enough for me. Bleeding Brand couldn't wait a day.

Kate to give birth in 2013 is 6/4 with Hills who go 5/6 2012. Might be a saver for those of us who took 2/1 a 2012 announcement? Unless she announces soon 2013 looks fav to me and if not this year or next will she ever?

If she's barren, or Wills is shooting blanks, it could go on for years. No value in 6/4 to me.

Was reading this thread with interest and already had the Gold cup/Grand national bet myself was wondering what people thought of the bet now we have know the Gold cup winner

Well it's highly unlikely that McCoy's mount will be 50/1

We would be in clover if they decided to run Synchronised in the race,would certainly go off single figures.No decision made yet,and when Jonjo was asked today on TV he said they would have a meeting with JP's racing manager to discuss it.Unfortunately for us,the vibes are that he won't run as his B Fair price is indicating.
This leaves two JP owned Jonjo trained entries, festival winner Sunnyhillboy and todays Midland's Grand National non-runner Arbor Supreme.Should Synchronised not run,Sunnyhillboy would be McCoy's likely mount if aimed at the race.I imagine given connections he would start around a 12/1 shot,but personally I wouldn't fancy his chances.
Failing any of them being aimed at the race,McCoy may be asked to ride one of JP's other entries trained by different trainers,so many imponderables at the moment.

Abor Surpreme a very good runner-up. Especially as I had the winner
I thought it had my goose cooked.

Whatever he rides I'm sure we'll be able to lay out stakes back for a nice free bet. The only worry is injury or suspension

lol I didn't think Abor Surpreme was runner-up. Non runner. Misread your post Hems.

Took 50s myself so looking good. All i need now is no brit golf major winner no murray slam and GB getting less than 20 golds and i have 33s on europe in ryder cup katie with child next please.

She looks too skinny to me.
Not good for getting pregnant I believe.

Hubby 5000 miles away even less good i believe.

Will join you in the aftertiming club.Spoke to my pal last night who had £400+ running onto my tip Grandad's Horse,and he said to back Master Overseer today.Had intended to have a bet free day after Cheltenham,but felt obliged to back it so had £15 E/W at 12's only to see it drift to over 20 on BF.
When it won,I rang him to thank him,only for him to tell me he hadn't backed it....the drift had put him off!!

lol n1.....for you.

I took 19. It was backed back in and was about 14 at the off iirc

..and lol GB. That depends whether she has couple of spares waiting if William doesn't deliver the goods.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-william-and-kate-middleton-to-try-765140

Here we go...

NORWICH writes william

http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/grand-national-jonjo-oneill-sunnyhillboy-arbor-supreme-oneill-keen-on-national-bid-for-synchronised/1003490/top/

Fingers crossed we might have a decent chance here guys.

The Scottish Pandas are getting frisky according to 5live earlier.

According to the Zoological Society:
The problems of the pandas are:-
(1) Their genitals do not match in size
(2) The males do not instinctively know how to mate
(3) Females seldom come on 'heat'
(4) Females show no signs for males to know they are on 'heat'
(5) The females are irritated by the advances of males
(6) The pair often end up fighting each other causing injury

"Friskiness" sounds like a good start fll.

Reading that list it sounded a bit like me and my missus and we've got 2 kids, so hopefully the signs are good.

All backers of the 'successful mating' need to tune into the webcam on Tues and Wed next week - if Coral cause grief over the smallprint of this bet, video evidence may be required

I keep my faith in Yang Guang sorting Tian Tian out soon

BBC story yesterday:


The female panda at Edinburgh Zoo will be ready to mate by next week, officials have predicted.

Experts at the zoo said they had recorded the first increase in Tian Tian's oestrogen and a dip in her progesterone.

The zoo said this meant it could predict that she would be ready to mate on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Female pandas ovulate just once a year, with a narrow window of only 36 hours in which they can get pregnant.

Same enclosure
Iain Valentine, Edinburgh Zoo's director of research and conservation, said: "We've seen behavioural changes in Tian Tian over the last week or so - calling out to Yang Guang going up to the grate between the two enclosures and spending time in her pond to cool her internal system down - and now her hormone levels are changing too.

