Brave Bertie can beat the freeze
We get the thoughts and views of Sky Bet's traders again ahead of the weekend's action.
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With doubts about the weather, the Flat season looks like it will be getting off to a very slow start.
If Doncaster does get the go ahead, soft ground horses are going to be the order of the day. In the Lincoln Handicap, Captain Bertie who is currently heading the market looks sure to be well backed with all his best form on a softer surface.
John Gosden also has two horses in the race which look like they might attract support from the punters. The Paul Hanagan-ridden Eshtibaak is slightly the bigger price of the two runners and I wouldn't be surprised if he proved the more popular of the pair with Sky Bet punters.
A quiet weekend this with the Internationals taking place Friday evening.
Sky Bet want to avoid England scoring six or more goals which has been heavily backed at 11/10. Also on the handicap, -6 England at 12/5 has been very popular as punters use their hearts to place their bets ahead of their game at minnows San Marino .
Saturday's biggest game is the early Sky encounter at Bramhall Lane where Sheffield United entertain Brentford. This is a crucial game at the top of the league and the hosts have been punted heavily at 5/4 despite been thumped at Stevenage last week.
To me this has the look of a tight affair and the 17/2 available on No Goalscorer looks the a bit of value.
In the 3pm games, Bournemouth (8/15) and Swindon (8/13) are two more sides at the top of League One that are very popular in people's accumulators.
Walsall look a great bet at 6/5 away at struggling Hartlepool and we are happy to lay MK Dons, who are 6/5 away at Colchester.
In League Two, the top two in the division are short price favourites at home.
Gillingham are 8/15 to see off relegation threatened Accrington while Port Vale are 8/11 to defeat Aldershot.
You would have to be brave to lump on either of these sides as they both appear to have got jittery of late and Aldershot in particular look a decent bet at 7/2.
General Sport - Phil Charlton
Cricket: England v New Zealand
England were well backed from 4/6 to 8/13 with weather not looking a factor - all of the top four (Cook, Compton, Trott and Bell) all shortened with Pietersen missing the Test - Johnny Bairstow came in for him and is 7/1 for top bat.
The best-backed players have been Andy Murray at 3/1 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at 40/1 with Sky Bet happy to be short on Tomas Berdych (12/1). He is currently in great form and only found eventual winner Rafael Nadal too strong in Indian Wells.
Formula One: Malaysian Grand Prix
Similarly to the season-opening Australian GP, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are the most popular selections amongst Sky Bet's customers, and it is easy to see why: the weather in Malaysia often holds surprises and this weekend's forecast is not without the threat of rain either. In these unpredictable conditions Button's 20/1 to win the race is particularly eye-catching!
Golf - Arnold Palmer Invitational
Tournament specialist and pre-event 11/4 favourite Tiger Woods has been popular despite being a short price. He is not a good result for Sky Bet!
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