The Cheltenham Festival is one of the highlights of the British racing year but finding Cheltenham tips is not always at the top of everyone’s agenda. It is an occasion where both hardened fanatics and newcomers set their sights on winning money on some of the world’s best trained and bred horses. However, choosing winners can be a tricky task for beginners.

Looking for tips and advice is a good idea for those with no or little experience. The sources for this information are plentiful and with a little effort the chances of success can increase greatly. Betting shops, racing magazines and betting websites offer not only tips but advice on reading the form of horses.

Cheltenham has some of the most prestigious races, horses, owners and trainers all on show at the same event. Only the very best horses take part so it is a good idea to do a little homework before parting with cash. Studying the form of horses is critical to achieve long term success.

Beginners will be very tempted to pick a horse based purely on the name or the colours the jockey wears. However any experienced racing fanatic will say that clues to a horse’s potential in any given race can be found in the form statistics.

Form includes lots of information such as recent race placings, recent health, the conditions a horse prefers and the type of ground it performs best on. External factors should always be taken into account such as weather and ‘going.’ Going refers to the state of the turf on the track.

A track can be classified as heavy, soft, good or hard. Heavy ground is boggy and loose after significant rainfall. Hard ground has very little give and results from extended periods of dry, hot weather. Horses usually have a preference when it comes to the type of ground they’ll be running on. The track classification will usually be announced on the evening before or morning of a horse race.

Experienced race-goers will be used to studying form and investing their money wisely. However, newcomers should beware of investing large sums on one horse. A good way to make money is to spread the risk. One way of doing this is to make a place bet, often referred to as an each way bet. This pays out a percentage of the winning amount depending on what position the horse finishes in. An each way bet will normally pay three places but for larger fields some bookmakers will pay five places.

Find out more about our highly regarded cheltenham tips and grand national tips by visiting our website.

New Denver starting QB Kyle Orton, who was acquired from Chicago in the off-season, threw interceptions on each of his first three offensive series. San Francisco’s offense didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard, but it did do enough to eke out a 17-16 NFL preseason victory before their home fans.

The good news for Orton is that despite his three interceptions Broncos coach Josh McDaniels remained steadfast in his support. Orton appeared thankful of this fact in his postgame comments:

“That’s great. That’s certainly what you need in this league is the support of your coach. I’m not worried about it. I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself. I think my team has a lot of confidence in me. … I don’t want to make those decisions and throw three interceptions.”

Orton was acquired after McDaniels relationship with NFL pro bowler Jay Cutler soured due to his effort”and subsequent denial”that he was trying to move the quarterback. Its been a rough start to Ortons tenure in Denver”he was even booed during a public scrimmage after throwing an interception.

McDaniels, to his credit, put the fact that it was only the first preseason game into perspective:

“I feel very confident in where we’re at. There’s no reason to start tailspinning into this and that when we’ve only had one preseason game.”

San Franciscos rapidly improving defense made life miserable for Orton all afternoon. Even when he got decent pass protection, they were able to disrupt the passing lanes. Niners’ cornerback Nate Clemens in particular was a huge factor, hauling in one of Ortons three miscues. After the game he commented on the play:

“I saw the route and played my responsibility and he threw it. I like seeing all of our defensive backs get interceptions and just making plays because we’re game breakers.”

Shaun Hill and Alex Smith are battling for the Niners’ starting QB job and both played solid, if unspectacular, football. Hill spoke of his first preseason action:

“We were able to move the ball and we had a big conversion on third down. That last sack kind of hurt us. That was completely on me. The offensive line did a great job out there. So I’d like to have that play back and I feel like we could have gotten seven out of that.”

Smith was just excited to be back on the field after missing the entire 2008 season due to injury:

“Obviously, I was raring to go when I got out there. It’s been a long time for me, so I was pretty amped up.”

The Broncos open the NFL regular season on Sunday, September 13th against the Bengals at Cincinnati. San Francisco will get the regular season underway on the same day as they head to Tempe, Arizona to face the Arizona Cardinals.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The Washington Redskins are a mess right now. Head coach Jim Zorn has a tenuous hold on his job at best and has recently been stripped of his offensive play calling duties. Management installed newly hired ‘offensive consultant’ Sherman Lewis as the new offensive play caller and the team has set up an awkward arrangement for him to get the plays to the quarterbacks. For that reason, starting QB Jason Campbell has some serious misgivings about the efficacy of the setup.

