Goodwood Day 3

I felt a little tender first thing on Thursday, but more relaxed and more upbeat.

It was a pretty busy day on Thursday, but I hadn't backed horses in every race, with nothing in the Richmond, the fillies handicap, or in the fillies maiden. I was only backing in the Galway Hurdle in Ireland so it was a pretty limited number of races, which meant it was most likely to be feast or famine.

The day started great, as despite running as green as grass, You're Hired edged home at 9/1. This one was tipped by Ben Linfoot and Roger Bush, and was just the kind of start I crave on a festival day. A good winner in the first race, eases the pressure, although sometimes it can turn out to be the only one of the day. I was hoping that this was to be the start of a great day, and ignite my Goodwood festival.

It was a good start, and things were about to get even better. Big Orange was a game winner for me in the Goodwood Cup at an early 4/1,one picked by myself. I know I said that I wouldn't back my own, but things are different at the big festivals, and I couldn't see this one being out of the places.

The utter highlight came in the nursery at 4.55, I'd already had a tip from Horse Trader for Bear Valley at 8/1, and had been suggested by Paul Jones to have a little on the Mark Johnson Tricast. Fortunately I invested £30 on 6 x £5 combination tricasts, each way money won when Hidden Cyclone just failed to win the Galway Hurdle (For Bet Alchemist at a monster 33/1).The rest is history, as the tricast was amazingly landed with a 4 figure return, and pretty comfortably really as the 3 were well clear. It just shows how fine the margins are between victory and defeat, as I was so close, to not putting the bet on.

For good measure, I even had the winner of the last, Laughton at 9/1, who was tipped by Ben Linfoot and Northern Monkey.

It had been a very special punting day, one which I won't forget for a very long time.
  

Goodwood Day 2

For day 2 at Goodwood, I was at work in the morning and off to watch the racing in the afternoon. I'd not had the best of nights sleep again and was pretty weary, so couldn't wait to leave work at 12 on the dot and get home. As with the first day I kind of felt a little down and depressed.

Overnight had been decent with good results from Galway's evening races from Bet Alchemist. Top Notch Tonto ran a screamer to finish second at 20/1, and Beau Satchel landed a massive punt from 9/1 into 11/4 favourite. This was in complete contrast to Galway's dreadful day 1 results, and it meant that I was in decent shape as we headed into day 2 at Goodwood.

Wednesday was pretty poor for me, with the only winner for me being Ulysses, tipped up by Horse Trader at 9/2. I had some each way money returns from Ribchester (unlucky), Twin Sails, Column, and Cairdiuil, but overall results were very disappointing. I should have really seen this coming, when in the first race my three horses finished in the last 3 never looking like even bringing me any each way returns. The Galway Plate was awful as well, with none of mine ever looking likely to get involved.

At least though, I made it to the Pub (George and Dragon) for a few beers to drown my sorrows, as well as celebrating the start of my holiday, and then we had a nice meal at Bellinis, before downing another bottle of wine. It was a very poor day, but there were enough returns to mean that I live to fight another day.

Tuesday 26th July 2016

A bit like at Royal Ascot I was at work for the first day of Goodwood, and it kind of spoilt it for me. I was feeling pretty tired as it was, having only managed a handful of hours sleep the day before. I was lethargic at work, and felt a bit low. I am at work tomorrow morning and then off for the rest of the work, so hopefully the rest will do me good.

After a poor start the night before at Galway with 4 losers, Bet Alchemist was my punter of the day, with a nice winner with Boom The Groom. I was on at 14/1, which was a fantastic price, as the horse was heavily backed throughout the day into 13/2.

No other winners, although there were some each way returns from Notarised, and Stars Over The Sea for Ben Linfoot, whilst Horse Trader contributed as Haggle finished strongly to land some each way money. Horse Trader had 2 other losers, so not the best of days for my most profitable tipster,

As it stands now, I am a few quid down, but I've 4 bets from Bet Alchemist at Galway tonight still to run. If I can get a winner I'll be around level for the day, which isn't too bad a start.

Monday 25th July 2016

A very hectic weekend of punting with a mixed set of results, which meant that my run of not taking my wages was snapped. To be fair if it wasn’t Goodwood this week, I could have lasted another week, but I need a big bank for this week. Its Goodwood, Galway and also the USPGA so promises to be a frantic and hopefully profitable week. Therefore I left my returns in my bookmaker accounts rather than withdrawing them.

 

I wasn’t too hung over on the Saturday, perhaps because I bolted from the leaving doo at 6.45, and made for the train. It was good to catch up with people, but I just felt I’d had enough and had to escape.

 

In the weeks golf, i broke even, Rahn finished top 5, which I was on at 9/1, and there were some small each way returns from Snedeker. A bit disappointing as Sned’s was leading going into the final round, but didn’t really perform when the pressure was on. Darts was pretty poor, although I did get a small return with MVG winning the event with ease.

 

In the racing, it was a mixed bad, good winners Kimberella and Librisa Breeze were interspaced with some pretty mediocre results. It wasn’t a disaster though, and ensured that I have a decent war chest for the pivotal week ahead.

 

Away from punting, I went over to watch my beloved Featherstone Rovers on the Sunday, who completed their mission impossible by defeating Bradford Bulls to reach the playoffs for Super League. It was a great finish to the weekend and fantastic to see the old ground packed to the rafters. We have no chance of promotion to the Super League, but the additional money for reaching the playoffs is vital for the club.