"Based on the data we have, we believe our female panda will probably be ready to mate early next week, likely on the Tuesday or Wednesday.

"We have hopes that they will breed, but it's totally up to them."

He said both pandas would be put into the same enclosure on the first day, with Yang Guang going to Tian Tian.

"Our expert keepers will be on hand to separate the two bears if the sparks fly just a little too much as, at the end of the day, both are powerful and dangerous animals and it's not uncommon for pandas to attack each other after or instead of mating."

He added: "We will introduce them up to three times on the first day.

"If all goes well, we will continue to encourage natural mating on day two as well.

"If natural mating doesn't occur on day one, we will consider artificial insemination."

Panda pregnancies can last for anything between 85 and 100 days.

"If natural mating doesn't occur on day one, we will consider artificial insemination."

Interesting stuff jr.

The one question I'd have, is how do you get a Panda to w@nk into a yoghurt pot?

Show it some panda porn?....very hard to get hold of though

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/east-central/300792-giant-panda-mating-season-sponsored-by-lynx-effect/
We're doomed.  Lynx are sponsoring the Pandas during the mating season.

give Yang Guang some Kouros

it was acceptable in the 80s

So much for getting recorded proof via the panda cam. But today's the day apparently:

Edinburgh Zoo Giant Panda Cam

We are delighted to say that today would appear to be the day for panda mating. They are being brought together this morning at around 0930, and then later on in the day – exact timing to be confirmed. If you have booked a panda viewing ticket for today, please turn up as planned and we will try our very best to fit you in to a viewing slot although your timings may be changed. Our Visitor Services staff will inform you of arrangements on arrival. Please note, there are no walk-up tickets available today. We will post updates as we have them. During this time the panda cam will be unavailable.

3 April 2012 Last updated at 10:57
Share this page

Edinburgh Zoo pandas: Put in same enclosure to mate

The pandas at Edinburgh Zoo have been put together in the same enclosure in a bid to get them to mate.

A Chinese panda expert, who checked on the female Tian Tian at 09:00, judged that she was ready.

Female pandas ovulate just once a year, with a narrow window of only 36 hours in which they can get pregnant.

The pandas have been taken off display, and the online "pandacam" has been switched off, while a team of zoo keepers observe to see if they mate.

The two pandas, who arrived at Edinburgh Zoo from China in December, have been kept in separate enclosures.

Tian Tian ovulated during the night, which has led zoo officials to open the gate between the two cages.

They will be put together three times on Tuesday and three times on Wednesday.

An Edinburgh Zoo spokeswoman told the BBC Scotland news website: "The urine samples we took on Monday morning came back at 21:00 on Monday with results saying Tian Tian had not ovulated.

"However our Chinese panda expert checked her on Tuesday morning and he said she had ovulated in the night and because our tests take about 12 hours to get back to us we could not wait so the pandas have been put together."

Panda pregnancies can last for anything between 85 and 100 days.

Can someone let William out of his cage as well please?

Its looking like bad news for preggie panda backers. One last go tonight and then its wait till next year.

Coral got lucky - 20s was a value bet. He mounted her a couple of times by all accounts, but couldn't seal the deal. As this article puts it, close but no cigar

Giant pandas fail to mate

The unsuccessful end to one of the briefest but most eagerly hyped trysts in conservation history was announced with a short statement from Edinburgh zoo: their giant pandas had failed to mate. The press release headline said simply: close but no cigar.

It had started so well: the panda cams were switched off, the doors carefully locked to outsiders and the love tunnel opened. But in the end, despite their repeated five minute bouts of foreplay and coupling in the female's enclosure, Tang Tang and Yang Guang will have to wait another year.

It may have been the weight of expectation. Perhaps the love tunnel was too short. Whatever the reason, the very short window of opportunity for Edinburgh's pandas closed during Wednesday afternoon.

A female's fertility soars sharply, peaks within a matter of hours but within less than a day and a half, the moment is over.

