Oxford set to close gap in prestigious Boat Race meeting

The 158th annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge takes place this weekend, and Oxford look good to close the gap on Cambridge’s 80 successes by winning the race for a 77th time at 2/5.

Cambridge are priced at 15/8 for victory, though punters will take caution regarding this bet, keeping in mind that only one of their 80 race wins has come in the past four years of the Thames event.

It is a massive 200/1 about a dead heat between the two teams, and this is understandable considering that that scenario has yet to occur since the race’s inception back in 1829.

Oxford look a good bet to continue their fruitful run of recent years on Saturday though, and appear very generously-priced at 10/11 to win by three or more lengths, as they have done on four of the past six occasions they have faced off.

Those who do fancy a Cambridge success may wish to invest in the 3/1 odds on them winning by 2 and 3/4 lengths or less, as this has been the case on the only two times they have emerged victorious during the past six years.

Lengthier speeds have been more commonly recorded in the race in recent years, and the 7/4 odds for the winning team to cross the line in 17m 35s or longer are appealing, especially considering that this has been the case in eight of the past 12 races.

You can alternatively back there to be a new fastest time set, whereby the winning team would need to finish before the 16m 19s mark, and that is a 25/1 shot.

The fact that it is 1/200 for that record not to be broken however, looks as good a deterrent as any for punters to avoid investing in this price.