Mixed fortunes............

over the last couple of days, pleased with my positions overall though, wednesdays highlight was Catch Bobs win @ 2/1 for VSR......... scraping the barrel abit when a 2/1 winner is the highlight of the day but with times hard and funds low all winners are greatly received !!

Thursday was more interesting especially in respect of the 4.30 Folkestone as soon as prices released all anyone wanted to know about was the Jarvis runner, King of Defense 5/4 did not last long............ nor did the 11/10, Evs or 10/11 !!! 8/11 was soon the price all the informed sources were asking around and the bottom of the price was found at 8/11 and then the same faces came on for the Andrew Haynes runner Crystallize ew @ 20/1, 16/1, 12/1 and 10/1. I got on both of these at 6/5 & 16/1 respectively and at the off i was happy as they were sent off at 8/11 & 15/2 during the race i was never happy with the fav but Crystallize was travelling sweetly but around 2f out he was denied a run and there after Seb Sanders was rather sympathetic (understatement) and he was allowedto come home in his own time.........definately one for the notebook.

In a previous posting i pleaded with John Gosden to run Charm School over a mile with some give in the ground, he obviously is not a follower of my blog as he ran Charm School over 7f on firm going at Yarmouth, i wanted to take this one on and through a bit of trading i laid £40 @ 5/4, different running tactics were employed as he was rather prominent rather than the usual come from behind ploy, but 2f out he lacked the pace to go with the leaders and was found wanting and stayed on one paced.

I would like to bring your attention to a new blog i have been following specializing in 2 year old races http://blog.highclassequine.com/ they also have a text/email service whereby their selections are passed on, these can be found on the blog but it saves you missing out on their info, 2 selections so far both involved in photos and both advised @ 11/2 one 2nd and the other was successful, Lady Lube Rye in the 2.00 Redcar.
Reading between the lines (i may be wrong) but i think they will be charging in the future, so get in quick for the free decent info !!!!







WEDNESDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



3.20 Ascot LAA RAYB £50 win @ 9/4 unpld -£50



VSR



6.00 Kelso CATCH BOB £38 ew @ 2/1 WON +£91.20





THURSDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



2.40 Folk BILLY BEETROOT £25 ew @ 9/2 3rd -£2.50



PERSONAL TRADING



4.30 Folk KING OF DEFENCE £50 @ 6/5 3rd -£50

4.30 Folk CRYSTALLIZE £25 ew @ 16/1 unpld -£50



6.00 Yar CHARM SCHOOL lay £100 @3.83 back £60 @ 4.88

(lay £40 @ 2.255)



2.00 Red LADY LUBE RYE £25 ew @ 11/2 WON +£165

http://blog.highclassequine.com/

Its been a quiet few days.............

in respect of my services and betting, although work has been keeping me on toes & very busy. Todays return to action should have resulted in a profit from Optimum Racing but once again the rub of the green went against them with Crimson Fern being denied a clear run about 1f out finishing like a train and being denied by the minimum margin. The flat campaign from Optimum started today which will hopefully see a return to profits, the 2008 flat season was most successful and a repeat performance will be appreciated by followers.
VSR have been very quiet, but they are very fair to subscibers in these situations by adding days onto their subscriptions, which is fair play to them.
There will be a new service featured from the 1st May with all subscribers to Optimum Racing being given a free trial of Optimum Sport, so lets see how they fare...........


OPTIMUM RACING

Tuesday

3.20 Bath FONDANT FANCY £25ew(1 pt ew) @ 10/1 unpld -£50

5.05 Bath CRIMSON FERN £25 win(1pt win) @ 7/1 2nd -£25
5.05 Bath SIRENS GIFT £25 win(1pt win) @ 7/1 3rd -£25

Hitting the woodwork............

in the last couple of days, in respect of Optimum Racing especially galling on Thursday as the outsider of the party spoilt the party, but at least a small profit was secured. Unfortunatelythis was not the case on Friday where Dead or Alive who traded at 1.18 in running found one too good and the 6 points went down. It has been a quiet couple of days with work intervening on Thursday !!! and then taking some time out with the Mrs on Friday.






THURSDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



2.40 Perth COACH LANE £25 ew @ 9/1 3rd +£20



2.40 Perth ORMELLO £25 ew @ 11/1 2nd +£30

FRIDAY

OPTIMUM RACING

7.25 Chepstow DEAD OR ALIVE £150 @ 6/4 2nd -£150

Again had the value ..............

with 7/2 a 13/8 chance but ended the day with a tiny deficit. Only one bet for me from VSR 1/2 pt each way Casual Affair in the 5.05 Perth who finished 3rd. Not much else to add on a quiet day for me.

WEDNESDAY

VSR

5.05 Perth CASUAL AFFAIR £38 ew @ 7/2 3rd -£11.40

A loss today but pleased with my trading..........

no complaints, Bubses Boy ran a stinker, surprisingly ridden promiently by Spencer this one was beaten some way out, the run is too bad to be true and this one i feel is better than this, maybe the connections are waiting for another day, the easiest way to get one beaten is from the front. I might be barking up the wrong tree and Bubses Boy may just be a mid 50 rated horse but this one was the one to takeout of the Folkestone race from his debut run and i will give him another chance. I traded well bagging 5/2 early doors as support came in for Shakin John who traded as low as 3/1 in early morning exchanges, a sp of 8/1. I then backed to lay mid afternoon giving me £100 @ 10/3 taking into account all my activity.
It was quite a lively morning with the biggest mover being Cold Turkey backed from 20/1 into 5/1 and then we had confirmation that today was the day, with the other Moore runner and supposed first string Kavaloti being scratched and Ryan Moore switching ousting the 7lb claimer Gemma Marshall. I traded a bit in the morning on the exchanges and quickly got involved around the 11/2 level when the N/R situation became public, laying back at 4/1, all this gave me a lovely position on the gamble, but although travelling well the selection was always playing catch up and i was happy enough to collect on the place bet.



TUESDAY

PERSONAL TRADING

4.40 Southwell BUBSES BOY £100 @ 5/2 lost -£100
BUBSES BOY £200 @ 2.92 back
BUBSES BOY £200 @ 2.50 lay

5.20 Kempton COLD TURKEY £30 @ 14.20 lost -£ 30
place COLD TURKEY £45 @ 2.82 WON +£78.21

calzaghe has not lost any punch ...............

sorry about that !!! But Calzaghe entered everyones notebook as Matt Chapman stated on ATR after the latest run at Folkestone when running wide on the final bend and then steadily stay on, upped in distance today i was looking to have a decent bet today. I was alerted to him running on my easyodds horse alert, this is a very useful tool and is free, if you dont use it give it a go. Its easy to sign up and a bit of fun to use, add any horse that has caught your eye and add a comment. Then on the morning of a horse alert horse running you get an email informing you of the time its running, all this can be found on www.easyodds.com , another website/blog to have a look at if you have a spare 10 minutes or so is http://www.cubone.co.uk/ i had a enjoyable time watching his youtube videos on tic tac and betting slang, watch them when you have some spare time, like me you may learn something and its all good fun.
Getting back to Calzaghe when i say a decent bet, its all relative and these days £100 ew is a decent bet for me and i was going to have £75 ew on, i had £25 ew @ 6/1 with Paddy Power early doors. But in the end thats all i had on, i was in a pub and phoned up to have my bet but was quoted a price of 8/1, having been 6/1 in the morning i perceived this to mean no market confidence behind Calzaghe, i was oblivious to the fact that 12/1 had been available before support came in !!!
My other bet came later in the afternoon where i noticed support for Players Please the connections know how to land a touch and although missing the fancy prices i was happy with the 7/2 & 4/1 obtained. A mistake 4 out put paid to his chances, but even a flawless round would not have been enough to overturn the impressive Classic Swain, but Players Please is now eligible for handicaps and if learning to settle may be worth following ........... when the money is down !!

