I have to say your selections are pretty well spot on. Yes we have odd loser but there are more winners! You are the best consistent tipping service I have come across. Genuine and fair. Thanks again!

AND ANOTHER THING…

 

 

 

Those of you with memories will recall, when last heard of in August, I was immersed in the delights of Flat racing. Since then I have spent some time in Japan before outstaying both my permit and my welcome. This has meant exchanging warm tropical winds and a temperate climate (typhoons excepted) for driving winds and rains of biblical proportions here.

Actually, to the equivalent of something of a rookie after my absence, Cheltenham’s Friday card looks a pretty stormy proposition. Trying to tackle it, the best that can be said about a hard but interesting day’s racing is that three races look solvable; the trouble is it may take three picks in each event to do it. Therefore, at least from my perspective, it doesn’t look as if a bet is likely. Apart from that I am rusty.

Three, or maybe it is four months, is a long time to be absent from racing. Not only have new names – both equine and human – sprung up; but, for the present at least, I seem to be lacking the necessary acumen to take on the betting ring. Racing is like that. Only those brave enough or sufficiently inured to reversal survive and keep coming back for more: Standing Man as Mark Rylance’s character so eloquently put it in the excellent Bridge of Spies.

They start the program pretty early. Midday to be precise. And they start with an excellent event. Minella Rocco shaped better than finishing third of three reads at Haydock and looks as if this step up in trip will suit him. Blaklion may well have won here last time but for tipping up at the notorious downhill fence so may gain his revenge on Vicente, but he faces the same obstacle again so will need to have learned from the experience. I also cannot help but observe that backing horses at Cheltenham with an ‘F’ by their form figures (as opposed to an expletive placed by a disgruntled punter) is not always the wisest move to make.

Vieux Lion Rouge, who is young enough and possesses enough scope to defy his current rating in the 1.45, has most to fear from solid opponents, Sausalito Sunrise and The Druids Nephew. These – and possibly Knock House (but I have limited it to three) – look a class above the opposition.

Finally, in a fierce-looking handicap hurdle, The Eaglehaslanded and Fingerontheswitch look to have claims, although it is possible that this trip will bring about improvement from Oscarteea, who could represent value at a double-figure price. Then again there are those tipping up Monbeg Gold and One Track Mind. It is already looking like a potential minefield to me.

I shall be watching with a mulled wine, or maybe an Asahi. It is my intention to ease my way back into betting between now and early in February, when the plan is – after a mid-winter break in India – to return to the fray by trying to decipher events at Meydan before the blitzkrieg that is Cheltenham and beyond. That’s the plan. Not much of one I admit, but right now, it’s all I have…

 

RACING NOTEBOOK

Based on races viewed, Spy’s analysis and list of horses worthy of serious consideration next time:

31st October: Newmarket: Division One of the maiden did not look particularly strong. Experience won the day as Redcar runner-up New Strategy knew too much for the promising Greatest Hits, who was green in the early stages but picked up from two out. Time may show he will turn out to be better than the winner.

In contrast, the second division went to a newcomer. Slow to load, Suddyan sprouted wings coming out of the dip to pass several better fancied and by this stage paddling rivals – including Haydock runner-up and favourite Crown Command. A plain son of Holy Roman Emperor, there is plenty of stamina on the dam side, meaning Suddyan (a rare debut winner for the Stoute stable), successful in a faster time than recorded in the first, may turn out to be useful next year. Having looked momentarily outpaced, the flashy and good-looking Stars And Stripes was also noted putting in his best work throughout the closing stages having been prominent throughout.

After finishing fourth in the Cheveley Park Stakes on only her second start, it was a walk in the park for Terror in the Listed. Fligaz was the only rival to give her a race but was eventually brushed aside. Terror will presumably be back for the Nell Gwyn next April, although there may be a doubt about her staying any further than this trip of six furlongs. She will probably stay seven – a mile could be the proverbial bridge too far.

October 25th: Newbury: Mob-handed in the Horris Hill, Richard Hannon landed it with Smaih, who handled soft ground well to stay on from Fox Trotter (only fifth to Limato in the Redcar sales race) and King Of Normandy (behind Commemorative last time). As is often the case, Lexington Times left the impression he is more of a traveller than a quickener in fourth. As renewals go, this was not one of the best.

It was easy for Sky Hunter in the Group 3 St Simon Stakes, who has returned to something like his form from last year when he finished third in the French Derby. This win was a step up from Ayr last time and confirms he genuinely stays twelve furlongs. Presumably he will be in action in Dubai over the winter. Island Remede was second, ahead of pacesetter Battalion who was suited by this return to a left-handed track. Red Galileo was once again a major disappointment. His record taxes patience to the limit. Rawaki was another to under-perform.

Three lengths sixth to Local Time in the Oh So Sharp and revelling in the soft surface, Russian Punch caused something of a surprise in a messy Listed Radley Stakes. Clearly best on the day, the winner is worth remembering next year when the ground rides as it did here. She will stay further. Runner-up Shagah has an awful action. She did come to win her race, but had pulled early and probably such exertions took their toll. Lacing and Astrelle were at sea on the ground.

Doncaster: The improving Code Red added the Listed Doncaster Stakes to his portfolio, wearing down Portamento inside the last furlong. It did look as if he had something of an advantage by racing on a fresh strip of ground under the stands’ rails, something confirmed by his jockey. Taking an immediate hike in grade, after winning a maiden at Windsor Salt Island was not disgraced in fifth and will probably be much better on faster ground. With a pronounced knee-action, Growl should have done better but was quick to call it a day. He does not look one to place faith in.

Having threatened to hit form, proven autumn performer Dungannon scored a back-to-back success after his Ascot win three weeks ago, winning the Class 2 handicap for the second time from a 1lb higher mark than last year. Many of the usual crew were in behind: Confessional, Steps, Ballesteros etc… Unlucky when fourth at Ascot over six last time, Golden Steps was not suited by this switch to five. There remains a sprint for him over six if he is not to be beaten by the clock.

The long raking stride of Elm Park was decisive in the Group 1 Racing Post. Making all and at home on an easy surface, he had his rivals in trouble some way out and won with what looked like something in hand. It would be a mistake to underestimate him; although, of course, he will be in his element next year over a distance of ground. As for the Derby … flat tracks will always probably suit him better than the helter-skelter of Epsom. He may not be Group 1 class next year, but there are surely races to be won. In second, Aloft finished best of the rest to take second. We have to assume Ballydoyle will be pleased with his effort and that they will consider they house better at home. He looks a candidate for Chester next May. Celestial Path kept on, handling the ground but it was clearly not ideal. Jacobean lost his action in the last two furlongs but managed to hold on for fourth. Still inexperienced, he is the sort to do better in time.

October 22nd: Newmarket: Experience came to the fore in the opening maiden for fillies – a class 5 won by Pamona who had finished second to Taqneyya in what looked only an average maiden on debut. Always handy she was a decisive winner, looking as if she has improved plenty. Entertainment – seventh behind Pamona on debut – finished a little closer this time; whilst Wardat Dubai – another to have made a promising debut when a close fifth to Aloft – struggled in the tacky ground in third and can probably do better in time.