Lewis has only been out of retirement and with the team for two weeks, and has spent this week trying to ingest a crash course on the Redskins’ offensive schemes. While he was learning on the job, head coach Zorn was trying to put the best spin possible on the situation’:

“I need to have composure. I need to understand what the reality of the situation is, and I think our players expect me to rise up. We expect them to play under adverse conditions. We expect them to risk it all. … I’m conscious of what’s going on. I’m not naive about what’s going on, and yet I have to just hold back on any feelings and make the decisions.”

Quarterback Campbell is more concerned about the convoluted system of getting plays from Lewis to him:

“There’ll probably be a couple of plays I have in my head just in case if some reason it doesn’t get in on time.”

Here’s how things are supposed to work-Lewis will sit in the coaches’ box above the field and read the plays off a sheet. While Lewis has years of experience working in the so called ‘West Coast Offense’, Zorn left doubt that he really knows what he’s doing at this point stressing that Lewis “doesn’t know the protections” and “doesn’t know the blitz schemes.” Nevertheless, he’ll be running the offense when the Redskins take on Philadelphia this Monday night.

Once Lewis figures out what to call, that’s when it really gets tricky. He’ll relay the plays via headset not to Zorn but to offensive coordinator Sherman Smith. Smith will then inform the quarterback what to run. Zorn is left in the role of a passive bystander on offense, though he will listen in to the playcalling on his headset.

Backup quarterback Todd Collins also shared his concern with the new arrangement:

“It is unsettling. I’ve never gone through this before. I’ve never had a play caller get changed in the middle of the season.”

Lewis didn’t exactly evoke a lot of confidence upon his hiring, where he revealed that he’d been calling bingo games at a seniors’ center to kill time since his retirement in 2004. Still, Collins gave him a guarded vote of confidence;

“I know he’s been studying last year’s game against the Eagles and seems to have a pretty good idea how he wants to call the game this week. It’s the same plays. He might coach them a little differently or highlight some different areas, but the offense hasn’t gone under an overhaul or anything like that.”

The Redskins haven’t scored more than 17 points in a game this season, so maybe the thinking is that things can’t get any worse. The NFL odds for Monday Night’s game show the Eagles a -7 road favorite with the total set at 37′.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

When the biggest play of a NFL football game is an extra point, there’s a good chance it was a dull contest. Such was the case in rainy Foxboro, Massachusetts as the Cincinnati Bengals edged the New England Patriots by a 7-6 score. The big play of the game? A point after touchdown by the Bengals backup kicker, none other than wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.

After the game, the always entertaining Chad Ochocinco was in rare form talking about his love for European soccer:

“‘Esteban’ Ochocinco is back, the most interesting footballer in the world. Everyone has to remember, I’ve always said that soccer is my No. 1 sport. I think Ronaldinho would be proud of me right now.”

To punctuate his fondness for the sport known as football in the rest of the world, Ochocinco whipped out his iPhone to display a picture of him with former England captain David Beckham before he continued his exposition:

“Soccer’s my first love, Kicking’s easy … like riding a bike. I can kick them from 50, 60 yards, left or right hash mark. … I kicked all through high school.”

Ochocinco was pressed into service as a placekicker when Shane Graham complained of a sore groin in pregame warm-ups. Rather than take any chances, head coach Marvin Lewis let Ochocinco take his place.

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, who was pressed into emergency service as a placekicker while with the Miami Dolphins, disputed Ochocinco’s claims about kicking being easy:

“It’s not easy. To kick that is something, and he got real good height on it.”

The Patriots could only manage two FGs, while Cincinnati scored their only touchdown on JT OSullivans 24 yard pass to Chris Henry. That set up Ochocincos picture perfect extra point. OSullivan was also amused, but emphasized that his receivers athletic versatility is no joke:

“Nothing surprises me. All joking aside, he still kicked the ball through the uprights and it ended up winning the game. Some people might think its funny, but it’s important.”

