Weekly Articles "Road to Riches" by Rich 'Tighty' Prew
The Road to Riches Weekend of 26th-27th October
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Ascot and Catterick, over the jumps at Newton Abbot and Stratford and on the all-weather at Wolverhampton.
- Football, Premier League matches include Arsenal v Liverpool
- NFL, Week Eight
- Cricket, England’s White Ball tour of the West Indies begins next week
- Formula One, the Mexican Grand Prix
- Tennis, ATP Rolex Paris Masters
Free Tip
Mexico Grand Prix, Sunday 7pm
Five races to go in the 2024 F1 season and Verstappen goes into the final stages of the season 57 points ahead of Lando Norris despite having not won a race since Spain 10 races ago. This is a measure of his domination in the first part of the season and secondly the extent to which upgrades at McLaren have caught them up as the season has progressed.
Since Verstappen’s last win there have been five different winners from three different teams and McLaren have won four races, two each for Norris and Piastri.
As well as the steady McLaren upgrades and Ferrari continuing to be competitive Red Bull have been hamstrung by wind-tunnel use restrictions imposed prior to the start of the season because of cost cap breaches.
As they head to Mexico, just 48 points cover McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship and that's going to be exciting and tense in the closing stages, given both cars can score points in each team. Mexico’s circuit is characterised by very long straights and one slow stadium section at the end of the lap.
As Norris qualified on pole in Austin last weekend he’ll be a favourite this time too, albeit a poor start left him in fourth place, where he finished following a penalty when overtaking Verstappen late in the race.
The head of the market for the race sees LeClerc, Verstappen and Norris 11/4 each of three.
Leclerc won Monza and since then perhaps should have won Baku, underperformed his and the car's potential in Singapore, but has been very strong of late and its understandable he’s at least joint favourite and the market is a change from races late summer when Norris was clear favourite and reflecting Ferrari’s two wins since. However McLaren have won 3 of the last 5 and Norris too.
13 points Lando Norris to win the Mexico Grand Prix with William Hill
Southern Braves.
Rod Bransgrove the pharmaceutics entrepreneur who bankrolled Hampshire’s move to their new ground in 2001 and who owns more than 60% of the shares in Hampshire Cricket has sold a controlling stake in the county club to GMR Group, owner of the IPL franchise Delhi Capitals and other teams around the world for a reported £120m.
Hampshire have just finished second in the county championship, to go with near misses the previous two years. With a bit of investment, one or two new players and some improvements the very flat pitch at the Utilita Bowl they could be a genuine threat to Surrey’s dominance and achieve their first title since 1973 and become a proper cricketing powerhouse. Hampshire’s female counterparts, the Southern Vipers, are already that and with a strong following.
There will be player swaps. Hampshire’s young talent could get fast-tracked into GMR’s other franchise teams (eg in UAE, US, and South Africa) and Delhi players might be loaned to Hampshire. Sourav Ganguly, a director of GMR, could persuade Rishabh Pant to make some guest appearances in England for example. Both parties will use their fanbases to broaden engagement and reach and share sponsors. The deal gives Delhi Capitals a proper presence in the UK.
GMR are buying a stadium, and the land and property around it. There is a hotel, a restaurant, entertainment spaces and a golf course, and room for more development on the outskirts of Southampton. It is suitable to host events of all kinds not just international cricket matches (the venue will stage its first ever Ashes Test in 2027) but exhibition games (presumably featuring the Delhi Capitals and GMR’s other teams), golf tournaments, concerts, banquets, conferences and exhibitions etc.
The Utilita Bowl should become the best outdoor facility in that populous corridor all along the south coast from Sussex to Dorset.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 19th-20th October
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Ascot and Catterick, over the jumps at Newton Abbot and Stratford and on the all-weather at Wolverhampton.
- Football, Premier League matches include Liverpool v Chelsea
- NFL, Week Seven of the new season including New England Patriots at Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.
- Cricket, England’s Test Series continues in Pakistan with the third Test in Rawalpindi
- Formula One, the US Grand Prix in Austin
- Golf, The ZOZO Championship on the USPGA Tour and Genesis Championship in Korea on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Erste Bank and Basel Opens.
Free Tip
Gallagher Premiership Rugby
Bristol v Saracens Saturday 3.05pm
Four rounds into the season and the two two in the early league table meet at Ashtonm Gate. Both teams have three wins and a loss, with Bristol a point ahead of Saracens on bonus points won.