Money for Chepstow winner Dark Kingdom proved well placed in the nursery as, despite a sluggish start, the son of Lord Shanakill ran out a convincing winner. He handled easy ground well – probably needs it judging by his action – to make light of a mark of 75. This was not a hot race but Dark Kingdom is likeable. In second, Lashkaal stayed on after appearing outpaced early and will probably do better over further than this seven furlongs.

Although run in a faster time, the second division of the nursery did not look quite as good as the first. Great Park, Poyle Jessica and Captain Marmalade were the first three. Outback Ruler made up ground from an unpromising position. He might win something similar on the all-weather.

It was back to maidens in the next, the unraced Dubawi colt Ooty Hill justifying market support to power away from Alnashama, who, with experience under his belt, was obviously the one to beat. The winner, whose size means he will always be best with cut, will stay beyond this seven furlongs and looks useful.

There might have only been three runners for the Class 2 Houghton Stakes, but, as on debut at Haydock, Fannaan left a positive impression. In part he was helped by the nonsensical antics of Hawkesbury who was a nightmare for his jockey going to post and coming back. He pulls too hard, appears to exist on his nerves and after a promising start to his career is another example of a Godolphin colt heading in the wrong direction. With a good attitude, Fannaan is not only attractive but decent and only had to be shaken up to win. By dirt stallion Speightstown, both his runs so far have been with an element of cut so, with next year in mind, he will need to prove he can cope with a faster surface, which his trainer seems to think will not be a problem.

It is always a temptation to be taken in by a well-bred field of maidens. The class 4 over a mile that sent out mixed messages was no exception. It was won by Rare Rhythm, who had not shown much behind Aloft here two weeks ago. He responded to a vigorous ride, whereas, having his first outing, Wheat Sheaf was given a kind introduction and was only narrowly beaten. You would expect him to reverse this form next time. Verismo put an undistinguished first effort behind him in third. Afjaan, a tall good-moving son of Henrythenavigator will be better on a firmer surface but still took the eye. Farhh’s brother Racing History neither looked the part in the paddock nor in the race.

Strong-travelling Crafty Choice stayed the trip of ten furlongs very well to lift the Class 3 Zetland Stakes. This was not the strongest renewal but he is progressing through the ranks.

October 18th: Ascot – Champions’ Day: It could be argued that the Group 2 Long Distance Cup contained a collection of stayers worthy of an Ascot Gold Cup. The ground put paid to Leading Light, who never looked happy, and it was certainly instrumental in the premature eclipse of Estimate. Out of the ruins came a new name to conjure: Forgotten Rules – winner of a bumper and a decent Flat contest at Galway. By Nayef out of a Danehill mare, he coped well with the conditions; more importantly he was good enough to take this massive hike in grade. Ineligible for a weight concession from his Group 1-winning contemporaries, in the end it made no difference. This win speaks volumes for Dermot Weld’s patience and emphasises what a great trainer he is. Clearly Ascot’s Gold Cup will be on the agenda for 2015, although firm ground would not be in his favour. Biographer ran his best race for a while when finishing second, with Pallasator close in third. Whiplash Willie did not get the clearest of passages in fourth and may have been unfortunate not to have finished third – that said he had everything in his favour here and it has to be concluded this was his chance at this level.

Second in the Foret to Olympic Glory and to G Force in the Haydock Sprint, on ideal ground Gordon Lord Byron produced his trademark burst when it mattered to take the Group 2 Sprint. A proven autumn performer, he might have been assisted by a stands’ rail passage on a fresh strip of ground. Even so, he was clearly the best horse on the day. Tropics was another to make the most of a favourable draw in second, ahead of Jack Dexter. Uncooperative at Longchamp in the Abbaye, Maarek made up a lot of ground to finish on the heels of the first three. Viztoria was probably posted out wide enough, as was Eton Forever – even so both ran well. Widest of all, G Force was never in the hunt on this heavy ground – which was surely all against him.

A wide open Fillies and Mares – arguably the trickiest event on the card – went to Musidora winner Madame Chiang, who relishes soft ground and swooped on the leaden-legged leaders inside the last furlong. On and off the bridle throughout, Silk Sari – unsuited by the track’s short straight – eventually found her stride to flash home for second, ahead of Chicquita, for whom this was only her third race of the season. She threw away her chance when hanging all over the shop, eventually so badly that Joseph O’Brien had to stop riding her.

Charm Spirit, whose only defeat this season was when fifth in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, confirmed his latest Moulin form with Night Of Thunder in the QEII. With jockeys preoccupied with bagging the stands’ rails, it developed into a messy affair. Wider, but having to elbow his way through, Peslier once again gained first run on Night Of Thunder which proved crucial. The runner-up was somewhat detached early and it was a case of no room at the inn for Hughes, who had to change tack to obtain a run. Toormore ran his best race of the season to finish third. So often the bridesmaid in this company, Tullius was fourth on ground that is all-important to him and Captain Cat also ran well enough to justify inclusion at the highest level. Kingsbarns was soon burnt off; Integral was very disappointing and could never land a blow. She is better than this and it has to be assumed the ground was simply too soft.

Once labelled as a villain, Noble Mission has been a reformed character this season. He became a hero today when making all until fractionally headed inside the last furlong by Al Kazeem in the Champion Stakes and then fighting back to land his biggest prize. If there had been a chink in his armour, it would have been exposed today, but raw courage under a brilliant ride from James Doyle and a will-to-win provided a famous victory. It has taken three seasons, but finally, Frankel’s brother has come of age. This was the day when, in part at least, he followed in his illustrious sibling’s hoof prints. Al Kazeem came back to his best form to slug it out with the winner. On only his fourth run, Free Eagle was a strong-finisher in third, closing on the first two at the death. He will stay twelve furlongs and is sure to return next season as a serious player at the highest level. Western Hymn was fourth. As feared, Cirrus Des Aigles continues to give the impression he is on the decline.

It was all far side in the concluding handicap – won by Bronze Angel, a horse that not only defied his draw and position, but on ground that up to now was always considered to be against him.

17th October: Newmarket: Once again Squats did not get the rub of the green – this time in the Cornwallis. Looking all set to pounce inside the last furlong, he was squeezed and Ryan Moore had to stop riding. After the melee that was Ayr, this is the second time he can be marked up. After a dismal effort at Newbury, Strath Burn returned to something like it without being able to pass shock winner Royal Razalma.

Winner of a couple of nondescript events at Lingfield and Leicester, Charming Thought – a son of Oasis Dream – thwarted hitherto unbeaten Ivawood in the Middle Park with Muhaarar and Cappella Sansevero not beaten far. Of course the temptation is to assume Ivawood has run below form. It only emphasises what a difference sixty seconds can make, as one-time Guineas hotpot Ivawood – who was coming back at the winner in the dying strides – is no longer quite such a warm order for the first Classic for colts next year. However, he is bred to stay further and this ground – which was on the dead side – was not ideal. He was not disgraced in a small but select field and it should not be assumed he has disappeared from the Classic radar.