Cincinnati will kick off their NFL regular season schedule on Sunday, September 13th as they host the Denver Broncos. The Patriots will get their campaign underway on Monday, September 14th as they play the Buffalo Bills at home.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer specializing in travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, falconry and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Jake Delhomme is having a season he’d like to forget, and things got even worse on Sunday at home against the Buffalo Bills. Despite dominating the Bills on the stat sheet, Delhomme threw three interceptions that allowed Buffalo to take a 20-9 victory over the struggling Panthers. Delhomme threw for 325 yards, though without any touchdowns. The Panthers dropped to 2-4 while the Bills improved to 3-4.

Buffalo rewarded NFL pointspread players with the outright victory as +7 road underdogs. The Bills have covered four of their seven games this season, while the Panthers have an awful record against the spread-they’ve only covered once this season for a 1-5 ATS mark. The 29 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 37. Buffalo has gone UNDER in 4 of 7 games this season while Carolina evened their NFL totals mark at 3-3.

The Bills’ Terrell Owens was again a non-factor, but gave credit to the defense for earning the victory:

“You can’t really complain about a win. Defensively, those guys are keeping us in ballgames.”

Buffalo defensive end Chris Kelsay commended his team’s confidence on the road:

“Never once on the sidelines was there any doubt that we were going to win the game. Regardless if it’s an ugly win over not, it’s hard to win in this league.”

Ryan Fitzpatrick started at QB for Buffalo in place of the injured Trent Edwards and was solid, if not spectacular. Coach Dick Jauron observed:

“He made the plays when we had to make them.”

Panthers’ coach John Fox has said he’s going to’re-evaluate’ whether the struggling Delhomme should continue to start, and even the quarterback himself couldn’t make an emphatic case that he should keep his job:

“In my heart, yeah, but I mean let’s be honest, I don’t think I’m a dummy. When you’re not playing well offensively, you always have to look at the quarterback.”

The Panthers’ schedule doesn’t get easier this week as they head west for a game against the improving Arizona Cardinals. Carolina is a +9 road underdog with the total set at 43′. They’ll head south the following week to face the red hot New Orleans Saints before returning home on November 15 to take on the Atlanta Falcons. Buffalo will host the Houston Texans this weekend, with the game currently off the board due to injuries on both teams. They’ll have their bye week after that and will return to action on November 15 against the Tennessee Titans.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The Green Bay Packers didn’t do a good job protecting their quarterback last Sunday, but against the lowly Detroit Lions it didn’t really matter. Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times, but Green Bay used a big first half offensive outburst to coast to a 26-0 NFL victory over the Detroit Lions. Rodgers threw two first half touchdown passes which was complimented by four Mason Crosby field goals as Green Bay improved to 3-2 on the season.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who backed the Packers as -14 home dogs easily cashed their tickets with Green Bay’s third pointspread cover in five games. Detroit slipped to 2-4 against the spread.

In the victory, Packers’ receiver Donald Driver passed Sterling Sharpe for first place on the franchise reception list. Sharpe finished his career with 596 receptions, Driver now has 602. After the game, he talked about the accomplishment:

“It couldn’t it come in a better place — at home in front of the fans I’ve played in front of for so many years. It feels good. Now I just have to wait on Sterling to call me and congratulate me.”

Despite the convincing victory, cornerback Tramon Williams wasn’t happy with the relatively narrow margin:

“It feels like a 50 to zero game, but we didn’t quite get there. I felt we should’ve put more points on the board.”

For the Lions, their quarterback woes continued. Matthew Stafford is already out indefinitely with an injured knee, and against Green Bay backup Daunte Cullpepper injured his hamstring in the third quarter and was replaced by the Lions’ third string quarterback Drew Stanton. Cullpepper is now listed as ‘questionable’ on the official NFL injury report. After the game, he talked about Detroit’s lack of offense:

“It’s very disappointing, very frustrating. It’s embarrassing to me not to be able to move it on the field and get points on the board. We’ve got to figure out a way to do that, simple as that.”

