Venus Williams
Venus Williams

What Happens Next?: Ante-post betting column


Our tipping team look for ante-post value in our regular Monday column and dig out a 20/1 Melbourne Cup suggestion plus an 18/1 Wimbledon chance.

Racing


It was a relatively quiet weekend for British and Irish racing with Royal Ascot just around the corner but there were still a few ante-post quotes flying around.

Godolphin and Charlie Appleby sent out a four-timer at Newmarket with expensive juvenile Glorious Journey impressing on debut causing him to be introduced at 40/1 for the Qipco 2000 Guineas, but the layers were more impressed with Verbal Dexterity who also made a winning start to his career, for Jim Bolger at the Curragh, with the trainer’s daughter, Una Manning, describing him as "a nice horse with a big future".

There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until they can be called Classic contenders though and one for the more immediate future is Culturati who made a winning return from an absence of over 600 days at Newmarket.

That took the four-year-old’s tally to three from five and he beat a progressive rival in very taking fashion prompting the layers to cut him to 14/1 from 25s for the Wokingham at Royal Ascot.

His penalty may well enable him to make the cut for that handicap but the draw will obviously be a factor, while it would also be a relatively quick return on the back of such a long absence.

Looking further ahead and to foreign fields and the victory of Red Cardinal – from Sir Mark Prescott’s St Michel – in Belmont on Friday night is worth taking note of. The winner is now 20/1 for the Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington in November and that is a price that is not without appeal.

Andreas Wohler has already won that race with Protectionist and knows exactly the type of horse that is required to win The Race That Stops A Nation so the fact that he has already earmarked Melbourne for the five-year-old is of interest.

The typically well-bred son of Montjeu hasn’t had a lot of racing, failing to make the track for Aidan O’Brien before having six starts for David Simcock with Wohler commenting: "He started very late in his career and hasn't had many races and keeps improving. He's progressing and we're quite happy with where he is right now."

St Michel and fourth home Wicklow Brave are horses that we know all about and no slouches themselves so there’s no doubting the merit of Red Cardinal’s performance in the US. Winning jockey Eduardo Pedroza was impressed, pointing to his mount’s acceleration and that’s an attribute that is crucial in a Cup horse.

He’s proved that he can cope with international travelling, his form is there and he could improve further and, crucially, there’s no doubt about his target. He’s worth getting onside now. Ian Ogg

Click here to back Red Cardinal with Sky Bet

Tennis


The clay season produced a 100/1 winner of the French Open in Jelena Ostapenko and while a repeat of such a big-priced champion emerging at Wimbledon is not so great, the market suggests there's value to be had somewhere.

It currently has a 7/1 favourite in the shape of Karolina Pliskova and her aggressive brand of tennis should be well suited to the lawns of SW19.

However, she's yet to win at the highest level and that's not something you can say about Venus Williams. She may be a veteran but the five-time Wimbledon winner looks a tasty option at 18/1.

Her sister Serena, the title holder, won't be there this year due to pregnancy and neither will another former champion, Maria Sharapova (injured) - hence the nature of the market.

Those ahead of her in the betting include Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka; I'm not sure why.

Kerber is woefully out of form, Kvitova is just two matches into her comeback from being stabbed in the hand and Azarenka has not played at all in the past 12 months (she gave birth last year).

Venus' price seems to be based on her age - 36 - but her 2017 form is pretty decent. In January, she made the Australian Open final, losing only to her sister, and has since been to the semis in Miami. She also enjoyed a fairly good season on clay - by far her weakest surface.

She's totally at home on the grass and while last year's run to the semis was seen as something of a surprise, it will not be such a shock this time around given she's currently ranked 11th in the world. Andy Schooler

Click here to back Venus Williams with Sky Bet

Football


The weekend's World Cup qualifiers ended with England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all odds-on with Sky Bet to reach Russia next summer.

Wales and Scotland, however, are expected to miss out, according to the odds.

Of the prices on offer, little appeals about backing Northern Ireland at 4/9 - remember even if they finish second to Germany they will need to win a two-legged play-off and will they even be 4/9 to win that? It's doubtful.

European Chasmpionship semi-finalists Wales also make no appeal at 6/5 - they are four points off the top two places in their group with just four games to play.

Scotland are actually in the same position in their group (albeit they are six off the top spot which looks to be England's for the taking).

Yet they are offered at 20/1 to be in Russia next summer.

They produced another encouraging display against England and were less than two minutes away from a famous win before having to settle for a 2-2 draw.

If (and yes I agree it's a bif if) they can reproduce that sort of effort in the autumn, they must have a chance of sneaking into second place.

Slovakia are the team they are currently looking to catch and they still have them to play at home which is one quick opportunity to cut the gap by three points.

The Slovaks also have England still to play at Wembley.

Slovenia are the other side still hoping to finish as runners-up but Scotland also have them to play (albeit away), while the former Yougoslav republic must also head to Wembley and Slovakia.

Scotland's fate is not in their hands but it's not far off and 20/1 could be a spot of value ahead of the run-in. Andy Schooler

Click here to back Scotland at 20/1 with Sky Bet

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