By BBC Sport's Honest Frank
Our resident betting expert |
British sport stars celebrated a triumphant treble at the weekend with individual victories in three high-profile events.
Boxer Joe Calzaghe was on top of the world, new mum Paula Radcliffe claimed the New York Marathon and Justin Rose became Europe's number one golfer.
 | 606: DEBATE |
Bookmakers slashed their odds on being named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and debate is raging over who should win the coveted prize.
Calzaghe is proving particularly popular with punters, and is as low as 5-1 third favourite with one bookie.
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton remains favourite, although Ricky Hatton has a big fight on the eve of the award, and the Euro 2008 football qualifiers are coming to a climax.
Here, we look at the current Sports Personality front-runners, but remember these are just the bookies' views.
The shortlist of 10 contenders will be announced on 30 November, with a public vote for the winner on the night of the show - Sunday 9 December.
AWARD FAVOURITES
(Contender, average odds, age, nationality, sport)
LEWIS HAMILTON 1-3 (22, English, Formula One)
Hamilton has been in pole position for the trophy after a record-breaking rookie season.
He had never appeared in a Formula One race eight months ago, yet came within a point of clinching the world title.
Composed and charming, he calmly brushed aside a team spying row and difficulties with colleague Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton announced last week that he would be moving to Switzerland because of excessive media and public attention in Britain.
RICKY HATTON 4-1 (29, English, Boxing)
Hatton is going to be big news on 9 December, whether he wins the Sports Personality award or not.
His super fight against Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas takes place in the early hours of that Sunday morning.
Mayweather gained a new audience with his antics in the American version of Strictly Come Dancing, but there's no pussyfooting around in the ring - many fight fans regard him as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
Hitman Hatton will be cheered on by an army of fans from Manchester - and a few well-known celebrities as well. Wayne Rooney carried his belts into the ring before his last fight.
JOE CALZAGHE 10-1 (35, Welsh, Boxing)
A decade at the top was capped with Calzaghe's defeat of WBA and WBC super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler.
The Welshman, cheered on by 50,000 compatriots at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, claimed his 44th win from 44 bouts
Since beating Chris Eubank to become world champion in 1997, he has enjoyed 21 successful defences. Now he is only four wins away from equalling Rocky Marciano's unbeaten record for a champion boxer.
He beats the pain barrier in the process. Calzaghe has brittle bones in his left hand, which he has broken three times during his career.
PAULA RADCLIFFE 16-1 (35, English, Athletics)
She gave birth to her daughter Isla after a marathon labour in January, and 10 months later was beating the world's top marathon runners.
Radcliffe kept repeating the phrase "I love you Isla" to maintain her rhythm in the closing stages of her New York Marathon victory on Sunday.
The 2002 Sports Personality winner had not competed in any 26-mile event since winning the world title in Helsinki more than two years earlier.
But she dug deep to defeat Gete Wami, seeing off the Ethiopian in a sprint finish, despite being behind in the last mile.
JUSTIN ROSE 20-1 (27, English, Golf)
From 127th in the world to ranked seventh in just a year.
Rose overcame a stomach bug to take the season-ending Volvo Masters in Spain and clinch the European PGA Order of Merit crown on Sunday.
The drama at Valderrama started on the tournament's first day when he hit a hole-in-one just hours after being sick.
Rose is the youngest golfer since Ireland's Ronan Rafferty (25) to win the European title, earning more than �2m in prize money to edge out rivals including Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington.
FRANKIE DETTORI 33-1 (36, Italian, Horse racing)
Born in Milan, Arsenal fan Frankie is an honorary Brit and a firm favourite with racing enthusiasts and casual punters alike.
He qualifies for this award by living and working in Britain, and in 1996 finished third in the Sports Personality vote after riding all seven winners on the card at Ascot - marking the feat with his trademark leaping dismount.
This year the jockey finally completed his set of British Classics by winning the Derby, at the 15th attempt, on Authorized.
The following day he won the French version on Lawman to claim a notable double, leading one newspaper to call for him to be knighted.
