Punchestown 5:35 – Saturday 2nd May – Multi-Mules

As with all large field races this handicap hurdle presented punters with a daunting multi-mules dilemma. With 28 runners declared the race multi-mules could make up anywhere between 2 (1x2) and 756 (27x28). As it happened numbers 27 and 28 were both declared non-runners, but it still took a brave soul to sell with the race favourite Pleasant Company wearing 26. The second favourite was Arbre de Vie, ridden by the ever-popular Ruby Walsh. To further muddy the waters Arbre de Vie was number 2! Our traders priced the race multi-mules at 186-206 with the real prospect of an extreme makeup one way or the other.

Over the 2 mile 4 furlong trip the leading protagonists all remained in contention, with both Pleasant Company (26) and Arbre de Vie (2) travelling strongly. Sellers would have been watching nervously with Clondaw Warrior (22) and Jimmy Two Times (17) also right in the mix. Buyers were keeping an eye on Sort it Out (8) and Hammersly Lake (3), hoping they would fade as the race entered the final stages. As the horses approached the final hurdle Sort It Out led, with Clondaw Warrior in hot pursuit.

This result (8x22) would have been fairly close to our trader’s pre-race quote, and resulted in no great winnings or losses either way. To the delight of sellers Ruby Walsh cajoled Arbre de Vie over the last and took second from Clondaw Warrior in the shadow of the winning post, meaning number 8 had beaten number 2, a multi-mules make up of just 16. A 170 point winner for ecstatic sellers, with buyers left to lick their wounds and take a 190 unit loss. If ever a race summed up the excitement and volatility of a multi-mules trade this was it!

Cristiano Ronaldo – Super Mega Goal Minutes – Espanyol v Real Madrid

Our new Super Mega Goal Minutes markets are proving very popular. This market, where the time of an individual’s second goal is doubled and third goal is trebled, is always of particular interest when a prodigious goalscorer such as Ronaldo is involved. With Ronaldo desperate for goals to propel him to the top of the Pichichi (top scorer) standings, Espanyol welcomed Los Meringues to town. Our traders quoted Ronaldo SMM at 76-84, clearly expecting him to be on the score-sheet as usual.

The match was unsurprisingly low key given Madrid were now out of the title race, with the teams going in at 0-0 at half-time. Soon after the restart however it was that man Ronaldo who broke the deadlock, firing through the Espanyol keeper’s legs on 59 minutes. Buyers were now eyeing up a potential doubling of Ronaldo’s next goal if he could strike again.

After an Espanyol equaliser, Marcelo had put Real Madrid back ahead before Ronaldo delighted his SMM buyers with a second goal on 83 minutes. With his SMM already sat on 225 sellers were baying for the full-time whistle, but in added time Ronaldo completed his hat-trick. His Super Mega Goal Minutes made up at a monster 495, a jackpot for buyers at 84. Sellers were left to rue the day they took on one of the World’s deadliest strikers.

General Election - Conservative/Labour Seat Supremacy

In early May the UK went to the polls, in what we now know was a night of unthinkable success for the Tories and dark despair for the Labour Party. In the weeks leading up to the election the two main parties had been neck and neck in the polls, with Ed Miliband and David Cameron both trading at odds on to be the Prime Minister following the election. The Conservative/Labour seat supremacy market was keenly scrutinised, with each new poll or gaffe on the campaign trail fluctuating our quotes.

The real drama began when the polling stations closed at 10pm, and the initial exit polls suggested the Conservative party had secured significantly more seats than Labour. Buyers of their seat supremacy hoped that the exit polls were accurate, whilst those who had got with Labour had to hope the exit polls would be proved wrong. Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown certainly couldn’t believe the surprising poll, famously saying he’d ‘eat his hat’ if the exit poll was shown to be accurate. Ashdown was in a way correct to doubt the polls, but not the way he hoped!

As the night went on and more and more results came through it was becoming clearer and clearer that this had been an incredible night for the Conservatives. Any buyers who stayed up through the night were treated to Tory win after Tory win, whilst sellers had surely resigned themselves to bed. In the end the Conservatives had won 331 seats to Labour’s 232 a scarcely believable 98 (speaker’s seat not included) makeup in favour of David Cameron’s party.

Wigan Warriors v Hull KR – Wigan Multi-points

Wigan hosted Hull right at the beginning of May in the Super League, in a game they had to win to close the gap on Leeds at the top of the table. Hull KR themselves were struggling and would have been looking forward to their trip to Wigan with a certain amount of dread. Our traders expected Wigan to win in style, quoting their multi-points at 260-280. It would be fair to say that buyers were in for an enjoyable game!

With just ten minute son the clock Wigan had run in three tries, and duly ran in another three before half-time. As the shell-shocked Hull KR players trudged back to the dressing room they were already 34-0 down. Wigan multipoint sellers were praying for a rousing team talk and some kind of Hull KR fightback, whilst buyers were hoping Wigan would show no mercy and continue to run in the tries.

There was to be no relief for sellers as Wigan ran in a further five tries, with Joe Burgess the star of the show completing a hat-trick. With eight of the eleven tries converted Wigan had won the game 60-0, with a multi-points makeup of 34 x 26, 884. Buyers had secured somewhere in the region of a 600 point profit, whilst sellers were left to rue taking on the Warriors.

League One Playoffs – Swindon v Sheffield United – Match Performance

The playoffs always serve up more than their fair share of drama and excitement, and this clash at the County ground was the pick of this year’s ties. Having conceded a late winner at Brammall Lane, the Blades knew they were up against it travelling to Swindon. For their part the Robins knew a draw would be enough, but couldn’t afford to sit back and hope for a dour nil-nil.

With the distinct possibility of Sheffield United having to chase the game, as well as the desperation of the players to reach the Championship, referee Keith Hill was also aware he could well be in for a busy night. All these factors led our traders to quote match performance at 90-95, with a scoring system of 15 pts per goal, 3pts per corner, 5pts per yellow card, 15pts per red card and 10pts per penalty awarded. Minus 25 pts are awarded if the game finishes 0-0.

Buyers needn’t have worried about 0-0 in this game, as the Robins roared, or should that be chirped, into a 2-0 lead inside the first ten minutes. Sheffield United, now 4-1 down on aggregate, had no option but to flood forward and were caught out at the back as Michael Smith made it 3-0. The Blades were not giving up however, and Nigel Clough’s men hit back with two quick goals to reduce their deficit. 3-2 at half-time and for buyers it was now simply a matter of how much they would be winning. For sellers the full-time whistle couldn’t come quickly enough, but surely this madness couldn’t continue in the second half?

After a relatively quiet start to the second half Swindon scored their fourth, something made all the sweeter for match performance buyers as it came from the penalty spot. With the game now crazily stretched players were losing their discipline, and the yellow cards were starting to mount up. Swindon scored their fifth, to make the game 5-3, with just 6 minutes remaining and Sheffield United’s hopes had surely been extinguished once and for all.

The brave Yorkshiremen fought on however, rattling in a further two goals to level things up at an unbelievable 5-5 scoreline in injury time. By the time the referee blew for full –time a tally of ten goals, nine yellow cards, fourteen corners and one penalty awarded had resulted in match performance settling at a gargantuan 247! An incredible game that will live long in the memory of both buyers and sellers, but for very different reasons!