On a day of shocks Lucida became another casualty in the Dubai Fillies’ Mile, failing to pick up throughout the last couple of furlongs, but only being beaten three lengths. It is late in the season and, uncharacteristically keen early, may have been on the edge of tipping over for the year, which, combined with the softest ground she has encountered, was probably her undoing. Recent Curragh winner Together Forever – in the right place at the right time and committed first by Joseph O’Brien – contained the strong finishing duo that was May Hill winner Agnes Stewart and Winters Moon. By all accounts, nice prospect that Together Forever is, at this stage at least, her stable mate Found is considered her superior.

How the mighty fall! Belardo, the outsider of the lot, reversed Champagne form in a major way with Estidhkaar to blast back to his best form and win the Dewhurst. After a tame effort at Doncaster on much quicker ground, wearing a first-time hood, Belardo confirmed the impression formed when he won the Washington Singer at Newbury. Fourth and not disgraced on only his second run when behind Ivawood in the July Stakes, he may not be entirely straightforward, but has ability. Kodi Bear was an honest second. Disappointments followed: Smuggler’s Cove – said to be on a par with Gleaneagles on homework – lacked the turn of foot inside the last two furlongs and was left behind in third. No doubt the boys at Ballydoyle would have preferred him to have finished closer, but this is a tough day to decipher with absolute confidence. Estidhkaar threw his race away with a sluggish start and then, posted wide with the field to circumnavigate, was never going to get there.

Patiently-ridden with a sweeping last furlong run, Here Comes When, with proven form on a soft surface, lifted the Group 2 Challenge Stakes.

After a dismal display in the Greenham so many moons ago, last year’s Royal Lodge winner Berkshire came back to form in a major way when taking the Group 3 Darley Stakes. Apparently going nowhere at halfway, he eventually found his stride to mow down Mutakayyef and Air Pilot. His win – another massive-priced success on the day – was not impossible to envisage, just unlikely. However, a one-time quote for the Guineas and Derby of 2014, indicates the esteem he once held. This easy ground suits him, he will stay further and, who knows, we may see more of him. Raised in class, the progressive placed horses have battled on well.

October 11th: Newmarket: They were a nice-looking lot for the Group 3 Autumn Stakes, for which Solario-third Future Empire was made favourite. Seeking to supply a much-needed boost to Godolphin, he ran in snatches, pulling early then rallying after being steadied to finish third. Doncaster winner Commemorative made all and despite failing to run straight kept on strongly. His Doncaster form falls slightly short of top class but it is solid and this son of Zamindar looks as if he may be the sort to only do enough. He stayed this mile well and should get further next year. Third behind Local Time at Kempton, Restorer finished best of the rest in second. Of the rest, lack of pace had already put paid to his chance when Order Of St George was hampered coming out of the dip. After two runs at Yarmouth, this was a major hike in class for Bartholomew Fair, but he was not disgraced and possesses enough scope to improve on this in time.

After Hadaatha’s third in the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp last week, Albasharah had the form to win the listed if able to reproduce her Yarmouth second. Bouncing out of the stalls, she made all to beat a field of progressive fillies. A giant five-year-old daughter of Arch with relatively few miles on the clock, she is due to run in a Group 3 in France next. Absent since the Ribblesdale, Talmada chased her home with Wahgah getting the best of a three-way scrap for third. Provenance was on and off the bridle, eventually plugging on in fifth.

The Class 2 handicap for three-year-olds looked wide open beforehand – reflected by the betting as they offered 7/1 the field. Those with proven form and associated weight struggled: Connecticut and Battersea (had a troubled passage) for example have come to the end of their runs for the present. Farquhar pipped Adventure Seeker, with a fair run from Nabatean in fifth. One for the notebook has to be Top Tug, who was returning after winning on the July course in May. Lightly-raced and lacking experience, having got behind early he picked up without looking likely to win, but was the best finisher of all. Racing from a mark of 94 in a fiercely competitive handicap such as this, he will be much sharper next time. Of obvious interest if turning out again this season, we may have to be patient. Being by Halling there is every chance he will make up into a very good four-year-old.

At the age of seven and essentially a hurdler these days, having shaped so well in the trial here at the end of September, in the care of the excellent Philip Hobbs, Big Easy ground out the finish to the Cesarewitch to hold the much-improved De Rigueur, the oh-so craftily-campaigned Quick Jack and Brass Ring, who has run a blinder against quality and better-treated rivals from a mark of 103.

The temptation in the maiden for fillies is to think, with so many having chances in the last furlong, the race may not be anything special. Irish Rookie sprung something of a surprise on debut to emerge best from Sharqeyih. Tazffin was always destined to be the eye-catcher, creeping closer under considerate handling and then asked to lengthen when it became clear she was about to figure.

York: With a succession of hard handicaps on the card, they took no prisoners in the ring. After two so-called good things in Acolyte and GM Hopkins failing to reach the three yesterday, today’s results were not much kinder. Aetna gave it a shot in the Coral Sprint but emptied in the last furlong. She is surely better than this and should not be forgotten if encountering proper soft ground next time.
Mutamakkin, who ran with promise at Newmarket in a race won by Consort, gave a major pointer to the validity of that form when beating Navigate (behind him at Newmarket) and Ascot runner-up Akeed Champion in the maiden.

October 5th:

Longchamp Racing Results Review

The sudden death dash that is the Prix de l’Abbaye was a messy race, full of hard-luck stories and one that went to the right horse in the right place – Move In Time. Spirit Quartz and Catcall were among those on the heels of the leaders. The speed of juvenile Cotai Glory was not enough to string out the older brigade and he was on the retreat after three-and-a-half. Richard Hughes was always angling for a gap on Sole Power and according to him, when a crack of daylight appeared the horse declined to take it. Perhaps Sole Power was feeling the exertions of a long season.

Found became another filly to endorse the Moyglare form with a comprehensive victory in the Prix Marcel Boussac. Unlike Cursory Glance and Lucida – the two that finished ahead of at the Curragh – Found looks much more of an Oaks candidate. She was putting in her best work in the closing stages and has a likeable attitude. Highly thought of at home, this was only her third outing and she looks all quality and is described by her trainer as having the speed to win at a mile and the stamina to last the trip of an Oaks. Ervedya – third to The Wow Signal in the Morny – was second in a strong renewal. Although she almost certainly would not have troubled the winner, Malabar had no run in fourth. She appears to be in good heart and has improved throughout the season.

Hopes of a Coolmore double were dashed in the stewards’ room when Gleneagles was demoted to third after winning the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. This was not Joseph O’Brien’s finest hour. In front and apparently in control on Gleneagles, he insisted on resorting (unnecessarily) to the stick and incidentally to hitting the horse in the wrong place. To make matters worse he failed to pull the whip through when the horse drifted across and toward his main rivals, Full Mast and Territories, both of whom he impeded. The right horse probably won, but in France that is not always enough. Full Mast still looks green and after two soft races has performed well. He looks a decent long-term prospect.