JONNY WILKINSON 40-1 (28, English, rugby union)
The Comeback Kid entered the award betting as England's remarkable resurgence gathered pace in the Rugby World Cup.
He helped the side pull back from the prospect of early elimination to reaching the final, where South Africa proved too strong.
The 2003 Sports Personality winner may not have been quite the kicking king who helped England become champions four years ago.
But his return marked the end of a bruising personal journey. The Six Nations appearance against Scotland in February was his first game in an England shirt for 1,169 days.
JAMES MCFADDEN 40-1 (24, Scottish, Football)
The Scotland striker is being backed by his countrymen to gatecrash the Personality party after scoring the spectacular goal that sunk the French in Paris.
The Everton star bagged another in the 3-1 defeat of Ukraine, taking the Scots to the brink of Euro 2008 qualification.
A 2-0 defeat in Georgia has left their hopes hanging by a thread, leaving a must-win showdown against Italy on 17 November.
McFadden was down to 12-1 with a leading bookmaker at one stage after a patriotic plunge.
TIM HENMAN 50-1 (33, English, Tennis)
He may have been a perennial nearly man when it came to winning Wimbledon, but 'Tiger Tim' is still a huge favourite with British tennis fans.
Henman finally decided to hang up his racket in September, bowing out at the All England Club as he sealed promotion for Great Britain in the Davis Cup with his last stroke as a professional player.
The former British number one reached six Grand Slam semi-finals during his career, and was once ranked fourth in the world. He has twice been runner-up for the Sports Personality award.
CHRISTINE OHURUOGU 50-1 (23, English, Athletics)
On 11 August, Ohuruogu competed for the first time in more than a year. In the space of a few days, she shaved half a second off her personal best and led a world championship 1-2 for Britain with Nicola Sanders.
Her winning final time of 49.61 seconds was the third fastest time ever by a British woman behind Kathy Cook and Katherine Merry.
Ohuruogu was competing in Osaka after serving a suspension for missing three out-of-competition drugs tests. A lifetime Olympics ban by the British Olympic Association is currently under review.
She has already been named Great Britain's Athlete of the Year by athletics writers.
DARK HORSES
Within minutes of Zara Phillips being crowned the surprise Sports Personality of 2006, bookies had already made Andy Murray one of the hot favourites for this year's title. He has achieved plenty, despite a nagging wrist injury which ruled him out of Wimbledon.
Murray took Rafael Nadal to five sets at the Australian Open, broke into the world's top 10 for the first time, and nearly made the Masters Cup after a late-season surge.
The Scot won tournaments in San Jose and St Petersburg, with the promise of more to come in 2008.
His brother Jamie Murray carved his own place in tennis folklore, by winning the Wimbledon mixed doubles title to finally step out of his younger sibling's shadow. The media speculated on whether there was a love match with doubles partner Jelena Jankovic, but Jamie let his tennis do the talking in September to help Great Britain to a memorable Davis Cup win over Croatia.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is not the only motorsport star wowing the crowds.
James Toseland won his second World Superbikes championship - clinching the title in his last race before switching to MotoGP next season. The Sheffield-born rider also won the title in 2004 and said: "My one trophy at home was getting lonely so I thought I better get him a partner."
He is a man of many talents. Thousands of people have watched the motorcyclist on YouTube singing a version of 'Message in a Bottle' by The Police.
You can put the case for your Sports Personality favourite on our 606 section.
Rugby league fans have been celebrating Great Britain's series win over New Zealand.
One man getting an honourable mention is 11-time champion jump jockey Tony McCoy, third in the 2002 Sports Personality vote, while rugby union fans have been lauding the efforts of England's Jason Robinson.
And there could still be time for someone to make their mark.
Commonwealth lightweight champion Amir Khan celebrates his 21st birthday the night before the show, and that's when he takes on fellow Brit Graham Earl as he hopes to come of age as a boxer.
There's also a certain character called David Beckham. He may have been playing against Hollywood United on Sunday, but if he could somehow help England qualify for Euro 2008, then that would be drama worthy of an Oscar.
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