No surprises to see the David Pipe trained Lucifer Bleu trading as low as 7/4 with Betterbet.com to win this afternoon's feature race The Racing Post Chase at Kempton Park where the going is sure to prove testing.

So much so that the field has now been reduced to 11 runners with four horses taken out. These include Henry Daly's pair Billyvoddan and Alderburn – both because of the ground.

David Pipe saddles four runners in this valuable race where over recent years fancied runners have done well. However, there can be no denying that that Lucifer Bleu - off a feather weight - is the one to beat. Despite racing from out of the handicap here - he is effectively 21lb in hand at the weights, as the weights for this race were framed before the handicapper had evidence of his runaway victory at Wincanton last time out in similar conditions to what he will face today. Jockey Andrew Glassonbury takes off a further five pounds and the partnership should be backed for success even at 7/4.

If you prefer to play at each way odds then take a look at Lacdoudal who is burdened with top weight but is a class performer on his day as he showed when winning the Betfred Gold Cup at Sandown last year. Betterbet.com make him a 12/1 chance for this afternoon.

For the second Sunday running the most valuable race of the day has again attracted a small field - proving again the equation between prize money and field sizes is flawed.

The totesport.com National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell (3.30) has GBP40,000 prize money guaranteed, yet has attracted only five runners.

The betting on betterbet.com is sure to point to a match between Refinement and United. We prefer the chances of Refinement who represents the bang in form stable of Jonjo O'Neil. The interesting runner is Korelo, who has the ability to win a race such as this but is sadly out of form at present and hasn't been seen since pulling up in the Welsh National over Christmas. We'd recommend just a very small investment on him here on the basis that his price will be bigger than it should be.

A safer betting proposition comes later on in the afternoon when Helen Wood should take all the beating in the 4.30. David Pipe had a great day on Saturday and we take Helen Wood to follow up her recent six length Leicester success.

Better Bookmakers continue to bring innovation and value to punters. Hot on the heels of their 'non runner - no bet' offer for the Cheltenham Festival - they now have the same deal on the Grand National, for which the weights were announced this week for the 119 entered runners.

Given one of the main (if not only) reasons punters choose not to bet ante-post is because of the risk of not getting a run for their money - this really is a better offer in every respect.

They were first off the blocks for Cheltenham and are currently the only bookie offering this for the Grand National for which their current 10-1 co-favourites are last year's front two Numbersixvalverde and Hedgehunter with the lightly raced Irish raider Far From Trouble.

The offer stands until midnight on the 28th February, so get your heads in the formbook now - at least you'll have the guarantee of getting a run for your money.

You can place your bets online at http://www.betterbet.com/betterbet?action=go_dd&sport=horses&level=EV_IDS&ev_id=482676

Venn Ottery was formerly trained by Paul NichollsThe death of racehorse Venn Ottery after he ran at Newbury is set to be investigated by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority.
Venn Ottery, owned by Oliver Carter and trained by Sue Gardner, was put down after fracturing a pelvis on Saturday.
Gardner has since told the Racing Post the 12-year-old ran in the two-mile Game Spirit Chase against her wishes.
HRA spokesman Paul Struthers told BBC Sport: "We need to establish the facts and talk to the individuals concerned."
He added: "Given that it appears Venn Ottery ran against the wishes and advice of his trainer and at the insistence of his owner, we will be formally looking into the matter.
"We need to establish the full facts, whether this could have been avoided and whether any Rules of Racing have been broken.
"Whilst there has been comment about the grade of race Venn Ottery was running in, it is quite likely that he might well have suffered this injury regardless of the grade of the race."
Carter has been unavailable for comment, while Gardner described the horse's death as "heartbreaking."
Venn Ottery, who was having his first race for the trainer, was passed fit to run by a racecourse vet.
Results of a post-mortem carried out after his death will be examined by HRA officials.
The 88-year-old Carter is a permit holder, which effectively licenses him to train, so could potentially have chosen to change the trainer for the race from Gardner to himself.
Struthers said the HRA relies on trainers, who have gone through a licensing process, to have horses' best interests at heart.
VENN OTTERY FACTS
Age: 12
Races: 46
Wins: 4
Second: 2
Third: 2
Unplaced: 38Carter caused some controversy within horse racing when he ran Venn Ottery as a rank outsider in both the 2005 Champion Chase and Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival.
He was trained at the time by Martin Pipe, having previously been with the current champion trainer Paul Nicholls.
In 2004, the horse enjoyed a successful campaign when trained by Nicholls, winning four races inside a month and finishing fifth to Azertyuiop in the Champion Chase.
But Nicholls had voiced his concerns before the Newbury race, saying it was an "utter disgrace" he should now be running in such a high-quality contest.
Afterwards, Nicholls was quoted by the Racing Post as saying: "When he goes a mile-and-a-half, pulls up and then has to be put down afterwards, it's terribly sad for the horse.
"I felt very strongly about his running, and hopefully there will be some lessons learned from it."
The nature of jump racing means equine fatalities are a part of the sport.
Triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate died in 2005 after suffering a suspected heart attack following a race at Exeter.
The ground was too soft and the race too hot
Trainer Sue GardnerDevon-based Gardner is not one of racing's most well-known trainers, and Venn Ottery was only her second runner of the year.
"It was unfortunate as it could have happened on the gallops and, as I instructed, his jockey at Newbury was not pushing him," she told the Racing Post.
"But he should not have been in that race. I didn't enter him or declare him - Oliver insisted that the horse ran and I tried to persuade him not to run.
"If we hadn't turned up with the horse, I would have been fined.
"I told him the ground was too soft and the race too hot, and he said he would take the horse to the races if I didn't."
The HRA has received no official complaint from any party about the running of Venn Ottery.
Going into Saturday, the horse's form had been largely disappointing - he was pulled up twice and fell once in his previous five runs under the Rules of Racing.
The Newbury event was won by Well Chief, who is now favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, one of the feature races at next month's Cheltenham Festival.
Venn Ottery was sent off a 200-1 shot for the eight-runner race and was in last place when he was pulled up by jockey Andrew Glassonbury.
The Racing Post report of the race said: "Venn Ottery has little business in this company these days, and he was pulled up halfway down the far side."