So it was Treve again in the Arc. It was an incredible performance from a horse that had not won since this time last year and to all intents and purposes had appeared to be on the slide. Flintshire – so often placed at top level – was again in the money in second. Arguably this is his best performance. From a wide draw Taghrooda ran a blinder in third, as did Kingston Hill in fourth – another with a bad draw to overcome. He was adeptly positioned by Atzeni and kept on gamely down the straight when the chasing pack threatened to swallow him. Possibly the Japanese should consider employing the services of European jockeys next year!

Just as Moonlight Cloud did last year, Olympic Glory came from a seemingly impossible position to win the Foret. Last with under two to race, he took hold of the bridle and responded to Dettori’s urging to cut down Gordon Lord Byron and long time leader Noozhoh Canarias. Laid out for this after his spring campaign, Karakontie was murdered in running twice. Not knocked about by his jockey, he may resurface at this level before the close of the season, in which case he is worth a second look.

In French parlance – on a day that started at lunchtime and came to a conclusion approaching dinner – the Group 1s kept coming. High Jinx was given another outstanding ride from Ryan Moore to make all over two-and-half miles in the Cadran. This trip probably stretches Pale Mimosa, whist Whiplash Willie was locked away on the rail and could never really deal a blow. He stays well enough and might just poach something before the season’s end, particularly if getting his preferred soft ground.

October 4th:

Newmarket Racing Results Review:

The first of the sales races – this one for the fillies – went to Osaila, who after her close fifth last time in the Moyglare, was the form horse. She was always travelling like the winner and in the climb to the finish, with runner-up Lacing perhaps not finding what looked likely, she ran out a reasonably comfortable victor. Lacing put up a personal best in second, whilst, despite appearing to be shaken off running out of the dip, Yarmouth winner Very Special stayed on again up the hill to finish on the heels of the front two.

The colts’ equivalent had a more open look to it. A surprise second in the Convivial when behind White Lake, Secret Brief has done nothing but improve since, winning his third race on the spin with a gutsy performance on ground that had turned to loose. Leicester winner Outlaw Country was second, ahead of Bossy Guest. Of those off the pace, Tannaaf had difficulty finding his stride but stuck on willingly. He should do better next year.

It will be a surprise if there is a Miss France in this year’s Oh So Sharp. Even so Local Time put up a dour performance on this a serious hike in grade after two relatively minor wins at Kempton. Pushed along from halfway, she kept on willingly to beat Astrelle, Prize Exhibit and Shagah in a bunch finish.

Given a great all-the-way ride by Ryan Moore, Integral – second in the Sun Chariot last year – put her rivals to the sword in this year’s renewal. Possibly aided by her jockey, Integral nevertheless beat a top class field here and should be rated accordingly. She may turn out for the QE11, but the plan is to keep her in training for next year. Winner on this card last year and of the 1000 Guineas in May, Miss France emerged as best of the overseas challengers when an honest second. She would have preferred a stronger pace but has still run up to her very best. On her first attempt at a Group 1, Fintry was a close third, ahead of Esoterique, so the form stacks up. Sky Lantern has surely run her last race when finishing a never-dangerous fifth.

The bar was set high by those that had run in the Class 4 maiden over a mile. Aloft had finished second at Gowran and Archery Peak’s third to Commemorative looked promising. Green and taking time to pick up, Aloft narrowly landed the spoils from four promising newcomers who almost finished in a line. Storm The Stars (might be the one to take out of a deep race), Legend’s Gate, Great Glen and Wardat Dubai all showed definite promise. Archery Peak was only less than two lengths away, so the quality of the race should not be underestimated.

Ascot Racing Results Review:

Second to Mecca’s Angel at Newbury, the consistent Justice Day took the opening listed event – a race made so much easier by the defection of Muthmir on account of overnight rain. A well-backed Kickboxer was second and Milly’s Gift third. Steps continues to frustrate his supporters and was never on terms.

On only his third start Lightning Moon took the unusual step of winning a Group 3 after a Haydock win in May from a mark of 82. His defeat of Danzeno means he ought to be respected in sprints next season. On the other hand, it is hard to be enthusiastic about Reckless Abandon who made little impact on his third run of the year.

Played late, Pether’s Moon outspeeded Encke and held a sutained challenge from Parish Hall to lift the Cumberland Lodge. Encke is beginning to look one-paced.

It may pay to ignore the run of Prince’s Trust in the class 2 handicap. Soft ground was almost certainly against him, as was the fact that his last piece of work was apparently well below his usual standard.

As she did last year when winning the Rockfel, Al Thakhira has hit form in the autumn and took her first contest of the season in the listed for fillies. Given an ice-cool ride, she burst through to run down Meeting Waters and Interception.

Dungannon capped a big day for Oisin Murphy and Andrew Balding (the combination successful earlier with Intransigent). Back to a wining mark and a horse with a record of running his best races at this time of year, Dungannon, with a penchant for the track, just lasted from fast-finishing Khubala. Despite a pedigree that suggests otherwise, Mission Approved seems suited to the minimum trip. He was another to find his stride late and without threatening to get to grips with the winner, was closing all the time.

Redcar Racing Results Review

Elsewhere, at Redcar we saw a devastating performance from Limato in the valuable sales race. Top-rated and clearly better than his rivals, the manner of his victory suggests he would be a worthy contestant in the Middle Park. However, he is unlikely to run again this year and will be aimed at sprinting events next season. With a pronounced fast ground action, he will always be seen to best advantage on firm ground.

Poor Cirrus Des Aigles lost the Prix Dollar in the stewards’ room. Clearly he and his jockey were in breach of the rules so there can be no complaints about the verdict (although was it fair to demote him to sixth place? Surely he only interfered with the runner-up). Somewhat alarmingly he did jink to the left inside the last furlong. Obviously the last time we saw him he finished lame and, possibly now at the age of eight, he was feeling something. Perhaps it is time for connections to draw stumps on a wonderful career.

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Membership costs £1995 a month  or £995 per month and a £5 per point profit share. There are no long term commitments, so you always know how much you are in pocket. You are in control. And my reputation is on the line.

A final thought…

It is totally different from our previous one bet a day odds to service. On our  dry run with real cash and a real bookmaker this year (2007/8) the result was a fantastic  £85,741.50  profit in 46 weeks! Yet again – we were banned by the bookie (Betfred.com). “You are the most succesful punter percentage wise Betfred have ever had”  … Dont Believe us? We are willing to give you documented proof: Betfred’s letter closing our acount and Betfred’s statement showing, day by day, each bet, its winnings and losses and the final return – £85,741.50  profit in 46 weeks! Just email in and we’ll send one over.

Sounds too good to be true? Well…

After officially launching the text service on 5th June we stand at over £300,000.00 profit at £100 per point stakes since launch. To see details of this take a look at our results page to see the weekly report.

