London, UK -- (SBWire) -- 03/05/2012 --Sporting Index’s Cheltenham Festival specials prove the spread betting firm is raring to go for the ‘greatest show on turf’.

The Sporting Index traders will be offering their usual selection of pre-race and in-play win index spread markets and winning distance match bets throughout the week, from the curtain raiser, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, to the final race, the Grand Annual Chase.

To whet the appetite, the firm has already gone live with a selection of specials for the Prestbury Park revelry, including Festival Favourites (the combined starting prices of all favourites – so a 5/1 favourite is worth 5 points, a 9/4 favourite is worth 2.25 points), set at 223-235 and Festival winning distances (combined winning distances in lengths), quoted at 107-115.

The horseracing traders predict the largest winning distance in any race will be between 17.5 and 19 lengths and the largest starting price for any winner will be between 47.5 and 49 (equivalent to around 48/1).

Sporting Index invite punters to bet higher or lower on any number of occurrences, both pre-event and in-play. Punters can challenge predictions by buying (betting higher) or selling (betting lower). The biggest winning distance at the Cheltenham Festival last year came courtesy of Junior in the Kim Muir Challenge Cup, who won by 24 lengths. A repeat this year would mean buyers of the biggest winning distance spread at 19 would profit by 5 times their stake (24-19=5), but spread sellers at 17.5 would lose 6.5 times their stake (24-17.5=6.5).

In addition to these specials, spread bettors can also challenge Sporting Index’s winning distance match bet predictions between key horses in highlight races. Sizing Europe is expected to beat Big Zeb by 2.5-4 lengths in the Champion Chase while Big Buck’s versus the World Hurdle Field is 0.5-2 lengths.

“Punters everywhere are getting excited by the Cheltenham Festival, and it’s no different for Sporting Index’s spread betting clients,” comments Sporting Index spokesman Wayne Lincoln. “The fun’s already started with our special Festival markets, but just wait until it all gets underway. There will be plenty more markets on offer, both pre-event and in-play, and our traders are – to use a horse phrase – ‘champing at the bit’ to take on our clients.”

Sporting Index Cheltenham Festival Specials
- Festival Favourites (27) 223 - 235
- Festival SPs (27) 323 - 335
- Festival Distances (27) 107 - 115
- Festival 2-3 Distances (27) 107 - 115
- Festival 1-3 Distances (27) 215 - 229
- Biggest Winning Distance 17.5 - 19
- Biggest Winning SP 47.5 - 49

Match Bets

- Champion Hurdle: The Field/Hurricane Fly 0.5 - 2
- Champion Chase: Sizing Europe/Big Zeb 2.5 - 4
- Champion Chase: Finians Rainbow/Big Zeb -0.75 - 0.75
- World Hurdle: Big Bucks/The Field 0.5 - 2
- Gold Cup: Midnight Chase/Quel Esprit 1.75 - 3.25

About The Sporting Index Group
The Sporting Index Group is best known as the world’s largest sports spread betting business, offering the widest range of markets and taking some of the largest bets on sporting events around the world. Markets include rugby spread betting, cricket spread betting and football spread betting.

The Group has 180 staff, all based at its London HQ. It is privately owned and is the undisputed world leader in sports spread betting, dominating the global market with an estimated 80%+ market share. Today it makes thousands of markets on upwards of 500 events every week, offering the sports fan the opportunity to bet on a wide variety of sports, political and showbiz events, as well as on a portfolio of unique virtual games. Clients transact via its websites, award winning mobile phone applications, and a 24/7 voice telephony service. Sporting Index’s B2C business continues to grow in the face of a fiercely competitive online betting market.

At the heart of the business is a world class trading, modelling and liability management capability that is widely acknowledged as amongst the best in the global betting market. The Group combines the latest technology with unrivalled trader expertise to service its core sports spread betting clients as well as an increasing number of wholesale customers who rely on the company’s fixed-odds in-play pricing data to underpin their own sportsbook operations via the Sporting Solutions brand. This has quickly established itself as a leading data provider with a number of flagship betting brands signed up.

Sporting Index is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority and the Gambling Commission