A second and third in the first tip race yesterday was a bit frustrating as it broke the "find a winner" sequence but a 1-2 (and indeed 1-2-3-4-5) in The Grand Annual was a welcome return to winning form. It's very tough to find winners of Cheltenham Festival Handicaps, so to be on 4 out of 5 so far isn't too shabby. Today we move over to the outer NEW Course. A very different test and one where my perception is we get the more surprising and bigger priced winners and pl... [Read More]

We managed to find the winner of all 3 tip races yesterday and a nice e/w placed one at decent Odds to places or enhanced places also. Myretown back in from 12/1 was visually very impressive as was the confidently tipped Puturhandstogether, whilst Haiti Couleurs ran very well to win the final race on the Card. We are attacking just the 2 Handicaps today, Wednesday for me is by far the weakest day with a pair of Races that I would not have if the Festival was 3 days, which I much preferred a... [Read More]

A couple of 6/1 SP winners from the 5 analysed races yesterday with Go Dante just getting the race won at 6/1 and Johnny The Diva getting a deserved win for his recent consistency at Gowran Park. Decent placed / enhanced place runs too from Kentford Mallard and Newtonian at Hereford, Afadil and Not So Woolley at Sandown and Boolamore Classic at Ayr. There is action today at Carlisle , Warwick and Naas and we have tips from each. Robin is on his way to his annual cottage location in Gloucest... [Read More]

There are two excellent Handicap Hurdle races at Sandown which are historically eagerly awaited on the weekend before Christmas. The Imperial Cup winner could in the glory days of Martin Pipe and Reg Akehurst often be followed to Cheltenham 6 days later with a wet sail, and although those days have gone, still two prizes eagerly contested. The Good ground there and at Hereford, where we'll attack the opening Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle may be a precursor to 4 days on quickly drying ... [Read More]

Good Morning, NO normal Tips - see notes for suggested e/w Patent (small unit 3 x e/w singles / 3x e/w doubles / 1 x e/w treble) -------A frustrating result to start yesterday at Fontwell where the selected runners finished 2nd and 3rd behind the one we'd clearly suggested was 3rd rated. Good analysis, but on this occasion we couldn't find the winner.  No joy at Wincanton where the quietly fancied Jack Sprat ran very poorly and a not unexpected winner at short Odds ... [Read More]

There is National Hunt Racing at Fontwell, Thurles and Wincanton today and enough ammunition in the handicap races for us to have a selected race at each of the Meetings. There is also an AW Fixture at Newcastle. We've reduced the Ante Post for Cheltnham from 2 selections to just the one today. It's a confident one, perhaps the most confident so far but with drying ground and the threat it could be Good ground by the time they go on to the New Course on Thursday, Ian just wants to have a fu... [Read More]

Good Morning; A nice win at a bigger than anticipated price for Glen Road in the sole tip race at Market Rasen yesterday, winning at an SP of 16/1 and another sign of the prowess of the Sue Smith yard at Market Rasen. There really isn't anything for us to attack today with any degree of confidence as there are very small fields at Catterick over the Jumps and a couple of poor AW Fixtures. It is fair to say we've avoided the AW this winter, mainly because our dual purpose Northern / AW ... [Read More]

The advice about Maid On The Moon was pretty clear and concise and not for the first time SEan pulled a reserve out of the hat who got a run and a win. Advised at 25/1, winning at 20/1. A bit of a disappointing return from the other runners but a nice net profit on the day. We seem to be in for a considerable dry spell overall up to and through Cheltenham, apart from some rain over the weekend and that will impact on Going both here and in Ireland in the coming days. There is just... [Read More]

A nice win for Brandt in a bit of a harum-scarum race at Leopardstown yesterday at an SP of 5/1. A slightly fortunate enhanced place at 25/1 for Wine And Dine, more than  compensated for the unlucky Brucejack. With moderate fields in the handicaps at Newcastle and Southwell today and a poor AW Card at Wolverhampton, we'll focus on a pair of very competitive big field handicaps at Leopardstown. [Read More]

A nice win for Moroder returning an SP of 33/1 and a fine runner up effort for Chosen Diamond at Navan advised at and returning a double figure SP. It was disappointing not to find the winner of the Morebattle at Kelso and that race and also the Navan race would have highlighted the big priced winners (including Dunboyne at 66/1) had we done the usual full analysis as being over-priced, not tips let's be clear, but a strong backing in my eyes for the fuller more detailed analysis having it'... [Read More]