Following on from their fast-attacking approach of previous seasons, which didn’t always lead to wins it has to be said, Bristol have been prolific this season to date scoring 41,24,40 and 36 points the 36 points in a 5 try underdog win at Bath last weekend where a fast start saw them 19 points ahead and eventually winning by 10.
That result might have flattered them, Bath put in an error-strewn performance but full credit for the result of the season so far.
Bristol lost 41-44 Glouc beat Newcastle, Exeter and Bath away 41 24 40 36 points 5 tries 19 ahead. Bath error strewn performance.
In their first season following the departure of Owen Farrell to France there is a faint air of rebuilding about Saracens as young players begin to find their way into the first team. That said they can still field a team full of internationals with Daly, George, Earl, Itoje etc and are a really tough nut to crack in defence.
So far they’ve beaten Sale, Gloucester and Exeter, their one reverse coming in a 178-10 loss to Harlequins, the one game they’ve not put up points (45,35,29 in the three other games)
Odds for this game are interesting. Saracens are 2.5-point favourites and 4/6 outright, Bristol 5/4+. First thing to do was check the weather, Saracens would be favoured by tough conditions but my apps tell me dry with some sun on Saturday, so all set fair for Bristol’s running rugby.
It’s about time I had a rugby winner (Northampton resting players for a local derby in Leicester last weekend, public after I went live, was not on the agenda). The home underdog will do me here, outright
10 points Bristol Bears to win at 7/5 William Hill, 13/10 Coral/Ladbrokes
Crowded House.
There will be no meaningful reduction in the volume of men's county cricket played in 2025, despite more than 80% of players reporting fears for their physical health due to the busy schedule.
A Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) survey at the start of this season found that the majority of players believe the schedule is not fit for purpose but next season each county will still play a minimum of 14 matches in the County Championship, eight in the Metro Bank Cup and 14 in the Vitality T20 Blast.
The PCA are still pushing for changes which would see T20 fixtures more spread out across a week to reduce the number of tight turnarounds, and for uniform three-day gaps between Championship matches.
It feels that the Blast was scheduled through a commercial lens, trying to squeeze as many games as possible into Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Utilising the majority of the week is probably the way forward, trying to spread them out to give that time for recovery, travel and preparation.
The main point of discussion for the 2025 schedule has been around the T20 Blast, and when the knockout stages should be held. In 2023, they took place straight after the group stages in July, allowing counties to keep hold of their overseas playe. This year they took place in mid-September.
This year's Blast schedule was described as "ridiculous" by Kent's T20 captain Sam Billings, who said that staging the final two months after the group stages "just does not make sense". If it remains in September next year it will overlap with England's white-ball series against South Africa.
The ECB has announced England’s international fixtures for 2025 with incoming men's tours from Zimbabwe, India, West Indies and South Africa. The Hundred will be played in August, starting immediately after the fifth Test against India and running until the end of the month.
Of course the fact that the Hundred blocks out August is the essential problem, we have one too many tournament for the months available, marginalising the 50 over competition and reducing the profile of the Blast final weekend.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 12th-13th October
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Newmarket and York, over the jumps at Chepstow and Hexham and on the all-weather at Chelmsford City.
- Football, UEFA Nations League matches include England v Greece.
- NFL, Week Six of the new season including Chicago Bears v Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Stadium.
- Cricket, England’s Test Series continues in Pakistan with the second Test in Multan
- Golf, The Shriners Children’s Open on the USPGA Tour and Andalucia Masters on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Almaty, Antwerp and Nordic Opens
Free Tip
Leicester v Northampton Gallagher Premiership 5.30pm Saturday
In the fourth round of games of the new Gallagher Premiership season this East Midlands Derby, a fierce rivalry, is the highlight.
After a disappointing season last time with an 8th placed finish Leicester recruited the former Australia and Argentina coach Michael Chieka to become their 8th coach in just over 7 years.
He takes over a Leicester team with a strong pack of forwards and a defence that only conceded 51 tries across 18 league games second best of the ten league teams.
Over the last few years, either side of and including the spell with Syeve Borthwick and Richard Wigglesworth in charge the tactics have generally been kick and defend, with the likes of Geroge Martin and Ollie Chessum to the fore in the second row and Tommy Reffell and Hanro Liebenberg in the back row. When available the marquee player Handre Pollard pulled the strings.