The bears were allowed a few extra trysts on Wednesday evening, but the zoo's experts were not optimistic that these last couplings would succeed. They had carefully built up hopes in advance, pointing out that both animals had had offspring before; Tang Tang had even given birth to twins.

Despite their increasingly amorous calls to each other, their paw – and muzzle-touching through the love tunnel grille, and yearning glances, their relative inexperience had shown through.

Downplaying their disappointment at failing to generate the UK's first panda cub, Iain Valentine, the zoo's director of conservation, said the pair would be in Edinburgh for ten years. Time enough for another go.

"Each time the pair met we saw a huge amount of eagerness and attraction between Tian Tian and Yang Guang," he said. "At the end of the day, this is year one of a ten year conservation project here at Edinburgh Zoo. We are hugely encouraged by how much the natural sparks flew between the two animals, as like humans, not all male and female pandas are attracted to each other. Both were keen to mate, but their inexperience showed.

"Baby cubs would have been a bonus this year, but we have to appreciate that the pandas have only just arrived and have had limited time to settle."

Since their arrival at Edinburgh zoo four months ago, the pandas have been kept in neighbouring enclosures, separated by a small gate between an adjoining wall. The couple were loaned to the UK by China as a breeding pair, for an annual fee of $1m (£626,400), and Tian Tian's hormone count has been under very close scrutiny by zoo staff since female panda's ovulate only once a year.

As her short mating season approached, they zoo sampled her urine for rising oestrogen levels. The samples were sent to Chester zoo for testing.

The mating process has its critics. The Born Free Foundation, set up to honour George and Joy Adamson who returned the captive Kenyan lioness Elsa to the wild, insists that panda breeding has minimal conservation value.

Will Travers, its director, said the animals were being used for economic and political purposes by the Chinese and UK governments.

"This is about rather crude trade relations at the expense of these animals," he said. "In the big picture on panda conservation, this will do nothing to protect their habitat."

hey racing experts. is it time to lay some of the 50/1 gold cup/national jockey bet off? 9.4 on here now. Surely can't go much lower and always a chance he doesn't run?

I'm not laying off.I was only allowed £6 @ 50/1 on the jockey bet,and £8 @ 33/1 on the trainer bet,so I'll just let it ride.Providing he makes the race on Saturday,I could see him starting a fair bit shorter than 9.4 as I imagine the McCoy factor kicks in.

Ground turned soft today at Aintree after very heavy rain. This is my biggest concern for Synchronised having to carry such a big weight - looks unlikely to dry out very much and will make it very difficult for him.

Posted on the horsey forum.  If he doesn't run seems Mccoy rides sunnyhillboy which would go off sub 20s I guess so still a value bet (I got 17 quid on).  Think some were posting that soft ground would be ok for him? Don't really study the form anymore.

Think I will see if it runs and drops to 6/1 then take a very small profit and let it ride.

For me,the softer the ground the better for Sync.Take on board JR's concern about lugging a big weight 4 1/2 miles in soft ground,but he's won under these conditions before,and quite a few of the opposition will be hugely inconvienienced by soft ground.
One other plus would be they would go half a stride slower early on,hopefully putting less stress on his jumping,which for me is significantly the greater concern.

Seems he's never fallen which is a plus. But is he a Golden Miller?

Absolutely hems, he loves soft, but the National is a different kind of test and if you go through history books it's rare for winners to carry much more than 11 stone. On soft ground over such an extreme distance, you'll invariably have a few much lower in the weights who will pull away in latter stages. My eye is drawn to Giles Cross receiving 23lbs. I, too, have 50s AP a jockey does GC/GN double.

I'm holding onto mine.
Suny Bay was 2nd under 12st on bottomless ground, so the weight wouldn't concern me too much.

Synchronised looks a worthy fav to me and like Hems I could see it going off a fair bit shorter on the day

I'm not either, but it's unlikely a horse can carry such a big weight to victory on soft ground based on stats. They invariably find at least one too good.

Will let it ride for now then. Just hope he runs.