Thankfully, on a weather interrupted week, the card at Newbury has been given the thumbs up.

It's an absolutely tremendous card with plenty of Cheltenham clues and the equine stars include Kauto Star who will be long odds-on to complete his Gold preparations by winning the Aon Chase at 2.40.

Betterbet.com have really caught the imagination with their Cheltenham non runner no bet offer and amazingly, in the case of some horses, they are actually a better price as well as having the concession. A case in example is the favourite for the Champion Chase - Voy Por Ustedes who runs in today's Game Spirit Chase at 3.50. Betterbet have him 11-4 favourite for the Champion Chase with the non runner no bet guarantee whilst William Hill only go 5-2 - and if he is a non runner you lose. So as always – shop around.

The two big betting races of the day are the handicap hurdles at 2.05 and the totesport Trophy at 3.15. Isle De Maurice (2.05) and Moore's Law (3.15) are speculative selections.

Betterbet.com have a match bet between Private Be (4/5) and the bottom weight Rio De Janiero (evens) in the 3.15 The odds look right and Private Be should come out best between this pair.

Chris Cook
Thursday February 01 2007
The Guardian

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds," as that famous punter Ralph Waldo Emerson so rightly pointed out. In like spirit, let us set aside the advice given in this space four short weeks ago, to the effect that no ante-post bets should be considered on this year's Cheltenham Festival.

You might point out, and rightly, that the reason for that advice still holds true - it remains impossible to predict the going at Prestbury Park in mid-March, partly because the clerk of the course may opt to turn on the taps. But something else has changed.

It is the decision of Better Bet bookmakers to offer 'non-runner, no bet' on nine Festival races, a concession that seems almost too good to be true. Most firms will get around to offering such terms as the big week looms but to start taking bets on this basis in January is little short of sensational.

Of course, it would count for nothing if Better were offering shorter prices across the board, but this is not the case. Without looking to the rank outsiders, I found over a dozen horses in their lists for which the Better price matched the top price on the High Street. They offer Detroit City at 11-4 for the Champion Hurdle - that's half a point more than you'll get from William Hill, who will keep your cash if the grey is injured in Saturday's prep-run.

The one that leapt out at me was Nickname at 7-1 for the Champion Chase. The eight-year-old is 10-1 elsewhere but that has a lot to do with the fact that he is a doubtful starter - trainer Martin Brassil wouldn't risk him on anything faster than soft.

If he were to line up at Cheltenham, that could only mean that the ground had come right for him, in which case he would start a lot shorter than 7's. Nickname spent his formative years learning to cope with the porridge-like ground that Auteuil invariably serves up and he rolls through mud like a tractor. His last two outings have resulted in easy wins against high-quality rivals on heavy going.

There's another interesting bet in the Triumph Hurdle, where Better offer a quarter the odds each-way to four places. Degas Art, the only horse to have beaten Katchit over hurdles, is on offer at a very tempting 14-1, matching the best price with the big firms.

Katchit is as low as 5-1 in places, having franked the form with three subsequent wins. Degas Art has been given a break since mid-November but is still believed to be healthy and, as he was more than a stone better than Katchit on the Flat, there is every reason to expect that he will confirm the placings when they meet again.

Better Bet launched in 2005 and now have 13 shops, with plans to open more. If there isn't one near you, go to their website at www.betterbet.com.