SUNDAY

PERSONAL TRADING

2.10 Ling CALZAGHE £25 ew @ 8/1 WON +£250

4.50 Winc PLAYERS PLEASE £70 ew @ 4/1 £30 ew @ 7/2 3rd -£23

Mr Gosden, please run Charm School over 12f..........

on going with a bit of give and we can be in business, i had a small bet today mainly due to the generous EW terms offered by Paddy Power of 1/4 odds 1-2-3-4-5 & BOG and the give in the ground at the Berkshire course. Slowly into stride, staying on under a tender ride then finishing a never nearer 7th this is a sure fire winner over 1m 2f........... i think !!!

Again not a great day, especially in respect of OPTIMUM who really have endured some awful fortune of late, and today we really had our noses rubbed in it, with the Twiston Davies first string and Optimum advised Tricky Trickster being a late withdrawal and then Nigel winning it with Hello Bud, we did our dough as NRNB was not applicable, and i was busy at work but and this is not aftertiming if i had realised that the trainer had another runner i would have had a £10/20 ew on his other runner, i would but i did not ........... no need to go harping on about what i might have backed !!!

I felt Middlesboro may have built on last weeks success and quite ironic that Schwarzer denied Boro the 3 points, i felt that Chelsea would have too much fire power for an under strength Arsenal defense this was correct but did not matter as the first leg went down.


OPTIMUM RACING

Scot Grand Nat TRICKY TRICKSTER £50 ew @ 10/1 lost -£100

PERSONAL TRADING

2.35 CHARM SCHOOL £37.50 ew @ 8/1 unpld -£75

SPORTS BETTING

Middlesboro 5/4 Chelsea 6/4 £100 double lost -£100

A day to forget.............

with my only return £3.80 from the ever reliable VSR, although my £38 each way required 3 seperate bets ............. it makes you question whether its all worthwhile at times, but always remember crack on with bets the bookies dont want you to have........ apart from arbing which this is not these careful ew races are ones the bookies hate, it takes effort but i wanted BOG and in this case my £38 ew consisted of £5.54, £23.00 & £9.46 ew........ lucky im not an agent for Mr Veitch..........dont think i would be of much use !!!!


FRIDAY

OPTIMUM RACING

5.00 Chelt TRAMANTANO £100 @ 7/2 R4 10p unpld -£100

VSR

5.25 Sedge TREEKO £38 ew @ 11/2 2nd +£3.80

PERSONAL TRADING

2.20 Ayr DESCRIPTION £37.50 ew @ 11/4 unpld -£75

6.45 Chelt BLAZING BAILEY £50 @ 4.40 unpld -£50

Clement Freud............made me cry......

i can still remember the day as a young kid of 8 years old,on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, my Dad was standing up in Tatts and in between races i would collect autographs on my Racecard........ my hall of fame would read Lester, Willie Carson, Brian Taylor, Greville Starkey, Tony Murray, Ernie Johnson, Eddie Hide etc etc and they would gladly sign my racecard, then i spotted Clement Freud who i knew from my dads band on the run album and the advert with Henry the dog, so i strolled up to him and politely asked Clement to sign my racecard, he said to me in a rather stern manner ........." i dont sign autographs" at that time my whole little world crumbled around me as i felt so embarressed and felt the world and their uncles were laughing at me !!! i ran back to my dads balling my eyes out !! who quickly put me at ease by laughing !!! Dad told me Clement was a quirky gentleman and that it was not a personal attack on me, although i took some persuading an ice cream cleared my tears !! I never took this knock back personally and in later years i thoroughly enjoyed his articles especially on a Saturday in the post, a character that will be missed throughout the racing world and beyond.

THURSDAY

SPORTS BETTING

Hamburg DRAW NO BET £100 @ 2.92 lost -£100

Not much to say...........

with none of my services playing although VSR was considering Springfield Raki that won the 3.00 Market Rasen but the 7 runners and price put them off, 9/4 at the time of the message this was a well supported 13/8 jolly.
I had a little dabble with one today in the 4.50 Yarmouth on Buddhist Monk, eye catching last time out when the saddle slipped in a hot handicap on his seasonal appearance, i thought this one had a definite chance, i was concerned with the distance, im of the opinion 1m 4/6f is the optimum trip but this weaker contest combined with the debut run meant that i wanted an interest. My other worry was on the EW terms as Rowan Rio was an early scratching leaving 8, and there was a ground proviso over Dark Prospect but the price started to go so i had £50 ew @ 5/1. Thankfully the dead 8 left the stalls, i was oblivious to the race as work took over, but we finished 3rd, so no damage done.