Please Note! To maximise returns from this service you will benefit by having accounts with as many bookmakers as possible so you can always secure the best prices. Using telephone or internet betting accounts you will be able to act swiftly because most of these bets will shorten quickly. ” target=”_blank”>Click here to check for bookmakers you may want accounts with. 

Click Bob Rothman to see the original article

Would you bet on Bob?

By Jonathan Stayton
November 02, 2006

Bob Rothman, who runs a horse-racing tipping service, has been so successful with his bets he says his accounts with leading bookmakers are limited within days of opening.

In his most successful year, Bob claims to have made a profit of about £440,000, but is now reduced to gambling smaller quantities as many bookmakers refuse to accept his money.

The 53-year-old has resorted to placing bets, averaging between £500 and £2,000, using friends’ accounts to avoid the restrictions placed on his own – but finds that even those are often limited within hours.

“I opened an account in my wife’s name and had one bet at lunchtime, with racing starting at 2pm,” he said. “It was 12/1 and I placed £833.33 to win £10,000. It was running in the evening and when I went to place another bet I found it had been limited already, even though the race had not been run.

“I opened one account on a Saturday afternoon and put £600 into it, and made that into £18,500 by the end of the day, and then couldn’t get proper bets on the account.

“On another one I turned £2,000 into £12,000 and they suspended the account so I couldn’t get at it, and they said we want a copy of the bank details and passport, because they think ‘who the hell is this person?’.”

Despite the best efforts of bookmakers, Bob, who claims to have won more than £100,000 in a single day, says he has 11 or 12 different accounts at his disposal.

His gambling began more than 20 years ago, when he fell in love with a Ferrari.

“I thought, ‘I’ll win that’,” he said. “I got £2,000 out and put it on a 14/1 tip and lost it all. Then a while later I put another £2,000 on the same horse and lost that too when it finished fourth and I was so cross and so disappointed so I said I am going to do it myself.”

In 1986, Bob advertised for contacts and admits to losing solidly for months, before his luck changed.

“I had a couple of golden years,” he said. “And then got closed down in 1986/7. I’m gutted because in my second year I won £440,000 and I thought ‘I can’t believe this’.”

He turned to tipping when he answered an advert seeking an investor in a racing syndicate, only to be told ‘you’ll never beat the bookie’.

“I thought there was a real opening there and set up the business,” he said.

Rothman Racing, based in Cobham, charges its members £80 per month for tips, also retaining whatever a £50 bet would win.

“Tipping is a lot different to betting,” he said. “With betting to win you’re trying to get value. If you offered me heads versus tails at 5/4, I’d do it all day long and end up making 20%. But if you’re tipping, if it comes up tails four times in a row, your customers will leave you. People want winners so they don’t always get value. No one’s very excited about betting on odds on horses so you have to come half way between.

“It is like buying widescreen televisions – if they are worth £2,000, and are offered for £1,500, you’re not too interested, but if they’re offered for £300 you say ‘how many?’ – it is a case of making the decision on whether the return is worth it. On the National Lottery people, on average, get 50p in the pound back – if you bought 14-million tickets you would get £7million back, but in racing it’s about 85p in the pound betting blind.”

Bob, who says he is happy to lose money because he knows he will ultimately win, started betting in his own name again in January this year.

“They gave me a £2,000 bet, and I thought this is fantastic, I didn’t believe it,” he said. “But I had a terrible day, I was hung over from New Year’s Eve and I lost £16,000, but the great thing was that I was back. By the end of the week I was £10,000 up and had already lost a couple of the accounts. I could bet £1 for every £100 everyone else could bet.”

Bob is so sure in his ability he challenged the News & Mail to a £1,000 evens bet that he could have any account limited within one month.

“I bet on the horses because I have an edge, some people love golf, I do racing. I’m just fortuitous I make money out of it,” he said.

Racing Cert

Daily Express Magazine

Robert Moore lays odds with Bob Rothman, the man who beats the bookies at their own game – and sees winnings of £17,000 in one day

Every year the British public gambles a staggering £163;5 billion on horse races. I’s no wonder that the bookies have their own favourite joke about the punting public: “Never in the field of human endeavour has so much been given by so many to so few”.

However, I’m sitting in front of a man who has turned the tables on the bookmakers. He hasn’t always been a winner. Three years ago Bob Rothman’s computer company went under and he was bankrupt. Convinced there was a way to make money fast he took up gambling. Now he is the most successful punter on the horse-racing circuit. Last year he made a profit of £440,000.

What is so immediately striking about Rothman is that he doesn’t look anything like the stereotypical gambler: dressed in a casual suede jacket and sporting a Viking moustache he neither resembles the addicted working-class bobby Box nor the upper-class casino smoothie, aka Omar Sharif.

Rothman isn’t nearly so glamorous. He doesn’t wear double breasted suits. He hasn’t got a trilby. In fact he doesn’t even go to the races. All the betting is done over the phone from a desk in the dining room of his Wimbledon home. From here he bets on up to 18 races a day, six days a week, and turns over £2 million a year. “I know I’m going to win,” he grins confidently.

When most of us enjoy a little wager at the races we talk about “favourites” and “hunches”. But Rothman speech is spattered with phrases like “informer networks”, “market manipulation” and “percentage profit”.

“Because I haven’t been gambling since my teens like many professionals, I’ve approached it from a new angle. Rather than study horses for 20 years I’ve built a network of the best racing experts in the business: owners, trainers and stableboys. I buy in their information.”

Its only 7.30 in the morning but they are already ringing in with their “warm” tips for the day’s racing. A “warm” tip is gambling parlance for inside information. And Rothman covers every last detail because he’ll have thousands of pounds riding on four legs. Was the horse stiff during its morning run? Did it finish its breakfast?

Rothman has never met some of his connections but he speaks with them all each day, and pays some a salary.

“My aim is to find this one horse in the race that is good value, either because the bookie doesn’t know enough about the horse or because the average punters are all backing the favourite, tipped by the papers.

“Looking for value is the biggest distinction between pros and the public. Pros look for winners, sure, but they won’t back them unless they’ll make a large profit.”

His bets are massive but Rothman hardly blinks as he puts £1,000 each-way on the third favourite in the 4.10 at Newmarket, and £2,000 to win on the 4.45 at Plumpton. Then Rothman puts another £40,000 on “camouflage bets”.

“These are high-risk bets that I put on to make myself look like a causal punter. You see, if the bookies catch on to the fact that I’m a professional they may try to ruin my bet by bringing down the horse’s  odds or they may even refuse to take my bets altogether. Bookies ban people who win too much.”

Among professionals, getting banned by bookies is a sign of success. Most pros get closed down once or twice. But Rothman’s rise has been so sudden that last year he was closed down by 25 different betting shops. Ever the entrepreneur, he has confounded the bookies by starting up a unique tipping business: he now sells his tips to punters and in return they put his bets on for him.