Cheika’s style won’t be as one dimensional and he’ll try to add more flair to the unstructured parts of the game to give Leicester more of an “all-court” style. He’ll also need to improve the team’s conditioning, they lost several games late on last season when fading away.
So far this season they’ve won two of three games, away wins at Exeter and Newcastle, and lost narrowly home to Bath, though only heroic defence meant it that the game remained close throughout.
Northampton are defending Premiership Champions. They opened disappointingly, losing by 22 points in Bath but then scored 30 to beat Exeter and last weekend 33 points to beat Harlequins. This is more like it for the most exciting side in the country with a very quick, attacking style of play.
In Finn Smith at fly half with Fraser Dingwall, Ollie Sleightholme, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank outside there are a collection of players breaking through into the England team. What Northampton are missing nowadays is a bit of grunt up front with Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam departing for France in the summer.
If they hold their own up front in this game, they should have too much gas for Leicester and I like them to win narrowly.
15 points Northampton to win at Evens widely available
Rebuild.
Former England cricket white ball coach Matthew Mott took England to three World Cups and won one of them, his team beating Pakistan at the MCG less than two years ago plus a semi-final in the T20 World Cup in June. However the 2023 50 over event in India saw a group stage exit and a series of poor performances.
Meanwhile Test coach Brendon McCullum overseen 19 wins, eight defeats and a single draw, and has given them a clear identity that they were sorely lacking. He is yet to win a series against the world's top two. England drew with Australia last summer, and were heavily beaten in India earlier this year.
Now McCullum has signed a new deal as England's men coach which will cover all formats and runs until the end of 2027 Timeframe of new contract includes 2025-26 + 2027 Ashes, 2025 Champions Trophy, 2026 T20 World Cup and 2027 50ov World Cup. The belief is that he can have the same effect as in the Test side on a stagnant white-ball set-up. It also reflects that it has been difficult to recruit from the pool of global cricket coaches in competition with the rewards on offer from the franchise circuit.
Only India play more men's international cricket than England, and England play more Tests than anyone. Their ludicrous fixture list was encapsulated by the 24-hour turnaround between the scheduled fifth-day finish of the recent third Test against Sri Lanka and the start of a T20I series against Australia.
McCullum's task will be to inject some energy into a white-ball set-up which felt desperately low by the time they were knocked out of June's T20 World Cup. He will watch from afar for 14 games, with Marcus Trescothick in interim charge, then will have a quick tour to India to make his mark before February's Champions Trophy.
The trouble lies further ahead, with a dilemma that is familiar to England's captains and coaches across the past two decades: how can you plan for both an Ashes series, and a World Cup straight after it?
Meanwhile Jos Buttler’s captaincy will be under scrutiny and he has never worked with McCullum.
In the period between Mott and McCullum England are rebuilding using younger players so we can't expect the white ball team to gel, straight away. England are moving on from the Moeen, Jordan, Buttler, Rashid generation and the ODI series against Australia just finished saw Brook, Bethell, Jacks, Jamie Smith, Carse and Potts selected.
The series saw Australia’s 13th ODI win in a row. Only their team of 2003 has more consecutive ODI victories for Australia.
The differences in squad composition can really be seen in the batting where Australia’s contains five of the current test top six including Head, Steve Smith and Labuschagne. Although minus the big three quicks Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood the line-up includes top spinner Zampa and a number of experienced franchise players
They look ready for major tournaments now, whereas England are at the start of another rebuild.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 5th-6th October
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Haydock, Newmarket and Ripon, over the jumps at Market Rasen and on the all-weather at Chelmsford City.
- Football, Premier League Fixtures include Aston Villa v Manchester United
- NFL, Week Five of the new season including New York Jets against Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Stadium.
- Cricket, England’s Test Series begins in Pakistan on Monday in Multan.
- Golf, The Black Derset Championship on the USPGA Tour and The French Open on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters continues
Free Tip
Gallagher Premiership Rugby Bath v Bristol Saturday 3.05pm
The third weekend of the new domestic rugby season brings one of the fiercest local Derbies in the league as second (Bath) host third (Bristol) on Saturday afternoon.