D-Day tomorrow for the Gold Cup/National Jockey (Synchronised) and trainer (Synchronised,Sunnyhill Boy and Arbour Supreme) bets.The hard part of actually getting a runner seems done,now the easy part of 4.5 miles and 30 fences! Good luck anyone who's on.

I had £13 on the trainer bet and £10 on the jockey bet so heres hoping

Think the trainer odds had plunged so I didn't bother.  Mrs B said I was a wimp when I suggested greening up on my 17 quid so hell boy we are going to let it ride yee ha

lol my pllan was to just lay synchronised to place..its hard enough betting on horses..the national yea right..dont have time to study the form..too many runners etc

Il lay something else in the place market if you boys are wanting Sychnronised to win :)

gl with your doubles, chaps.

Fancy Sunnyhillboy for the race myself. Wonder what price he would be if AP was riding. Impressive the way he picked up, up the hill Chelts. A clear circuit in touch would be great, oc that applies to most of them.

I think now I'd have liked Sync to pull out Cider so AP would have ridden what looks more like a National horse.  AP just on saying jonjo sees sync as more a national than a gold cup horse and he may have a point but doesn't smell like a winner to me. Hope I'm wrong.

Would normally be laying the hell out of it but not much point greening up

History made to be broken

Close but no cigar.

Apr 14, 2012 -- 8:54AM, George Bailey wrote:

I think now I'd have liked Sync to pull out Cider so AP would have ridden what looks more like a National horse.

bleeding knew it; AP might have made the difference?

Gave it a great ride all the way round. I suspect there's a chance he thought he'd won for a moment.

Bad enough with a tenner on it but if AP had lost by a nose with all our 50/1's on him I'd have been well p1ssed off.

Does anyone have noted the full list of Betfred's What Will Happen First In 2012 market?
It had stuff like 9-dart finish at world darts x
Cocozza winning CBB x
England cricket test double hundred - not happened yet

Appreciate it if someone could list the others in this market... pretty sure one was a GB or European golf major winner...?
Thanks in advance.

Here you go mate -

What Will Happen First In 2012

December 31st 2012 To Fall On A Monday 6/4
England Rugby Team To Win The Six Nations Rugby 7/2
Any English Golfer To Win A Major 5/1
Any England Player To Score A Double Hundred In An Innings During A Test Match 6/1
Any English Female Tennis Player To Reach Round 4 Of Any Grand Slam 8/1
A 9 Dart Finish By Any Player In The Final Of The Pdc World Darts Championship 12/1
England Football Team To Win Euro 2012 12/1
A 147 Break By Any Player In The Final Of The Betfred World Snooker Championship 16/1
Frankie Cocozza To Win Celebrity Big Brother 16/1
Bradley Wiggins To Win The Tour De France 18/1
Tyson Fury To Win A World Title 50/1


I posted it on the other place at the time.

Thanks fig - so that means it's still up for grabs, isn't it?
World snooker champs - April 21- May 7. Got to hope there's no maximum in final, personally speaking...
I covered Cocozza with Eng test double hundred - need one of them to pull their finger out against the Windies. 1st test May 17, 2nd test May 25, 3rd test June 7.
French tennis open starts May 27, finishes June 10.
US Open golf starts June 14.

Hey JR - what a rampant old horndog SCowell is, who'd have thought it

Hope you'll be reviewing the book.

From the ads I've seen it looks like he's been sh@gging half the population.

I suspect he's telling a small lie about which half ;)

Max Clifford confirms the stuff in the book is correct - so it must be true

The same Max Clifford who has admitted 'arranging' girlfriends for celebs who want to hide their sexuality

Hi squares. The audacity of the man is quite something. Another transparent publicity stunt. He used to be papped outside Spearmint Rhino, now this... His desperation to be portrayed as a rampant heterosexual knows no bounds. So we're expected to believe he's thrown one up Minogue now... do me a favour - far more chance he's entered Louis Walsh . His show has been losing out to The Voice, Minogue is recently divorced... handy for them both to grab some column inches with this sort of made up drivel.