By 11.30 all his bets are set up and he leaves for lunch. While Joe Punter starts to pour into smoke-filled betting shops across the land, we whisk off in Rothman’s gold Rolls Royce to a Wimbledon wine bar. Here clean-living Rothman orders a bottle of Perrier and a Waldorf salad.

“People are very surprised when they find I’m a gambler,” he acknowledges. “They expect me to be flash with money, have loads of free time, and stay up all night.

“At first my friends thought I was just throwing my money away. For a while I was. Before I mastered gambling I’d lost £30,000, mortgaged my house, and was living off an American Express loan – all in six months.

“Whenever I have a losing streak I take a holiday and go somewhere like Bali to water-ski and relax. I’s very hard to continue making the right judgements if you’re losing. You tend to chase your losses. Virtually all punters are losers in the end,” Rothman frowns, half-amused but half-amazed. “Honestly, so many horses aren’t even fit for their races but the public keep backing them.”

After lunch we return to Rothman’s TV and blower – a specialised racing radio which relays all the results. Over and over again the commentator reaches a fever-pitch babble as each race climaxes. But for a man who has put the price of your average house on to a bunch of dumb oat-eaters, Rothman is remarkably calm.

As the afternoon progresses some of Rothman’s camouflage bets are not successful. He expected this. By four o’clock he’s down by £1,108. Then third favourite in the 4.10 comes in first and wins him £13,750. The 4.45 at Plumpton follows and wins him a further £6,250. He breaks even on the camouflage bets. “I’s been a good day,” he smiles with irritating understatement. After betting tax, he made £17,000 from one day’s work.

I was hoping to see what this amount of money looked like, but Rothman does not go to the bookies to scoop up crumpled wodges. Nor are his winnings delivered in cases full of crisp fivers. Unglamorous to the end, but they will arrive by post as a cheque.

– Scotland on Sunday, March 17.

After last week’s £2m Cheltenham jackpot, Ron McKay meets a punter who has made betting his business

If backing horses is a mug’s game then Bob Rothman is several furlongs short of the healthy gallop.

He exhibits some of the classic signs of romance of the turf – “I’d bet ten grand a week if I could” – he studies form and racing information from the moment he gets up in the morning, and he is often to be seen breaking into a wide grin. This means he’s probably off to see his bank manager.

Bob Rothman is a professional punter and the antithesis of the bookies fool. More then 25 bookmakers have refused to handle his business because he is too successful – he does not bet ten grand a week because they won’t take his money.

So he punts through an elaborate network of friends and acquaintances who place bets for him, and he runs a highly successful tipsters business complete with logarithm-like tables and electronic bleepers.

“Backing horses really isn’t risky at all,” he claims. After a steep and expensive learning curve on which he lost £35,000 in six months, Rothman perfected his cardinal equine business principles – and staking a £50,000 second mortgage on them he made more than £400,000 in 12 months on an “investment” of £2m.

He says the £35,000 was the price of his education. Through it he was appreciating form, and making  target=”_blank”>contacts in stables and among other professional punters. He didn’t start to fret when his school fees rose. “My friends did; they thought I was mad. But I was getting better with every bet, so it was just a matter of time and an application of principles.”

Rothman talks in business management terms about betting. The average punter loses, he says “because he’s doing it for entertainment – 20 or 30 guys getting together in a betting shop. If you want to win you have to work at it, to spend 40, 60 or 80 hours a week at it”

Apart from hard work Rothman holds to two basic management principles: betting “value for money” – dispensing with emotion and working out whether the odds you are being offered on a fancied horse actually make sense on the balance sheet after outgoings like tax – and betting in proportion, looking at the total of what you have and deciding what the next stake should be.

“Most gamblers chase each loss. When they lose they bet heavier on the next one. When they win they tend to hold on to the profit for later. They should be exactly the other way around.

“What you do is observe the 10% rule. If you’ve decided to invest £1,000 in ten tranches of £100 and your first horse loses, then stake next time not £100 but £90, then 10% of what you have left and so on.”

So far, so good. But doesn’t the selection of horses figure somewhere?

Rothman smiles again and seems almost to brush that aside. “If you follow my tips you will have a 30 – 40% success rate. If you scrupulously observe the principles, bet at the correct odds, you’ll do better than you would with a building society.”

What sort of profit – “percentage on turnover” is how he puts it  – could someone follow the Rothman rules anticipate? “I think 25% would be very good,” he answered. “Bookmakers work on 22% so that would be getting a few points on them.”

The visible signs of Rothman’s success include a gold Cartier watch, a low-slung sports car – he traded in the gold Rolls Royce because his wife told him it was an “old man’s car” – and a large modern house in Wimbledon which is also his office.

So what had been his most successful bets?

“Cheltenham, this week was very good for me. The most I have won in one day is £72,000. Twice. And the most on one horse, Gymnastics, a 33-1 shot was £35,000.”

The problem is that the ultimate accolade of success – blacklisting by William Hill and Co – pulls him up in his tracks. Enter Rothmans revenge, the masterplan to beggar the bookmakers.

He has brought a horse, a proven winner abroad with no former history in this country which, through a network of ownerships, shell companies and the like, he intends running in a novice plate, far below its class. “It’s going to cost about £30,000 – £50,000 for the horse plus stabling – and on the betting I expect to make £50,000 to £100,000 within the next six to eight weeks.”

Then, retirement from the turf? “Hardly. Sell and do the same thing again.

“In the City it would probably be called insider dealing. The Jockey Club might not approve, but in racing there is no such concept. The difference is that in the City, insider information invariably leads to success. On the turf failure is always possible.

“You know, I brought a horse once and it died of a heart attack almost next day.”

Bob’s a winner

The Jonathan Stayton interview

Bob Rothman, who runs a horse-racing tipping service, has been so successful with his bets he says his accounts with leading bookmakers are limited within days of opening.

In his most successful year, Bob claims to have made a profit of about £440,000, but is now reduced to gambling smaller quantities as many bookmakers refuse to accept his money.

The 53-year-old has resorted to placing bets, averaging between £500 and £2,000, using friends’ accounts to avoid the restrictions placed on his own – but finds that even those are often limited within hours.

“I opened an account in my wife’s name and had one bet at lunchtime, with racing starting at 2pm,” he said. “It was 12/1 and I placed £833.33 to win £10,000. It was running in the evening and when I went to place another bet I found it had been limited already, even though the race had not been run.

“I opened one account on a Saturday afternoon and put £600 into it, and made that into £18,500 by the end of the day, and then couldn’t get proper bets on the account.

“On another one I turned £2,000 into £12,000 and they suspended the account so I couldn’t get at it, and they said we want a copy of the bank details and passport, because they think ‘who the hell is this person?’.”

Despite the best efforts of bookmakers, Bob, who claims to have won more than £100,000 in a single day, says he has 11 or 12 different accounts at his disposal.

His gambling began more than 20 years ago, when he fell in love with a Ferrari.

“I thought, ‘I’ll win that’,” he said. “I got £2,000 out and put it on a 14/1 tip and lost it all. Then a while later I put another £2,000 on the same horse and lost that too when it finished fourth and I was so cross and so disappointed so I said I am going to do it myself.”

