Something for the Weekend: Best Racing and Sports Bets

Saturday and Sunday rarely disappoint when it comes to sporting entertainment, and this weekend looks set to deliver a cracker. Following the international break, we have a full list of Premier League action to look forward to. Doncaster Racecourse chips in with a cracking meeting - headlined by the final Classic of the British season in the shape of the St. Leger Stakes. On top of all that, the latest round of Rugby World Cup fixtures is set to light up our screens.

Plenty for sports fans and punters to get stuck into, and here we present our four best bets from this sporting bonanza, using data presented by newbettingsites.co.uk.

Saturday: Doncaster 3:35pm Betfred St Leger Stakes

The 2023 St. Leger Stakes isn’t quite the Aidan O’Brien vs. John Gosden show, but it isn’t too far off it, with no fewer than seven of the nine contenders hailing from the O’Brien or Gosden operations. The Simon & Ed Crisford trained Chesspiece and Desert Hero, from the yard of William Haggas, are the two attempting to spoil the party, but overall, we see this falling to one of the two most powerful yards in the business.

John & Thady Gosden are represented by Arrest, Gregory, and Middle Earth, with the market suggesting that the first two named are most likely to prevail. We tend to agree with that assessment, and the fact that Frankie Dettori has opted to ride Arrest seems likely to ensure the son of Frankel will start favourite on the day.

Aidan O’Brien leads John Gosden with six wins to five in this race, but we fancy that gap may be doubled at the end of this latest renewal. The fact that Dettori gets off Gregory suggests he doesn’t fancy his chances of reversing Great Voltigeur form with Continuous, and that may be a hint worth taking. This son of Heart’s Cry posted a huge career best in running away with that race, which is traditionally an excellent trial for this. Hitting the line strongly in that 1m4f event, this step-up in trip may see him in an even better light. The excellent Ryan Moore takes the ride, and this improving sort looks like the one to be on.

• Best Bet - Continuous to win @ 4/1 with BetUK

Saturday 3:00pm Manchester United vs Brighton

The standout fixture from the Saturday 3pm kick-offs comes at Old Trafford, as Manchester United play host to Brighton & Hove Albion. It’s safe to say that Eric Ten Haag’s Red Devils outfit have underwhelmed thus far, with trouble in the camp already disrupting their season. On the plus side, United are two from two at home, but that must be put into perspective, with those two wins coming against Wolves and Nottingham Forest. United were far from impressive in either of those wins and face a far sterner challenge here.

Brighton, in contrast, have been largely excellent in winning three of four to date, with the only blip coming when a little naïve to West Ham’s counterattacking. Not many sides can make Necastle look as poor as Brighton did last time out, and they will head here full of confidence. The Seagulls won here on the opening day of last season, and look an even better side twelve months on – something which can’t be said of their hosts. Take the visitors to grab the points at the Theatre of Dreams.

• Best Bet - Brighton to win @ 2/1 with Parimatch

Saturday: ay 5:30pm Newcastle United vs Brentford

Newcastle United have undoubtedly started the current season poorly, but the Magpies look a good bet to get back on track in the Saturday evening TV Fixture. Three points from four games is a far cry from last season's top-four form, but away defeats to Manchester City and Brighton can happen to just about anyone, and they simply shot themselves in the foot when missing chances in the home loss to Liverpool. Newcastle won 11 of 19 at home last season, with their only two defeats coming at the hands of Manchester City and Arsenal. The Mighty Mags showed what they can do to teams at, or below, their level in an opening-day obliteration of Aston Villa.

Brentford counted amongst Newcastle’s victims at St. James’s Park last, with Thomas Frank's men being sent home on the wrong end of a 5-1 battering in October. In the absence of Ivan Toney, the Bees look a slightly weaker unit this year and will be doing well to get anything from this one, despite a decent start to the season. With the excellent Sven Botman returning to shore up the host's backline, siding with Eddie Howe's men to overcome a one-goal handicap looks like a solid investment.

• Best Bet - Handicap Betting: Newcastle United -1 @ 29/20 with Midnite

Sunday: 8:00pm England vs Japan Rugby World Cup

Little was expected of England heading into the World Cup, with Steve Borthwick’s men having plenty of questions to answer following an underwhelming Six Nations campaign. However, the men sporting the Red Rose rediscovered their form in an opening-day win over an Argentina side on the rise. To see off the Pumas so comfortably - despite being a man down for 78 of the 80 minutes - was no mean feat and should instil much-needed belief in a talented group of players. On paper at least, George North and co look to face a simpler task in their second outing.

Four years ago, Japan caused a shock when reaching the quarter-finals of their home World Cup, but it would be a surprise were they to repeat the feat this time around. Not only are they now without the fanatical home support, but this doesn’t look like a vintage era for Japanese rugby. They did see off tournament debutants Chile 42-12 in their opener, but that was only to be expected, and they only really pulled away late on. Despite England’s ups and downs of late, this represents a significant step up in class and one which the Cherry Blossoms may struggle to bridge. Japan lost by 23 points to Fiji and 21 points to Italy in two of their warm-up games, and a similar margin may be on the cards here.

• Best Bet - England to win by 21-25 points @ 5/1 with BetGoodwin

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