Watching some show about 1995 on C5.

Top 5 selling records

1. Robson & Jerome - Unchained Melody
2. Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
3. Robson & Jerome - I Believe 
4. Take That - Back For Good
5. Celine Dion - Think Twice

I saw that too, squares - forgot we were surrounded by so much inane nonsense back then too. What happens is, as you get older, you become more discerning and you gain more wisdom... so you end up seeing nearly everything around you for what it really is - and with mainstream, primetime tv that is invariably dire.

Back to 2012 Specials - Roger Bannister been smashed in the 'who will light the flame at London 2012' betting - a friend of mine told me a colleague of his was at Bannister's house, saw an official envelope on the table, asked what it was, and he replied, 'An invitation to light the flame'. He and a few others must have got stuck in.

Front page headline in today's Sun ....COWELL ROBBED BY ONE-NIGHT STAND GIRL

I wonder why they felt the need to put the word "Girl" in there?

the "machine" has certainly gone into overdrive this week.

JR, thought Webb's narrative was pretty good - something I could imagine you doing.

Loved it when he called David Copperfield a "gurning tw@tweasel" - how did such a gurning tw@tweasel manage to bag himself a supermodel.

Hendry makes a 147 in the world champs.

Pretty sure this Betfred special is still up for grabs. Cannot believe the England test batsmen have failed thus far to score a double hundred (the one I backed along with Cocozza).
England to win Euros - surely not, unless we get incredibly lucky.
US Open golf upcoming so a chance for an English golfer there.
Anyone who took the 18-1 Wiggins could soon be in the box-seat…

Bad year so far for new year specials backers

What Will Happen First In 2012

December 31st 2012 To Fall On A Monday 6/4
England Rugby Team To Win The Six Nations Rugby 7/2
Any English Golfer To Win A Major 5/1
Any England Player To Score A Double Hundred In An Innings During A Test Match 6/1
Any English Female Tennis Player To Reach Round 4 Of Any Grand Slam 8/1
A 9 Dart Finish By Any Player In The Final Of The Pdc World Darts Championship 12/1
England Football Team To Win Euro 2012 12/1
A 147 Break By Any Player In The Final Of The Betfred World Snooker Championship 16/1
Frankie Cocozza To Win Celebrity Big Brother 16/1
Bradley Wiggins To Win The Tour De France 18/1
Tyson Fury To Win A World Title 50/1

Frankel to go unbeaten last year was 14s; this year he is 7-4 Sad I can't see him going off odds against in any of his UK races. He'll start over a mile - probably in the Lockinge - then run at R.Ascot, probably over a mile too in the Queen Anne, then step up in trip and run in the Eclipse, then the Int'l at York, and probably finish off at the Breeders' Cup. So You Think has been kept in training, Black Caviar may run at R.Ascot (more likely over 6f though), so it's hard to see where Frankel's rivals are going to come from to send him off odds against unless some amazing 3-y-o comes out of the woodwork. I favour the 6-1 Frankel wins a race by 10 lengths or more. First time out over Newbury's straight mile could easily see him achieve this.

Hope others got on at 6-1 - Frankel won today by 11 lengths. Nice to get one 2012 Special in the bank

Anyone know the winner on Ladbrokes 'What will happen first in 2012?' market? it appears to have been settled already, or rather, my bet on 'Team GB To Win 20+ Gold Medals' as the 1st 2012 occurrence has been settled as a loser.

Chelsea won it

English Ch League winner 16/1

Thanks squares - couldn't think what had landed. OT - liking Noseda's in the 1st and recall you flagging that up when it ran at HQ. Cecil's filly I also like, Carlton House and Dimension.

yes, gave it a mention that they fancy Valbchek ew on horse thread last night altho they are a bit tentative about their runners in general atm.

Not sure if the pandas bet would have included artificial insemination but it looks like Tian Tian is up the stick. A year too late sadly for those who took Corals' price.
.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-23625465

Those male Pandas get less action than I do

Pandas are cute

That's why then