TUESDAY

PERSONAL TRADING

4.50 Yarmouth BUDDHIST MONK £50 ew @ 5/1 3rd Nil p/l

A quiet Easter...............

which suited me, no racing on Good Friday was very much appreciated and i had the day off rather than sit at work twiddling my thumbs. So no action on Friday my inactivity carried on through Saturday and on Sunday a couple put up by VSR who literally led everywhere bar the post, which was a tad frustrating !

Monday started off well with a nice 7/2 winner in the form of FLOS LAS DIOMOND from the inform source of VSR, a cracking each way bet that went one better than yesterdays Dazzling Light. Then a bit of trading consolidated this profit, in the 3.25 Yarmouth Thousand Miles attacted the support of some respected faces so i followed in with £200 @ 3/1 and layed back my stake at an average of 3.37 with the gutsy success of Thousand Miles my profit came to £126.00, so a nice way to start the week on monday.






SUNDAY



VSR



3.10 Towcester BUSKER ROYAL £35 ew @ 9/4 2nd -£19.25



4.50 Musselburgh DAZZLING LIGHT £35 ew @ 10/3 2nd -£11.67



MONDAY



VSR



1.55 Chepstow FLOS LAS DIAMOND £34 ew @ 7/2 WON +£142.80



PERSONAL TRADING



3.25 Yarmouth THOUSAND MILES £200 @ 3/1 WON +£600

THOUSAND MILES Lay £200 @ 3.37 -£474

VSR GOOD RUN CONTINUES ...............

since i have been using the service (jan) my profits stand at just over £1400 that equates to over 56 points profit, they play with the odds in their favour in uncompetitive events mostly, the results have been impressive with the highlight being Zaynar advised @ 25/1 for the Triumph. I have decided to change my staking from today with the service. Im taking the £1405.05 profit as my bank with VSR and now staking 5% of this bank per advice, rounded up to the nearest £ so the next bet of 1/2 pt ew would equal £36ew instead of my current £25 ew. And my bets will always be with a bookmaker offering BOG namely Paddy Power, Stan James, Better or Demmys even if that means taking a lesser price at the time of placing the bet.

VSR had a decent day on Thursday with one bet one winner in the form of the well backed CAOBA who won comfortably in the Wincanton 3.50.

The two selections from Optimum ran with credit as has been the case recently but just not getting the rub of the green, im down about 24 points so far but thats something that a successful run will soon reverse, being a long term member helps in these situations, as you have sustained brilliant winning runs previously and experienced winning more than this in a month. Its frustrating more than anything but playing with the odds in your favour will reap the expected rewards............. its only a matter of time. On Wednesday was pipped for 3rd by a head, becoming outpaced then running on again, whilst on Thursday Black Hills lost all chance when nearly being put through the rails rounding the bend before entering the straight.

A small loss from me on Wednesday which was slightly frustrating as my EW choice in the 2yo race was between the pair who ran behind Star Rover the debut winner was was carrying a 7lb penalty, namely Black Daddy & Red Avalanche both showed promise on their debuts but personally i felt that Black Daddy had more scope for improvement, error on my part as Black Daddy showed nothing and finished last, whilst Red Avalanche built on the debut run to finish 2nd @ 28/1.









WEDNESDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



3.40 Hereford SUPER JUDGE £50 ew @ 13/2 LOST -£100



PERSONAL TRADING



2.00 Nottingham BLACK DADDY £25 ew @ 10/1 LOST -£50





THURSDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



4.00 Ludlow BLACK HILLS £50 ew @ 11/2 LOST -£100



VSR



3.50 Wincanton CAOBA £25 ew @ 5/2 WON +£75

A busy but successful day ...........

culminating in a 2/1 double on the evenings Champions League matches on the 2.5 goal market, Man Utd Defense has been as wobbly as my gut recently and i was originally going to just back this at Evens, i would have had the Overs my fav, but my fiancee and her family are all gooners so i was going to have to watch this match tonight so i wanted an interest, 1/2 was skinny but it was the side i wanted to be with, but value it was not, oops sorry Dad !! Thankfully for me it all came right and was a nice ending to the day.