The Packers will play on the road this Sunday, heading to Cleveland to face the Browns. The game is currently off the board as linemakers try to get a handle on the personnel impact of the Browns’ struggle with a flu bug making its way through the locker room. Green Bay will host the Minnesota Vikings the following Sunday followed by a trip to Tampa Bay on November 8. Detroit has a bye this weekend and will return to action as they host the St. Louis Rams on November 1.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Former Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson got revenge on the team that let him go in the best possible way. Benson amassed 189 yards rushing and led his new team, the Cincinnati Bengals, to a 45-10 rout over the visiting Bears on Sunday. Carson Palmer threw for five touchdowns with no interceptions in the blowout victory.

The Bengals also made short work of the NFL pointspread, easily covering as +1′ home underdogs. Cincinnati improved to 4-3 against the number while Chicago evened their ATS mark at 3-3. The 55 combined points sailed OVER the posted total of 42′. The Bengals have gone OVER in four of seven games this year while the Bears evened their NFL totals mark at 3-3.

A smug Benson described his feelings after the win:

“Everybody knew it was going to be an emotional day. Everybody knew. What a wonderful day and a wonderful thing, to go out there and strut your stuff.”

Despite the evidence to the contrary, Benson downplayed the motive of revenge:

“I continue to be as graceful as I can be. I’m not shoving anything in anybody’s face. Like I say, it wasn’t a revenge day for me. I just wanted to take advantage of the opportunities.”

He said his biggest problem was trying to keep his emotions in check:

“There were a few times where I may have gotten a little too hyped up, a little too antsy. A couple of drives, I found myself having to calm myself down and gather my emotions to stay poised. Once I got past that, we were good to go. Keep it rolling.”

Bengals’ receiver Chad Ochocinco had 10 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He shared his thoughts postgame:

“I don’t understand why it went this way today and why it didn’t go that way last week or the week before that. The offensive line played unbelievable. For Ced to run the way he did today and for us to be able to throw, we could have done what we wanted to do.”

Chicago gave up more points than in any game all season, a fact that left defensive end Alex Brown looking for answers:

“That was pretty embarrassing. It’s embarrassing to come out and play like that. I tip my hat to their whole team. Cedric ran the ball like crazy. They did whatever they wanted to do.”

The Bengals will enjoy a bye week before hosting the Baltimore Ravens on November 8. They’ll then play two games on the road at Pittsburgh and Oakland. Chicago will try to get back on track this Sunday as they host the Cleveland Browns. The Bears are -13′ home favorites with the total set at 40. They’ll host the Arizona Cardinals the following Sunday before heading west for a Thursday night game against the San Francisco 49ers on November 12.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been playing the Cleveland Browns for longer than any other team in the National Football League, dating back to 1950. And while it hasn’t been quite that long since the Cleveland Browns won a game against the Steelers it may be starting to feel like it. On Sunday, Pittsburgh won for the twelfth straight time dating back to 2003 as they topped Cleveland by a final score of 27-13.

The good news for NFL betting enthusiasts who took the +13′ with the Browns as a road underdog is that they managed to cover the pointspread by the slimmest of possible margins. Betting against the defending Superbowl champion is a long standing handicapping concept, and this season at least its worked like a charm-the Steelers have only covered one of their first six games. Cleveland, meanwhile, evened their NFL pointspread record at 3-3 on the season. The Browns have covered three straight after dropping their first three both straight up and against the spread. The 40 combined points went OVER the posted total of 37′.

Pittsburgh dominated the game in virtually every statistical category. They amassed 28 first downs to 12 for Cleveland, held a 543 to 197 total yardage advantage and a 36:46 to 23:14 time of possession advantage. Both teams turned the ball over four times, and the Steelers led only 17-14 in the third quarter. Most of the post game talk from both sides was about a controversial spot in the first half where the Steelers were given a first down on a short yardage play when it appeared that they didn’t make the required yardage.

After the contest, Derek Anderson spoke of the frustration of continually coming up short against the Steelers. The Browns have only one once in ten games since Pittsburgh moved into their new home at Heinz Field:

“We’re not trying to lose every time we go out here. We put tons of hours in and … it’s frustrating. Every single week, it’s frustrating.”

Steelers’ tight end Heath Miller said the team is happy to be where they are at this point despite not playing up to their standards:

“I think we haven’t played our best ball yet and that’s pretty comforting. We’ve gotten a few wins here without playing our best.”