In 1986, Bob advertised for contacts and admits to losing solidly for months, before his luck changed.

“I had a couple of golden years,” he said. “And then got closed down in 1986/7. I’m gutted because in my second year I won £440,000 and I thought ‘I can’t believe this’.”

He turned to tipping when he answered an advert seeking an investor in a racing syndicate, only to be told ‘you’ll never beat the bookie’.

“I thought there was a real opening there and set up the business,” he said.

Rothman Racing, based in Cobham, charges its members £80 per month for tips, also retaining whatever a £50 bet would win.

“Tipping is a lot different to betting,” he said. “With betting to win you’re trying to get value. If you offered me heads versus tails at 5/4, I’d do it all day long and end up making 20%. But if you’re tipping, if it comes up tails four times in a row, your customers will leave you. People want winners so they don’t always get value. No one’s very excited about betting on odds on horses so you have to come half way between.

“It is like buying widescreen televisions – if they are worth £2,000, and are offered for £1,500, you’re not too interested, but if they’re offered for £300 you say ‘how many?’ – it is a case of making the decision on whether the return is worth it. On the National Lottery people, on average, get 50p in the pound back – if you bought 14-million tickets you would get £7million back, but in racing it’s about 85p in the pound betting blind.”

Bob, who says he is happy to lose money because he knows he will ultimately win, started betting in his own name again in January this year.

“They gave me a £2,000 bet, and I thought this is fantastic, I didn’t believe it,” he said. “But I had a terrible day, I was hung over from New Year’s Eve and I lost £16,000, but the great thing was that I was back. By the end of the week I was £10,000 up and had already lost a couple of the accounts. I could bet £1 for every £100 everyone else could bet.”

Bob is so sure in his ability he challenged the News & Mail to a £1,000 evens bet that he could have any account limited within one month.

“I bet on the horses because I have an edge, some people love golf, I do racing. I’m just fortunate I make money out of it,” he said.

Click Bob Rothman to view the original article

John Piper is one of the world’s most respected and able market analysts, and is the UK’s most experienced independent trader in futures and options on the web.

John Piper Interviews Bob Rothman in The Technical Trader, the City’s most respected trading newsletters

John has been trading markets since the mid 80s, trading right through the ’87 Crash, annual turnover exceeding £2m of option premiums on his personal account, managing money in excess of $1m, TV trading contest winner, and founder of The Technical Trader subscription newsletter – the definitive trading resource since 1989.

He is also the best-selling author of The Way To Trade, the classic work on trading psychology that gets deep into the mind of the market, and his 2007 book Binary Betting revolutionises the way we trade today.

JP: It is Wednesday 27th May and I am sitting here with Bob Rothman a professional trader with a difference. Bob do you want to explain?

BR: I call myself a professional gambler. I think both terms are more or less the same, one day you’re trading the next day you’re gambling. It’s all fundamentally the same principal. You buy cheap, sell expensive.

JP: Do you mean that one day you are trading in the sense…

BR: I do regard the trading element of gambling as more of the pussy side of things. Where you take a small secure profit, so trading for me is where I back a horse at 5-1, and then lay it at 4-1 to get a sure win. That would be trading. Whereas just backing it at 5-1 is the gamble. Personally I think trading is bad value because you are giving away too much. If you are laying off part of the bet you have to pay a premium or give a premium price to lay it off.

JP: Yes, with binary bets it is the same thing. If you bail out you miss the lion’s share of the profit. You may do better on the one bet but if you keep doing it you miss out on the big wins.

BR: The value is to iron out fluctuations in your cash flow and also the fluctuations in your emotional state because it maybe you haven’t got what it takes to carry on. By trading you can guarantee you will have some winners all the time but they will be smaller winners. I don’t think you will make as much money by trading out of situations.

JP: Yes, I have come to the same conclusions myself. To succeed profits have got to run.

BR: I tell you where I would trade myself and that is to increase value. Say I wanted £1000 on a horse and you “know” it is going to shorten up (meaning get more expensive to back – Ed.) then I may put £2000 on it and sell £1000 back. So you have increased the value, you have increased your net value on the £1000 that you were willing to bet in the first place.

JP: OK, but say if that does not happen.

BR: Then you have made a bad decision.

JP: You don’t bail out if that happens.

BR: Sometimes…

JP: In fact we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves, the first question I was going to ask you was how did you get into this to start with? What attracted you to this business?

when I was a kid, I guess about 16 or 17, I thought it would be cool to be a professional gambler

BR: Well, I tried a couple of times actually. The first time I tried was when I was a kid I guess about 16 or 17 and I thought it would be cool to be a professional gambler. So I tried it for around three months and I could not make it pay.

JP: This was horses?

BR: Yes, horses. Actually I played a bit of cards and I could win money playing cards among friends. But basically I gave it up as a bad idea.

JP: You were quite good at backgammon as I recall.

BR: Backgammon I loved. I think backgammon is a wonderful trading training game for trading skills. Because backgammon teaches you to be honest about your decisions. There are a few situations where there absolutely is a right and a wrong answer. So unless you perform perfectly in those situations where you know there is a right or a wrong answer you have got no chance of performing when the answer is a bit more ambiguous.

I guess the classic one is in the 3 rolls v. the 3 rolls run-off in the end game. The rule is it’s a double and it’s a drop (meaning you do not accept the doubling dice after a double – Ed.). People only take (the dice) when they are steaming, when they are chasing. So you know, if someone takes the dice, that they have a flaw in their decision making process. Usually its because they are emotionally upset because they are losing. Obviously you get into more complex situations where it is not clear cut and it then becomes a matter of opinion.

JP: When we played together I just felt that you  had a huge psychological advantage over me for various reasons. I am not quite sure what they were. You seemed to be able to read the game much better and were much less affected psychologically by what was going on. I have never played the game that seriously so I guess that is what I should expect.

BR: There are two edges in backgammon. They are that you maximise your winning possibilities by moving your pieces in such a way that, firstly, more rolls are lucky for you and, secondly. unlucky for your opponent. If you do that well and your opponent doesn’t do it well the result is that you appear to be lucky more and your opponent feels that he is being unlucky.

JP: Hmm, so I was only playing half the game.

If you feel you are not doing well, you start doing worse

BR: Yes, and if you feel you are not doing well, you start doing worse. Apart from that, the other strength is just in making the right decisions. Take the classic example of the doubling dice. The rule is that you double when you have the advantage and you accept the double if you have no less than 25% chance of winning the game. So at a 25% chance it would be a neutral decision; more than 25% you take it and less than 25% you drop.

So, as long as you make the right decision, in other words if you knew you had a 26% chance of the game and you took the cube even though you lost it because you were likely to lose it, as the odds are around 3-1 that you are going to lose, you can be proud of yourself because you made the right decision. It doesn’t matter that you have lost. What does matter is that you have made the right decision.

JP: And you compute that mathematically?

