Gary Lemke looks ahead to the weekend’s sporting attractions which feature the return of club football, horse racing excitement, UFC bouts and many more!
SADDLE UP FOR RACING SPECTACULAR
What a weekend for horse racing! Hollywoodbets Kenilworth re-opens its doors after a facelift that leaves it almost unrecognisable from the faded venue of before. Sunday’s meeting is the first staged at the new venue, and ‘Mr Hollywoodbets’, Owen Heffer, and Cape Racing chairman Greg Bortz must take huge plaudits in saving racing, no exaggeration, in the Cape. Meanwhile, at Turffontein on Saturday, the Summer Cup – Gauteng’s blue chip annual race – is held. On a closed Whatsapp group of the country’s top tipsters, we were asked how many horses we’ll be taking in the Pick 6 in this leg. The answers included: “8, 2, 7, 7, 9, 10, 5, 5, 10, 4, 6.” For what it’s worth, I’m going for the 16/1 shot Son Of Raj to beat the 8/1 Bless My Stars. Most punters will be considering two P6 bankers in Main Defender and Sandringham Summit and it’s hard to argue against that.
BLACK FRIDAY has arrived, Get your BOOSTED BETS ON for the Betway Summer Cup between 12pm - 2pm TODAY! 🤑#HWBTWT
— Hollywoodbets (@Hollywoodbets) November 24, 2023
CAN URC FAVOURITES BRING IT HOME?
There are again a full eight games in this weekend’s round of United Rugby Championship matches. While most of the matches look easy on paper, we are constantly reminded that rugby is played on grass. For the record, an acca featuring wins for all the favourites – Stormers (vs Cardiff), Edinburgh (vs Benetton), Lions (vs Zebre), Bulls (vs Connacht), Sharks (vs Dragons), Leinster (vs Munster), Glasgow (vs Ulster) and Ospreys (vs Scarlets) – comes out to 9/2. I often take a small acca on all the favourites. Supporters of the Hollywoodbet Sharks in particular will be hoping that the oddsmakers have their market spot on for Saturday.
Final touches with @smithsgym 🧠🥇🏆 The last few days is about having fun & moving the body ! The hard work has already been done 10 weeks prior ~ Now we keep moving 💦 #WarReady #AndTheNew pic.twitter.com/pyyJscQ3Sy
— Kevin Lerena (@Kevlerenaboxing) November 23, 2023
CHECKERED FLAG FOR F1 SEASON
Are we there yet? Well, almost. Just the one race to go – the Abu Dhabi GP which brings down the curtain on the 2023 Formula One season. It’s a season that has been nominated by Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Can you believe that Red Bull have won 21 of the 22 races so far, and Verstappen has won 19 of 22, including the inaugural, chaotic, Saturday night event in Las Vegas last weekend. Red’s Bull’s only blip was in Singapore, where Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won, and Verstappen’s three defeats were in Saudi Arabia (2nd), Azerbaijan (2nd) and Singapore (5h). Surely it would only be fitting if it was a Verstappen-Sergio Perez 1-2 in the final race?
Only one driver has ever reached double-digit podiums at Yas Marina 🏆#Hamilton #Mercedes #AbuDhabiGP #F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/3EAq2WqOpx
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) November 24, 2023
EPL BACK AGAIN AFTER BREAK
The English Premier League resumes after another International break, and especially on these first weekends back, there are upsets. And to make matters more difficult, the game of the weekend is at The Etihad where Manchester City host Liverpool. It’s also the Saturday lunchtime kickoff, notorious for producing the upset. So, I’ll be going for the draw here. There’s also a biggie at St James’ Park where Newcastle host Chelsea, while next most attractive is on Sunday with Aston Villa visiting Tottenham. Be sure to be stacking up on a few accas at Hollywoodbets. A word of caution: There are six away teams favoured to win and the average away wins per round so far this season is 3.3.
EPL is back 💯🥂
— ODUN💫 (@cfc_odun) November 22, 2023
Who's winning this weekend? pic.twitter.com/mpFjhLBm34
LERENA TO WIN WBC ‘WORLD TITLE’
I have to admit I’m an old fart. I have been a boxing fan since lacing on the gloves (very short-lived) as a schoolboy at Pinetown Boys and followed the sport closely since then. My biggest sadness is the growth of the number of “world champions”, different weight divisions, and the number of governing bodies these days. South Africa gets a chance to produce another “world champion” when Kevin Lerena is a heavy favourite to beat Germany’s Senad Gashi at Emperor’s Palace on Saturday night. The title? The WBC Interim Bridgerweight title (between cruiserweight and heavyweight). Gashi is independently ranked world No150 among the heavyweights and Lerena is at No15. Lerena will win this one easily and the PR machine will tell you he joins Sugarboy Malinga and Dingaan Thobela as South Africans to win a WBC world title.
Final touches with @smithsgym 🧠🥇🏆 The last few days is about having fun & moving the body ! The hard work has already been done 10 weeks prior ~ Now we keep moving 💦 #WarReady #AndTheNew pic.twitter.com/pyyJscQ3Sy
— Kevin Lerena (@Kevlerenaboxing) November 23, 2023
