May 2023 Will Be a Great Month to Watch and Back Sport
May should be an exciting month for armchair punters. A feast of entertaining televised sporting events will offer plentiful betting opportunities during the weeks ahead. The first Saturday in May will be a particularly busy day when, domestically, top-class action starts with the 2000 Guineas.
The betting for horse racing’s first Classic race of the year is currently headed by Auguste Rodin. Will this Aidan O’Brien-trained runner follow in the footsteps of recent winners Saxon Warrior, Magna Grecia, and Kameko in winning the Futurity as a two-year-old and the Newmarket Group-1 when aged three? The bookies rate him a 2/1 shot.
The Indianapolis 500 is just one of the several major sporting events set to take place during May. ©GettyImages
America’s finest three-year-old colts will contest the fabled Kentucky Derby later in the day. The first leg of the Triple Crown, raced at Churchill Downs, looks like an open affair, but trainer Todd Pletcher appears to have a strong hand fielding the Florida Derby winner, Forte, and the Blue Grass Stakes winner, Tapit Trice.
A Grand Prize on Tour
Also on May 6th, six poker players will contest the final table of the PokerStars European Poker Tour event in Monte Carlo. Last year the top three players in this No Limit Hold’em tournament shared over $2 million in prize money.
In nearby Italy, the first of cycling’s Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia, begins with an 18.4-kilometer individual time trial. The race – concluding in Rome three weeks later – looks like a straight fight between 2022 Vuelta a España winner Remco Evenpoel and ski jumper turned racer, Primož Roglič.
Will Sweden Score in Liverpool?
The Eurovision Song Contest may not be a sporting spectacle, but it is one of Europe’s biggest gambling events. The annual competition – this year staged in Liverpool – will begin on May 9th. A second semi-final show will be broadcast on May 11th. The main course, the Eurovision Final, takes place on May 13th.
Eurovision betting has already been hectic. Sweden, 8/1 at the start of the year, is now odds-on to land the prize for a seventh time. Finland and Ukraine are the only other countries currently trading below 10/1.
Golf and Darts Play-off Week
The US PGA Championship returns to the historic Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, in 2023. The competition will be played between May 18th and May 21st. Golf betting sites have Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy positioned at the top of the betting. The same trio occupies the top three spots of the official world golf rankings.
Four days after the conclusion of golf’s second 2023 Major, Sky Sports will broadcast one of darts’ biggest events of the year. Following 16 nights of league qualification, the Cazoo Premier League concludes with its Play Offs night at The O2 London on Thursday, May 25th.
Fast Action Served up on May 28
Motorsport action also comes thick and fast in May. There are three Formula 1 races during the month: Miami (May 7th), Italy (May 21st), and then the sport’s poster child, Monaco, will take place on May 28th. The Red Bull team has reigned supreme this season, and its chances of winning a fourth Monaco Grand Prix in five years appear strong.
On the same day, former Formula 1 racer Marcus Ericsson will attempt to retain his Indianapolis 500 crown. Pato O’Ward, the young Mexican driver who has tested for the McLaren Formula 1 team, is the likely big-race favorite.
Last but not least, tennis’s second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, will also begin on May 28th. The competition, staged at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris and boasting over €40 million in prize money, is the only Grand Slam played on a clay court. It has illuded many of the sport’s all-time greats.