Bath have won their first two games of the season, at home to Northampton (last season’s winners) and away at Leicester. An encouraging start for a team which has recovered from the doldrums of the last decade with new owners investing into the playing squad and following the appointment of South African coach Johann Can Graan two years ago. Van Graan turned Bath around in his first season. The team's improvement in form over the course of the campaign culminated with a 61–29 win over Saracens on the final day, which saw them edge Bristol for eighth in the table and a place in the 2023–24 Champions Cup.
Then last off-season came the marquee recruitment of Scottish fly-half Finn Russell, recruited out of the French Top 14 and he, assisted by the squad depth accumulated the season before, led Bath to a second placed league finish, their highest placing since 2015, only to lose the play-off final narrowly, 25-21 to Northampton.
With Russell pulling the strings Bath are an exciting side, a challenge for all defenses with Ben Spencer at scrum-half, England’s Ollie Lawrence outside Russell and Muir and Cokanisaga talented wingers. In the forwards flanker Guy Pepper is a “coming name” in great form.
Pat Lam has coached Bristol since 2017, and recovered from several fallow years to a 5th placed finish last season just outside the play offs scoring 80 tries (9 more than Bath in second place) and following 10th and 9th place finishes the two seasons before after big squad turnover.
Bath sticking 38 points on Northampton week 1 was notable, and they narrowly missed putting a hatful on Leicester in Week 2, only tremendous defence kept them out.
Bristol meanwhile had a comfortable start, winning at probably the league’s weakest team Newcastle 24-3 before losing a thriller 41-44 at home to rejuvenated Gloucester last weekend, recovering from 41-23 down
If conditions permit this should be another high scoring game where the overall advantage should go to Bath because of superior defence, as both teams will be out to score plenty of tries
11 points Bath -9 points at 10/11 generally
New Formats
The Rugby Championship is set to take place only in alternate years and will not be held in 2026 due to the extended tour of New Zealand to South Africa under plans for ‘Greatest Rugby Rivalry’ tours where the groundwork is well underway for eight-week tours between South Africa and New Zealand every four years rotating through the two nations from 2026.
The impact on The Rugby Championship will be significant. The SANZAAR countries had previously agreed deal extending the Championship until 2030 and the news comes as Australian and New Zealand Rugby work towards their next broadcast deals with the current deal expiring in 2025.
The Rugby Championship would likely proceed in 2027 and 2029 but not 2026, 2028 or 2030 as it stands with every second year devoted to The Rugby Championship and the alternate years set aside for a “tour-like concept”. It is South Africa’s preference that the ChampionshipC go back to one off Tests rather than two per season but it was suggested in the media that New Zealand wanted to sideline the Championship altogether in those seasons.
The All Blacks tour of South Africa in 2026 will consist of three Tests, four matches against United Rugby Championship teams and a clash against South Africa A. They will also face the Springboks a fourth time at a neutral venue with Twickenham or the United States are listed as options.
International rugby programs are undergoing seismic change, as noted by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt last week. He said.
“It’s a real mix, world rugby at the moment with the different competitions and agreements that exist. Six Nations is such a solidified competition that the Northern Hemisphere have a very exclusive club there and I know talking to the Georgian coaches they’d love to have a crack at getting into that competition.At the same time, [the new series] is not going to replace the Rugby Championship. The Rugby Championship, as far as I know, is going to continue but it will be truncated in that year.”
There’s alsoplanning and preparation around a Nations Cup that may be biannual and it may be that the teams from the Southern Hemisphere accumulate points versus the Northern Hemisphere.
However the significant revamp of international rugby in the southern hemisphere is leaving one stakeholder feeling left out all over again. While Australia’s leadership are putting a brave face on the new series, Argentinian rugby followers are concerned about what it means for that country. They’ve already lived through being cast aside from Super Rugby and there’s no doubt The Rugby Championship has helped build the big game quality of the World Cup semi-finalists.
Then there are concerns about the stated World Rugby intention to promote Fiji and Japan as part of the proposed Nations Champ concept.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 28th-29th September
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Haydock, Newmarket and Ripon, over the jumps at Market Rasen and on the all-weather at Chelmsford City.
- Football, Premier League Fixtures include Newcastle v Manchester City and Manchester United v Tottenham.
- NFL, Week Four of the new season.