The Steelers will host Brett Favre and the 6-0 Minnesota Vikings next Sunday. The Steelers are a -4 home favorite with the total set at 45. After a bye week, the Steelers will hit the road to play another undefeated team as they take on the Denver Broncos on Monday, November 9. Cleveland will host the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, with the Browns a +7 home underdog and the total set at 42′.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and widely regarded sports betting authority. He is also a staff handicapper for Sports-1 Sportsbook and is in charge of setting NFL lines. He has written extensively on sports handicapping theory along with a wide range of other topics including fencing, self defense and falconry.

Go to any mall in any city and you will find not one, but several shops that specialize in sports gear. There is a good reason for that; wearing sports gear is becoming more and more popular. It’s not new, people have been wearing athletic apparel for a long time now but it just keeps getting more popular.

Some companies make all of their money by just making and selling jerseys, for example. Some sportswear companies make their money making and selling just running clothes. Yet other sportswear companies specialize in making and selling sportswear just for women or just for men. And some companies do it all.

Sportswear is widely available. You can now find at least some sportswear in every major department store and even in almost every little clothing shop in almost any town. Sportswear has become that popular. Of course, there are the mega sports stores that have popped up all over the landscape and they usually stock a pretty wide selection of sportswear for men, women and children.

Shop the internet or your local mall and you will probably find gear for teams you haven’t even heard of. Sport sells and sports gear is no different. Men and women, young and old normally have at the very least one item of clothing that is sports related. MLB, NBA, NCAA, NHL, and NFL; they all have their licensed gear out in the shops ready for fans to enjoy.

No matter what team you are looking for, or what sport, you can find it at a variety of places. Florida, Chicago, Boston, Minnesota, New York and Los Angeles are just a few of the bigger names you can find on any number of clothing articles and accessories.

Do a google search for sports gear. You will find that there are 20,000,000 results for sports gear. Why? Because people shop for it, they buy it and more and more businesses want to sell it. From Florida to Los Angeles and everywhere in between you can find stores with sports apparel.

If you are a sports fan, you undoubtedly have clothing that symbolizes your dedication to your state or team. Of course, for some, the sports gear symbolizes their love of the color or color combination. No matter what the reason, buying sports gear isnt going to go out of style any time soon.

There are more accessories coming out with the sport theme too. There are purses, jewelry, head wear and more, all carrying a logo or insignia of a sports team. This is probably because the number of women who enjoy wearing sports gear is up.

That isnt a problem either, sports wear is breaking away somewhat and offering unique colors for teams. Who would have thought there would one day be Los Angeles sports gear in pink? Someone did and voila, its available for sale.

So you want to dominate your fantasy football league eh? Well join the club, there are at least 11 other guys in your league who want to do the same thing, and unless you’re drafting with utter clowns, you better have a plan. I know it’s still early but here are five tips you can think about before you start your draft prep.

First, take a look at what positions are scarce and exploit them. Position scarcity doesn’t simply mean the number of players available, but the top level players available. For example, have you noticed the crop of running backs by committee in the last few years? Well if you haven’t there is a severe shortage of backs who carry a full load, if you can get one you definitely should.

Second, don’t draft a player just because they score the most points overall. Quarterbacks almost always score the most points, but that doesn’t make them the most valuable. If there are eight quarterbacks that all score in the top 15 but only four running backs, then running backs are more valuable because the supply isn’t there like it is at the quarterback spot. Typically running backs, then receivers, then quarterbacks are most valuable, in that order.

Third, take advantage of scoring discrepancies. Do receivers get extra points per reception? Do tight ends get a bonus for yardage over other positions? Adjust your draft board accordingly. Paying attention to your scoring system, when most of your league mates do not, will give you an added advantage in your league. If you can find an edge you need to take it.

Lastly, look for players due to see more or less playing time in the upcoming season. If a running back is due to get more playing time because the starter went down, bump them up a few notches. Did a free agent receiver leave in the off-season to play with a better quarterback? Boost their stats a few notches. Players can only be successful if they have the playing time to go along with it. Even the best players are worthless if they never see the field, don’t let a roster move catch you by surprise.