Optimum put up All for the Cause today in the 2.50 Sedgefield, it ran with credit finishing second to the impressive Ingratitude, it was put up as a win bet but the race had a few no hopers in it and i preferred the EW option, but it nearly came unstuck at the last when i thought that All for the cause was going to jump the running rail.

VSR had a decent day with Black Beauty being backed as defeat was out of the question, their selection Alfarid was drifting, once again highlighting the BOG offer.

My other bet was on Select in the 4.40 Pontefract, this was all the rage this morning, all the right faces were lumping on, Ladbrokes went from 5/4 to 4/5 in one very quick move, and within 15 minutes 2.32 became 1.94, i managed to acquire some 11/8 and felt happy with myself. Then come the shows from the track and as Big Mac would scream ........... we had flip flopping favourites as Select drifted from odds on to 2.90 on the exchanges, the SP of 13/8 was a little tight in my opinion, with the Johnston trained Kasaa Ed running poorly, virtually being tailed off this did not take much winning, and although Select did all she had to do in winning comfortably enough i dont think the form adds up to much.

THURSDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



2.50 Sedge ALL FOR THE CAUSE £100 win @ 9/2 2nd -£100



VSR



3.20 Sedge NEWGATE £25 ew @ 7/2 2nd -£7.50



3.30 Fontwell ALFARID £25 ew @ 4/1 WON +£120



PERSONAL TRADING



2.50 Sedge ALL FOR THE CAUSE £100 place @ 1.90 2nd +90



4.40 Ponte SELECT £80 @ 11/8 WON +£110

SPORTS BETTING

Man Utd O 2.5 goals Evs Arsenal U 2.5 goals 1/2 £50 double WON +£100

I needed that ..........

a winning day, nothing to shout home about but hopefully have stopped the rot. I have always had a strong preference for the winter game of NH but one aspect of the flat i take a particular interest in is the 2 year olds and today coincided with my first bet of the flat season. This was on Eight Hours in the 4.40 Wolverhampton who had his debut in the Brocklesby where he encountered a troublesome run, being denied a run on at least two ocassions and stayed on really well, i took the Hills price of 15/8 which became 6/4 due to a 20p r4, but with Eight Hours going off @ 11/10 i was happy enough, especially as leading throughout, my £100 @ 6/4 was landed.
Red Jazz made it a good start to the day in the first at Windsor, another 2 year old race but with no previous form to go by and my bet was based purely on the strength of market, with the right faces wanting to get on for decent money i played on the exchanges, trading a little giving me a position of £50 @ 11/5, again content with the selection going off @ 11/8. This one looked above average and won easily by 5 lengths.

TUESDAY

PERSONAL TRADING

2.20 Windsor RED JAZZ £50 @ 3.20 (average) WON +£105.27

4.40 Wolves EIGHT HOURS £100 @ 7/4 R4 20p WON +£150

i never learn...........

as i woke up this morning just before noon with a hangover from hell, which has not been helped by current grip of Man Flu which has strengthened its grip on me. Got in at 4am this morning after a heavy night in Leicester Square thankfully though i retained enough sense to keep my powder dry and not get involved in the Casino we visited after the pub closed, im not a great fan of casinos punting wise, it goes against everything my father instilled at me from an early age in respect of betting, odds and having an edge........ there is an edge to have but that is either in the houses favour or in films like oceans eleven !!
Well i was not really in any state to risk any of my hard earnt, and thankfully it was a quiet day i got involved in a small way personally and this bet fared the same as most of my recent selections ........poorly !!!

