This weekend sees a number of huge sporting events take place. wWe have highlighted four, in particular, to provide you with a 37/1 acca.
- King George
- Women’s Euros Quarter Finals
- French Grand Prix
- Super League Rugby
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WESTOVER To Win The King George (Saturday 3.35pm) 6/5
Six runners head to the King George at Ascot on Saturday and all six are Group 1 winners. Generations clash for the first time and this looks set to be a particularly exhilarating renewal.
The older brigade features Dubai Sheema Classic and Juddmonte International hero Mishriff, recently denied so narrowly in the Eclipse at Sandown, last year’s shock Arc winner Torquator Tasso and former Coronation Cup and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winners Pyledriver and Broome.
However, with an 11lb weight-for-age allowance in favour of the three-year-olds, Emily Upjohn and WESTOVER look to have grand chances. Ralph Beckett’s colt is preferred after a scintillating display in the Irish Derby last time out.
That was a brutal performance by the son of Frankel, and brother to the useful Monarchs Glen. He had previously done well to be third in the Derby at Epsom when meeting repeated trouble in running behind Desert Crown. If that was an effort full of promise, his Curragh victory was the finished article.
Emily Upjohn still has untapped potential having also been so unlucky at Epsom, but even if her conqueror Tuesday was below par behind Westover in the Irish Derby, that leaves her with a fair amount of collateral form to overturn.
FRANCE WOMEN To Win & Both Teams To Score (vs Netherlands Women, Saturday 8pm) 12/5
FRANCE take on Holland in an interesting clash for this Women’s Euro 2022 quarter-final.
France had plenty of questions asked of them prior to the tournament, following reports of squad disharmony, but they were banished pretty quickly with the 5-1 win over Italy in the opening game and a further win and draw against Belgium and Iceland to seal top spot
Holland finished unbeaten in their group, but finished behind Sweden on goal difference, as defensive lapses saw them conceded four goals in what was a weak group, featuring Portugal and Switzerland.
France are unbeaten in three against the Dutch and that defensive frailty, may well be the Holland’s undoing here.
CHARLES LECLERC To Win The French Grand Prix (Sunday, 2pm) 17/10
Just as it looks like Ferrari have booted their reliability issues into the long grass, one of their engines goes pop. Both CHARLES LECLERC and Carlos Sainz have suffered two mechanical failures each this season, with the latter denied what looked a certain second place in Austria last time out.
But it was the strength of the Ferrari on the other side of the garage that will give Mattia Binotto hope going into the French Grand Prix this weekend. Leclerc passed title rival Max Verstappen three times on track to take a dominant victory at the Red Bull Ring, though he was forced to nurse his Ferrari home as he managed a late throttle issue.
That win was Ferrari’s second on the spin, with Sainz winning at Silverstone two weeks after he had pushed Verstappen all the way to the flag in Montreal. Though the straight-line speed of the Red Bull will theoretically give them the edge at the fast-paced Circuit Paul Ricard, the same was said ahead of Leclerc’s dominant win in Spielberg — a traditional stronghold for Red Bull.
If the engines don’t buckle under the heat of the white hot midsummer sun and Leclerc can capitalise on Ferrari’s recent momentum, the opportunity is there to take another chunk out of Verstappen’s 38-point title lead.
ST HELENS -14 Handicap (vs Wakefield Trinity, Sunday 3pm) 10/11
It’s top vs bottom in the Super League as Champions ST HELENS head across the pennines to the languishing Wakefield Trinity in a match where few will ponder the outcome. The -14 handicap leaps off the page this week for St Helens who should have little problems covering.
Saints have dominated the competition once again and have opened up a gap between themselves and the rest by 6 points. By contrast Wakefield were recently sent to the bottom after fellow strugglers Toulouse beat Leeds last week. It’s a worrying time for them and it doesn’t get any easier. Not even losing a man to a red card early against the Giants could stop St Helens beating Huddersfield by 24 points. And they could put another score on their opponents this week. St Helens concede very few averaging just over 2 tries a game, so it’s hard to see Trinity getting anywhere near the 14 handicap mark here, with St Helens a shoe in for at least 24 points.
This looks a bit of a gimme here, and the Saints should go marching in very comfortably on Sunday!