We go from the famine of the past week, very small fields and very few options, to a relative feat today with big marquee Handicaps at Doncaster, Kelso and Newbury and a very interesting 16 runner Handicap at Navan. Whilst some of those races look most likely to be won by those towards the top of the market, there may be surprises elsewhere (the Morebattle at Kelso as an example is a race we've won a few years back with one advised at a big price), hopefully we can crack the conundrums today.&nb... [Read More]

A pair of places at Clonmel from the two tip races yesterday. Imperial Tune advised at 10/1 was a runner up returning a 15/2 SP, whilst Da Big Fella advised at 40/1 ran a fine third returning an SP of 18/1. There are 38 runners in 6 races at Newbury and 40 runners in 6 races at Ffos Llas today over the Jumps. Very few punting options. Whilst the two weeks before Cheltenham is usually devoid of much quality, we;d normally get plenty of big field lower Handicap grade options. The sudden Heavy... [Read More]

The Fixtures at Ludlow and Taunton don't offer too much handicap betting opportunity today, but there are a couple of races at Clonmel that offer some speculative punts and although some are very big prices, the heavy conditions and lack of quantifiable form in those conditions for many of the runners, means that we have quiet, and certainly sufficient confidence to put them up for small each way investments. [Read More]

There are disappointing field sizes at Bangor On Dee and Wincanton today, a few options though at Wetherby and we will focus on the 3 mile Handicap Hurdle at 3.53pm. A couple of big priced Trackers in 9 runner races really catch my eye too for a small accumulator bet and if we add in a similar type (not in the Tracker system)  at Bangor on Dee, we can create a small unit Patent bet (3 x e/w win / 3 x e/w double / 1 x e/w Treble) for a bit of fun and hopefully a nice return. After ... [Read More]

Good Morning, A winner and a few places at Punchestown yesterday. Today there are just 31 runners in 6 races at Leicester and although Catterick has a couple of races with 11 runners (one a non handicap) the other race does look very likely to be dominated by a short priced favourite and 2-3 others priced 7/1 or lower. The AW Meeting at Wolverhampton is simply TV fodder. We will abstain for the day and look again tomorrow morning. The CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL Handicap weights are ... [Read More]

Due to waiting for the result of the Inspection at Punchestown this morning, an abridged version of the morning e-mail today. The 3.35 race is effectively the 3.50 race from the originally planned staging that was abandoned last Friday. Michael has reviewed the race again and has come to the same conclusion that he did on Friday (analysis below). He has also added a couple of mud-loving selections in the 2 Divisions of the 2 and a half mile Handicap Hurdle (4.10 + 4.43) [Read More]

A win for Westernsunrise at Fairyhouse advised at 12/1 returned 8/1 SP was a disappointing outcome to a day when we had no joy in the big race at Newcastle and little joy elsewhere. The run of Sporting Glory in the 2.15 at Fairyhouse was at face value disappointing but it's one of a few we are monitoring for Ante Post purposes at Cheltenham and we'll continue to monitor one of the 3 possible entries it has. There is a further Ante Post update at the bottom of this email from Ian. A 19 ... [Read More]

A nice return yesterday with winners of both of the remaining tip races, after the Abandonment at Punchestown. Barricane drifted in the market from the advised 7/1 to an SP of 10/1 and was given a very calm ride arriving late and decisively. At Exeter, a number of non runners meant that Diamatiste shortened from the advised 8/1 into 9/2 but a winner is a winner and we'll never complain about winners. The focus today may be on Kempton but frankly the 3.35 main race leaves us all feeling a li... [Read More]

A disappointing outcome in the sole full tip race at Punchestown yesterday which was dominated by Gordon Elliott runners. The fact that a horse we suggested might be the best value in the UK, (Has Troke) won at 16/1 was just adding frustration on top of frustration. We do at least have some decent and competitive action and some decent field sizes to attack today in the UK at Exeter and Warwick and again at Punchestown. They aren't particularly high quality races but there is each way profi... [Read More]

If you'd have fully read the analysis on the 3.20 at Doncaster yesterday, you may have had a wry but frustrating smile on your face, as the Henderson horse, beaten out of sight on every completed run in its career so far, went past the winning post as a well backed winner. Whether you are on the side of the spectrum that said "it's found a level and the right trip" or the other end of "it's clearly not been run to its merits and punters have been conned" is up to you. The facts probably lie some... [Read More]