BR: Well, you try to. As I say, in backgammon there are only a few situations where it is absolutely clear cut where you can calculate. The others are matters of opinion. When you play backgammon, even with world experts, there will be a range of opinions. They will argue and they will disagree as to which is the right course of action. Generally they will agree but there will be some moves where no one will know which is the best move.

JP: Interesting! To return to your trading now the first time you tried you were 16 or 17 on the horses…

BR: That didn’t work and the second time was just as I was leaving the second job in my life…

JP: As an accountant?

BR: No, actually no, the first 9 months was with Price Waterhouse and then 9 months with Olivetti. I left and was in business, and my girlfriend, Sandy, broke down on the A3 and got a lift home by a trainer. John Jenkins. He stopped, gave her a life home with an owner in the car and they saw we had stables and we got talking about horses.

I won 3 months salary and I didn’t bet again for another 5 years.

This guy, she told me later, he said something like, “back this horse, Sunnybanks Angel, it will win next week.” The trainer then said, “shut up, shut up, you idiot!” She explained it much more elegantly than that and I thought, hmm, looks like someone has let something slip and they shouldn’t have done. I bet it and I think I went for £1500 which, compared to what I was earning at the time, which was around £500 pm. So I won 3 months salary and I didn’t bet again for another 5 years.

JP: So that was your second go, one bet?

BR: I had the second go and I realised that I did not want to bet again without an advantage. I had realised as a child that I could not make it work and the next time, and this was when I really started betting. Sandy and I split up, we had horses at home and they went into a livery yard and I used to go and ride my horse at the weekend. One weekend I was talking to the guy who was the handyman at the stable. We were just chatting and he said “Oh I backed this horse at 20 to 1 and this one at 16 to1.” My ears pricked up and I said “Oh really, how come you can do that.” He told me he used to work in racing, “I used to ride out, and I hear a lot of stuff . In fact the owners of this place, they have a horse that is going to win in a couple of weeks time called Tom Forrester.

I forgot all about it really. A week or so later I was sat having breakfast and I suddenly thought, crikey that horse will be running soon. I had better check it. I opened up the paper and there it was. It was the first time I had looked at a racing paper for years. I thought, my God, this is a sign, this is karmic resonance (laughs).

I must have intuitively known this was the right day and I was driving into work and I stopped at the traffic lights near the Chessington World of Adventure and there was a Ferrari in the window of the garage there. I looked across and it was a beautiful sunny day and the Ferrari was about 30 grand – this was 20 years ago. And I thought – I’ll win that! That’s it, I’m going to win that Ferrari today.

The horse was 14 to 1. So I went to the bank, I got 2 grand out and I took the morning off work. I said to the guys, I’m just going out for a meeting, and I spread all this money round these betting shops.

JP: You couldn’t put it on all at once?

BR: No, because you would kill the odds. I felt like I had done a good job as they had only shortened up to 12. Which I thought was pretty good. It took a lot of driving around, 50 quid here and a 100 quid there.

JP: But you knew enough about betting to know that you needed to do that?

BR: Oh yes, I remember now, I managed a betting shop before I went to university. That was how I knew that bookmakers, if a stranger came in with a big bet for a horse, they would ring it through to their head office. If two or more shops rang it through the head office would shorten up the horse and so I was putting it in, in fairly small amounts in different betting shops.

JP: So really that job in the betting shop was your apprenticeship almost? The way it turned out.

BR: Yes, it was helpful. Not in picking winners. Anyway, I guess like many people, the race came up, the horse ran absolutely terribly (laughs) and I was choked, I couldn’t believe it, I had just wasted two thousand pounds. I wasn’t well off at the time. I needed the money.

In fact I had split up with Sandy and I was living at a friend’s house in a tiny little box room while she was sitting at home entertaining people around the swimming pool and I was running out of cash.

Anyway, I rode my horse that weekend, and Bill said “Oh hello, I hope you didn’t back that horse, or lose too much on it.” I couldn’t tell him what I had done and I told him I had lost a tenner. And he said “that’s good. Its good, because what happened was their grandmother died and they had a funereal in the morning. So obviously they went to the funeral and they must have unsettled it in some way…

Anyway, finally I start winning and I guess fundamentally my strategy was to identify other people I thought were winners, and help them win by getting money on for them and that way I would be privy to the information and it worked. I met a couple of very good people who mentored me and helped me sift through. I mean at one stage I had around 40 people ringing me up every day with information. It was driving me mad.

But luckily I could turn to one of my mentors and say, I’ve had this guy ringing me up about this horse here. “What an idiot” he said, I’ve spoken to the stables this morning and it’s not even fit. What about this other guy, he has rung me up about this horse. He would say, “that is ludicrous, it is not the right distance for that horse.” So he helped me sift out horses and information and I learnt about the business and then finally I started winning.

The first time I won, I think I won about twelve thousand quid over a couple of weeks and I was going halves with this other professional. I found a guy who used to be a racehorse owner, in fact, he still had horses. He had some outlets and some bookmakers who were taking what in those days were called Sporting Life prices.

In other words they were laying the prices in the paper, fundamentally when they find mugs they would say, look you can have this price in the paper, and I said, don’t you worry, I will give you the bets, and we will win. So I did, I gave him the bets, we lost the first week. I sent him £500 I think.

The second week I think I won about £3,000, the third week around £8,000 and then about another £5,000. It was about £13,000 he owed me and…. he did a runner (laughs).

JP: Oh no!

BR: I caught him, I wondered what was going on, anyway, I caught him one night emptying his office out and he gave me three cheques and they all bounced. The saddest thing was the professional I was working with, he was in

for half, so I had to honour the £6,500 of the £13,000 that we won. So my first major victory actually put me even more in the hock.”

JP: That is not fun is it? So you didn’t know him very well then.

BR: No, I didn’t know him very well. He had been introduced through someone else. It is another of those things you start learning.

JP: What happened to the money do you think.

BR: I don’t think he had the money. I think what happened was, I had given him cash to put the bets on and it turned out he had a horse. He was in trouble and he had a horse that was running, it was running in a cellar somewhere, and he had taken the cash…

JP: A cellar?

BR: A cellar, which is a low grade horse race and I think he was desperate and he had taken the cash that I had given him, and maybe the cash we had won as well, and he had backed his own horse and lost it all. Anyway, he was going skint and he was a sad person. So it was a lesson. It’s not the only time. That’s one thing about trading in the stock market, you don’t get knocked, do you, you always get paid.

JP: Yes, you do, I’ve never had a situation like that.

BR: I had another one. I had a bookmaker and I sent him a £5,000 deposit and I bet with him and I won’t mention names because the guy who used to do his card is now a very major player in racing, but with the bookmaker I bet and won £1,000 so now I’m owed £6,000 and he did a runner (laughs) with my five grand and my winnings. So the first lesson is…getting paid.

JP: This is still 1985/86 we are talking about?

BR: Yes, or maybe 86/87.

JP: And you have been doing this ever since so it is now over twenty years…

(to be continued)

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