DOUBLE HANDFUL

SHREWD punting is all about getting good value on your selection. The beauty of betting is that you only know whether you got good value after the event.

Invariably you fall short, but when everything goes to plan it doesn’t half leave you with one heck of a self-satisfying feeling. Some say it manifests itself in the form of smugness in my case.

Many of the professional punters I know, who don’t avoid me, are split on whether

BRISTOL DE MAI offers a favourable investment at around 13-8 in today’s Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham.

Nigel Twiston-davies’ seven-year-old smashed records when winning Haydock’s Betfair Chase by a staggering 57 lengths last month.

He was my bet of the day then, however I always felt the 3-1 quote about his chances in the King George on Boxing Day, against the likes of Might Bite, was terribly stingy.

Bristol De Mai flopped badly at Kempton where he was later found to be suffering from ulcers. His price has been on the drift for today’s big race and I can see it drifting further still.

I believe it offers value when you consider the conditions and the course hold no fears for the triple Grade 1 winner. The going will be guaranteed soft, with more rain forecast. The softer it gets the better Bristol De Mai’s chances. He finished runner-up in the JLT chase at Cheltenham in 2015 and acquitted himself well in the Gold Cup last year when finishing seventh of 13.

He was in contention until the second-last against more experienced horses and would have had a chance of nabbing fourth place if not hitting the final fence.

As for the opposition, Definitly Red and The Last Samuri are sure to have the Grand National as their main target, American looks inexperienced while Tea For Two has a poor record at today’s track.

By 2.35pm and not before we’ll know if Bristol De Mai was good value at the price.

I’ll be hoping so.