SUNDAY

PERSOMAL TRADING

4.40 Southwell HEIR TO BE £25 ew @ 7/1 lost -£50

Poor run continues ...........

it may of been so much different if Black Apalachi had completed the course, who was in the process of giving a fine front running performance before unseating at Beechers 2nd time round, quite apt for Optimum given their recent run of non completions due to fallers or unseating. My other couple of bets also bit the dust. My day started poorly with Ainama in the 1st at Aintree laying £50 @ 3.00 on stamina concerns but patiently ridden by the champ and looked likely to land the spoils, but was unable to sustain the challenge and stayed on one pace. Got a decent word for Back to Reality at Chepstow and invested £50 ew @ 9/1, a well connected customer came on for this just before the off, so my confidence strengthened........... only to watch the race and see the horse trail round the back of the field and was never in the race. So all in all not a brilliant day, but at least i had the night off and out on National night with colleagues to look forward to !!










SATURDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



4.15 Aintree BLACK APALACHI £50 win £25 place @ 25/1 -£75

PERSONAL TRADING

1.30 Aintree AINAMA Lay £50 @ 3.00 3rd -£100



2.25 Chepstow BACK TO REALITY £50 ew @ 9/1 unpld -£100

A quiet day all round...............

both professionally and personally, although a cracking card it was dead in our shops and on the phones, so had the chance to watch some marvellous racing from Aintree. Would have loved to be there and in Liverpool tonight as Ladies day/night is a right giggle, but with me being laid low with a serious bout of "Man Flu" i would not be in the mood for a night on the tiles.

A couple of bets today both with the "value" but that did not translate into monetary return, i fancied Aintree specialist Tidal Bay to give the fav a decent race in the Melling Chase and at 11/2 and a 1/4 odds i was happy pre race but after being baulked mid race he never looked happy. My second bet was on the back of some alert arbers who came steaming in for Carte D'oro @ 16/1 within minutes this was a 7/1 chance, but this ran like a rag where you named your price and never threatened ............

FRIDAY



VSR



2.00 Aintree SOMERSBY £25 ew @ 9/2 3rd -£2.50



PERSONAL TRADING



3.10 Aintree TIDAL BAY £25 ew @ 11/2 LOST -£50



3.20 Bath CARTE D'ORO £25 ew @ 16/1 LOST -£50

Its uncanny ..............

the lack of good fortune experienced by OPTIMUM RACING over the first part of the year, another first fence casualty today in the form of Chapoturgeon. My day was offset by the winning bet from VSR with the appropriately named Walkon at Aintree that should have been a double maximum !!! But a small loss on the day and not to get a run is frustrating but my confidence is undimmed, fortunes will turn around in respect of OPTIMUM, taking into account all what has happened this year to be only a few points down is quite an achievement, look at the long term not the short term is my advice. I have experienced much worse situations than this and p/l has turned around and i expect this to be just a short term blip, success is defined by a fine line, with the service giving a good word for Madison du Belais and a negative for Denman, whilst in the 4.20 the field was narrowed down to Oh Crick, Tramantano and Leslingtaylor and they finished 1-3-4.


THURSDAY



OPTIMUM RACING



4.55 Aintree CHAPOTURGEON £150 @ 2/1 fell 1st -£150



VSR



2.35 Aintree WALKON £25 ew @ 11/4 WON +£85.94

A new day, lets not go overboard ...............

on my recent poor p/l figures, taking a hit gambling wise is a hard but necessary lesson to learn. Before you can learn to win at gambling, you need to know how to lose............ was a wise bit of advice given to me many years ago, if you are going to worry, shout n curse over a loss then betting is not for you, if you can take a loss or losing run as part n parcel of gambling (it is) then you have a chance. Of course you get a little despondent but if you have confidence in your ability or that of your advisors then then half the battle is won, keep your head down concentrate on your strengths and ride the storm.

Well i was feeling a bit despondent yesterday, so i took a look at my p/l figures year to date and they show me that im over half way to my target of £10k ...............

OPTIMUM RACING -£ 191.88 (7.67pts)

VSR +£1134.11 (45.36pts)

PERSONAL TRADING +£1924.77

SPORTS BETTING +£2543.66

THE10KCHALLENGE..................................+£5410.66

So the overall figures still look good, OPTIMUM RACING with the string of unfortunate non completions have had a sticky early part of the year, but once everything clicks im positive normal service will be resumed !!