- Rugby Union, the Final round of Rugby Championship matches
- Golf, The Sanderson Farms Championship on the USPGA Tour and The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters
Free Tip
Fourth ODI Cricket England v Australia Lords Friday 12.30pm Start
This is the fourth ODI in this late season five match series. (The ECB now has an agreement with India and Australia that one of the two conducts a tour in at least one format every year).
In the period between the former England white ball coach Matthew Mott and now coach across all formats Brendon McCullum England are rebuilding using younger players so we can't expect the white ball team to gel straight away. England are moving on from the Moeen, Jordan, Buttler, Rashid generation and this ODI series has seen Brook, Bethell, Jacks, Jamie Smith, Carse and Potts selected.
This series saw Australia reach 14 ODI wins in a row after wins in the first two games of the series. Only their team of 2003 had more consecutive ODI victories. England meanwhile have now lost 10 of their last 15 in the 50 over format after their win in the rain affected game at Durham on Tuesday.
There are understandable reasons why we are struggling in the ODI sphere. Good players are retiring or in the case of Root and Stokes picking and choosing their ODI appearances for major tournaments only. Secondly because of The 100, we've turned our only domestic 50 over competition into a reserve competition, as the two are concurrent. The England players in this squad haven’t played ODIs for nearly a year. Thirdly England have only selected a first choice 11 once in 3 years, prioritising other formats.
The result is that this series has seen a side with eight members of the XI that won last year’s World Cup final in Australia versus a side with Adil Rashid as their leading run-scorer in the format. It’s not hugely surprising that we’ve had comfortable Australia wins!
The differences in squad composition can really be seen in the batting where Australia’s contains five of the current test top-six including Head, Steve Smith and Labuschagne. Although minus the big three quicks Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood the line-up includes top spinner Zampa and a number of experienced franchise players. They look ready for major tournaments now, whereas England are at the start of another rebuild.
In this Australian team Travis Head is the best all-format batter in world cricket, and possibly the next Test opener too this winter with Warner’s retirement.
In ODIs since 2022 he has 1,278 runs at an average of 64 and a strike rate of 121. Only Omarzai and Kohli exceed that ODI average in World Cricket over that time span.
In this series he has scores of 154*, 29 and was then rested. He looks a threat to go big in any innings.
In the Australian top batsman market Head can be backed at 3/1
10 points Travis Head Top Australian batsman at 3/1 widely available
Appealing
Leicester City have won their appeal against a decision that could have seen them punished with a points deduction for an alleged breach of PSR rules.
The Premier League initially referred Leicester to an independent commission in March 2024 for an alleged breach of PSR rules for the three-year reporting period ending in 2022-23, which saw the club relegated to the Championship after a nine-year stay in the top flight. Leicester subsequently questioned the commission’s jurisdiction to hear the case.
Leicester successfully argued that the point of the breach was the end of their accountancy year in 2023, which was on June 30 two weeks after they handed over their membership in the Premier League to Luton Town.
Leicester’s argument was they could not be held for a breach of Premier League rules when they were not a Premier League club at the point of the breach. The decision to move their accountancy year, which they were entitled to do, saved them and ironically relegation helped then helped their situation now too.
The commission had dismissed Leicester’s challenge to its authority, but an independent appeal board has now overturned that decision, ruling in favour of Leicester, who no longer face the threat of a points deduction.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were given points deductions last season for PSR breaches relating to the same accounting period.
By finding these loopholes, it now emerges that the PSR rules are insufficient and potentially unworkable and may have to be re-drawn.
Leicester’s PSR charge was calculated based on the 2022-23 season, where they lost £89.7million the 2021-22 season, and an average of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, which were merged due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. After the usual adjustments, the Premier League’s PSR calculation for Leicester was £129.4m, which was £24.4m over the threshold. For context, Everton were only £19.5m over the threshold when they lost 10 points for their first breach, although that was reduced to six on appeal. Therefore, Leicester were looking at a deduction of at least six points before any aggravating factors, such as failing to provide accounts on time and taking legal action against the league, were considered.
The club recorded record losses of £92.5m for the financial year ending May 31, 2022. This came following a £31.2m loss for the previous year. Leicester posted a pre-tax loss of almost £100m for the two Covid seasons.
Leicester did not secure any income from European football in 2022-23 and dropped from eighth in the Premier League table in 2022 to 18th in 2023, which equates to a loss in merit payments of about £30m.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
