Denman Shortening Into 4-1 For Hennessy On Betfair

Denman continues to be all the rage on Betfair for the Hennessy at Newbury on Saturday, and he is now trading at just over 4-1 (5.2) on the exchange after today's five day entry stage saw him topping the list of 31 acceptors.

It would have been interesting to see how the Cheltenham Gold Cup 5-1 second favourite would have fared against Kauto Star and Exotic Dancer on his favoured soft ground at Haydock last weekend, but clearly many punters feel that the decision to wait a week is a wise move.

He is two from two at Newbury, built to carry big weights and the class horses have tended to come to the fore in recent Hennessey's.

Abragante is the 11-2 second favourite to atone for his balloting-out near-miss in the Paddy Power, and New Alco is third best at 13-2. The latter won well at Carlisle earlier in the month and has been matched at a high of 94-1 in Betfair's ante-post market.

Betfair spokesman Eoin Ryan commented: 'Denman is a general 4-1 shot with most bookmakers and only fractionally bigger on Betfair. There is a fair amount of money looking to get on him with us today and I can see that price coming under pressure pretty quickly.'

To win the Hennessy ? Betfair bet: 4-1 Denman, 11-2 Abragante, 13-2 New Alco, 19-2 Snowy Morning, 14-1 Mossbank, Character Building, Patsy Hall, 24-1 Dream Alliance, 27-1 Sir Rembrandt, 29-1 Dom D'Orgeval, Alderburn, 33-1 Slim Pickings,