There is NH Racing at Doncaster and Ludlow today, Doncaster must pass an inspection shortly but signs are promising. Sadly the Ludlow Card had delivered very small fields and Kempton on the AW had nothing compelling to offer. Thankfully the wonderful flexibility of the Irish Racing Authorities, who could teach the blinkered duffers in the UK so much, means that the Punchestown Card rightly abandoned on Sunday will now be run tomorrow and today's Fixture at Punchestown will be moved to ... [Read More]

A third place, so placed finish from Atlanticexpress (advised 14/1 returned 15/2 SP) in the first tip race at Carlisle yesterday after Always A Reason was declared a non runner. In the second race the advised Nights In Venice was placed third (advised 11/1 returned 8/1 SP), Indian Louis was runner up (advised 8/1 returned 10/1 SP) and the mentioned main danger and third rated Hello Judge won at 7/1. A shame they finished 3 - 2 -1 in Ratings order and not 1-2-3 but as always the consistency of th... [Read More]

There is bound to be a sombre atmosphere around all Tracks for the next few weeks as Racing comes to terms with the loss of Michael O'Sullivan and with a couple of non descript National Hunt Fixtures with mainly moderate field sizes and an AW Fixture as Bookie fodder today it hasn;t been easy to find some credible each way value to back with sufficient confidence. However, our in-form Northern expert hopes he has found a couple at Carlisle to keep us ticking ove [Read More]

Morning; Sadly there is nothing remotely "Good" about the news that has filtered through in the past 30 minutes as I have been writing up these notes with the tragic news of the death in the early hours this morning of the Irish Jockey Michael O'Sullivan. Whilst the lack of news and occasional updates had suggested an extremely critical situation and all logic suggested he was in a deep induced coma, you always hope beyond hope that something positive may happen. Sadly this is not the ... [Read More]

There is some good National Hunt action today at Ascot, Wincanton and Gowran Park and a decent Card at Wincanton and some AW action. We will focus on some very competitive looking Handicaps at Haydock, Ascot and Gowran Park in chronological order.  [Read More]

Good Morning; NO TIPS TODAY!Very contrasting and raw emotions yesterday. An excellent win for Punxsutawney Phil advised at 16/1 and won at 12/1 SP with a fine front running ride. Very sad sight to see the brave Whatupnellie who had finished a close runner up at Clonmel at 9/2 stumble just after the line and suffer a fatal injury. I'm sure she would have gone on to win plenty of races and as a Mare probably supply an ongoing bloodline to connections. The fragility of the horse and fate,... [Read More]

Wins yesterday for a couple whose SP reflected non-runners in their respective races probably more than any significant support, so if you were on Gata Ban at the advised 6/1 (SP was 7/2) and West To The Bridge at 12/1 (SP was 17/2) it was a half decent return. The NH Cards at Sandown and Leicester today don't have a single race with double figure runners declared, apart from a 10 runner Novice Hunter Chase at Leicester. Not much better at Newcastle over the Jumps nor Clonmel. We ... [Read More]

We went to Ayr with some speculative punts yesterday and quiet confidence, sadly on this occasion the outcome was poor, but that is the nature of the approach we take to each way value, so we'll dust ourselves down and look for some profit in 3 very tight and competitive handicaps today at Hereford and Wetherby. We're about to relaunch the Members Paddock Area and integrate it to the Proofing Site that we use and whilst this has taken a lot of Ian's time it will produce great long... [Read More]

We didn't have any joy in the sole tip race at Plumpton yesterday but a decent Card at Ayr today, where we had a confidently tipped 20/1 winner at the last meeting there, gives us the opportunity to attack a couple of 13 runner Handicaps, with once again some quiet confidence about a couple at big early odds. [Read More]

A very welcome win at 33/1 SP for Lightonthewing at Chepstow yesterday, he was strongly fancied by The Advisor and delivered in fine front running style with some splendid analysis. It was a bit frustrating that Catch Him Derry, (the 3rd rated) just beat the tip Hititi at Exeter with both horses returning an SP of 10/1. The only blot was at Navan where Clonmeen was really fancied but he and Whatey's Quest failed to match the performances of the UK tips on the day. National Hunt at Plumpton ... [Read More]