It’s that time of the week again. Six tips for the weekend – including three that could have you posing with a big cardboard cheque come Monday morning.
It’s a massive weekend in the Championship with six games, including the meeting of All-Ireland champions Kerry and favourites Cork in Killarney. This one couldn’t be tighter, according to the bookmakers, with both sides listed at Evens ahead of the game.
Kerry, and Kieran Donaghy in particular, were dazzling going forward against Tipperary a few weeks ago and having lost in Munster to the Rebels for the last two years, they will not lack the desire to win this one.
The loss of several players from last year’s squad, including people like Darragh O Se and Tommy Walsh, could even have had a reinvigorating effect on the team. KERRY TO EDGE IT BY 1-3 POINTS is 3/1 so that’ll do for us. Click here for JOE’s preview of Kerry v Cork.
In golf, LUKE DONALD bagged his first European Tour title in four years last weekend and may have been suffering a hangover from that when he could manage just 75 in the first round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor on Thursday. However, he bounced back with a 65 today (Friday) to put himself right back in contention so it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that he will pocket another bumper pay-day this weekend. As of 3pm on Friday, he’s 12/1 to do so.
The big event of the weekend in boxing sees Miguel Cotto take on Jewish star Yuri Foreman at Yankees Stadium in New York. Cotto has racked up the punishment over the last year or two but should still be good enough to land the spoils. A LATE KNOCK-OUT (ROUNDS 10-12) is priced at 7/1 so we’ll have a bit of that.
Break the bookie
One of the biggest events of the horse-racing calendar takes place at Epsom on Saturday with the 231st running of the Derby. Aidan O’Brien saddle the short-priced favourite in Jan Vermeer but the apple of the trainer’s eye, St Nicholas Abbey, was the long-standing market leader before being ruled out by a muscle injury earlier this week. At the odds – Jan Vermeer is 2/1 at the time of writing – we wouldn’t want to be throwing much money on a substitute so the preference is for AL ZIR.
The mount of Kieren Fallon, who’s freely available at 20/1, is a bit of a shot in the dark but we think it’s a substandard Derby that could go the way of an outsider. Click here for the full preview.
Back to GAA and the big game from Killarney. It’s well known that Colm “Gooch†Cooper is a different player when playing alongside a fit and flying Kieran Donaghy, and if Donaghy can provide the service from the air, then Gooch could be the first man to find the net. He’s 15/2 for FIRST GOALSCORER – easy pickings.
Sticking with Gaelic football, Mayo take on Sligo in the Connacht SFC on Saturday evening and while Mayo are the form pick, they’re a funny old animal and it wouldn’t be a major surprise if Sligo, who lifted the Division 3 title with a good win over Antrim in April, were to cause an upset. THE YEATS MEN TO WIN BY 4-6 points is 11/1.
Click here for JOE’s preview of all the weekend’s Gaelic football matches, including Kerry-Cork and Sligo-Mayo.
Have a tenner on those three and you could set your bookie back €21,240 – enough to treat the entire street to a curry on Sunday evening
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