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 Welcome to
the News desk.
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| Betfair on course to produce own SPs |
02/11/2007 |
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Greg
Wood
Betfair, the internet's leading betting exchange, is believed to be
on the verge of allowing punters to place bets which will be settled at
"Betfair starting price" - the price of a horse at the moment a race begins.
The move is intended to boost liquidity in its racing markets from early in the
day, but is also a clear challenge to traditional bookmakers, who settle the
majority of bets at the official SP, returned by a team of reporters in the
betting ring at the racecourse in question.
Because Betfair makes its money through a commission on winning bets
only, the over-round on its markets is rarely above 1% when a race starts. This
means that the Betfair SP will almost always beat the official SP, which tends
to have a margin of between 1.75 and 2% for every horse in a race.
Until
now, however, Betfair punters have always been forced to take the best price on
offer when they log on, or leave a "request" for a better price which may, or
may not, be matched by other users. If they can bet at the Betfair SP, they
will in the vast majority of cases, be paid at a better price than the official
SP.
The Racing Post has carried
"teaser" ads from Betfair for the last two days, suggesting that the exchange
"changed the face of betting" when it was launched in 2000, and that "history
is about to repeat itself" in December 2007. This suggests a launch date of
December 1 for the new service.
Champion Hurdle clues could be
forthcoming at Down Royal today, when a small but select field gathers for the
Anglo- Irish Bank Hurdle, a Grade Two event which has been won by Macs Joy,
Feathard Lady and Iktitaf in the past three seasons.
Noel Meade, the
trainer of Iktitaf, runs Aitmatov, while last season's Supreme Novice Hurdle
winner Ebaziyan gives weight all round. There will be interest in Dermot Weld's
Bobs Pride, who is as low as 16-1 in places for the Champion Hurdle.
"He's well, though I think he will definitely come on for the run,"
said Weld yesterday. Bobs Pride impressed on his final hurdles run at
Punchestown last season, when he had one of today's rivals, Farmer Brown, four
lengths back in third place.
Thewayyouare, trained by Andre Fabre, was
cut to 16-1 for next year's Derby by Ladbrokes after yesterday's Group One
Criterium International at Saint-Cloud.
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