 

Anyway, I’ll be back with an update tomorrow.

Thursday 21st July 2016

Extra posting before the weekend, as I'm going to be in no sort of state to do much over the weekend. I'm having the afternoon off and will be heading straight off into Manchester for excessive drinking and a few games of pool.

After a few bitty days with some disappointing results on the darts, patience paid off today with a nice 12/1 winner in the shape of lowly hurdler Who Am I who was tipped up by the back to form Roger Bush. Rogers's second tip wasn't bad either as Whiskey John brought in some place money after finishing 3rd at 20/1. A very decent day indeed.

Anyway, stuff to do, so I'll be back early next week.

Wednesday 20th July 2016

Its just so hot this week, making it a really tough grinding week at work. The week seems to be lasting absolutely ages as well, although I'm off Friday afternoon for a massive leaving doo afternoon drinking session in Manchester.

Its been quiet on the horses, although today there is a bet from Roger Bush later on. I am backing Northern Monkey's tips again, to small stakes, and recording the results in my general betting spread sheet.

The highlight of the week though was a nice winner on the TDF, as finally I picked the right man in the break away as Zakarin broke free late on to land a tasty 14/1 winner. I did have 3 losers as though, so it kind of diluted my winnings. That's 3 winners on the TDF, which makes up for my awful results on the darts so far.

That's it for now on a quiet day, I'll be back early next week with an update and also publish my updated results.

Tuesday 19th July 2016

After a frantic weekend, things are very quiet during the early part of this week. As I speak it’s the TDF rest day, and the darts has yet really to ignite for me. In the darts, it’s fairly obvious punting but I’m on Anderson with a covering  bet on MVG.
   
Things have been going really well recently despite the odd blip, so it’s just a question of aintaining this status. I’ve gone a good few weeks without having to withdraw any wages, which might finally give me that elusive safety net of  money in case we hit another recession. This gives me focus to keep recording my bets and take evasive action if I think things are getting out of control.
   
For the remainder of the week, I’ll probably follow the ‘Red hot’ Keith Elliott on the Canadian Open Golf, and I’ll be following Wheeliebets on the TDF when it resumes tomorrow. I do need to add these services to my spreadsheet as soon as  possible.
   
In terms of horse racing I’m back with Roger Bush, whose had 2 winners out of 3 selections since is 2 week break, and I’m yet to decide if I’m all in with Tipping Legends.
   
If I survive this heat I’ll update during the week.

The Open 16/17th July

Another crazy weekend of punting ending up with me having to collect a big wedge of cash from the Hills in Eccles again, as Stenson bottled home at 33/1. I covered with a bet on Mickelson, but the win by Henrik was by far my best punting result of the year. I celebrated with a couple of pints in the MOP, which I regretted on the Monday morning. Sunday was certainly super, as I also had a couple of horse winners tipped by the returning Roger Bush and Bet Alchemist, and Featherstone Rovers my childhood team did the business against Halifax to set up a last day top 4 showdown against Bradford. The golf was my main earner of the week though, as Stenson's winnings was on top of having Mickelson to be top former winner, and a monster each way pay out on Reed leading after round 1 (Covered with Mickelson at 10/1). Happy days.

Saturday was pretty quiet by my standards, but there were some cracking winners on a profitable day. Bet Alchemist was the star with 3 winners, with Have a Nice Day at 13/2,Long House Hall at 6/1, and Franklin D at 7/2. Roger Bush weighed in with a strong bet on Totalise, and there were some each way returns for both Ben Linfoot and Horse Trader with Hors De Combat who came second to Franklin D. All in all it was a decent day, and made my beers in Manchester taste that much sweeter as I headed out early afternoon.

It should be a quiet week, with a big days racing on Saturday at Ascot for the King George. Having said that I've got the afternoon off on Friday for a leaving doo in Town, so not sure what kind of state I'll be in for punting.

Wednesday 13th July 2016

Tuesday was a better day, even though I was back at work. I left the I phone at home, but still ended up having a couple of losing bets as Tipping Legends and Bet Alchemist had bets on the Evening racing. At least I left it at that though, and didn’t put anything else on or chase losses. I’ve now decided to strip back my horse racing services(Yet again) and just use Ben Linfoot, Horse trader, Bet alchemist , and Paul Jones on an adhoc basis. I am also back on with Keith Elliott for the sports, but will be keeping stakes very low(After the Open), especially on the golf where there is a high volume of bets. I found that with Tipping Legends and Northern Monkey, there were just too many midweek bets, which time and time again has proved not to suit me. I really need to keep things low key during the week unless there’s a big festival on.

 

Bit nerve racking yesterday dinnertime as I had to collect over £500 from Hills in Eccles from the Alex Noren bet, always a bit worried that I’ll be mugged by one of the many dodgy characters you see hanging around. The bookies never have the money ready when I go for it either, so I had to hang around the town centre for over half an hour until it was ready. As I am sure you can imagine, there’s not much to do in Eccles either, except avoid the dodgy characters, but at the end of the day though, it’s a nice problem to have when there’s some money to collect.

 

I’ve left the phone at home again today(Wednesday), but have some golf bets to put on at dinner time, which hopefully will mean another stressful trip into Eccles next Monday!!. It’s a couple of Keith Elliott’s golfers, Dustin Johnson (Win Only) and a lumpy each way bet on Stenson. Incidentally his other selections this week were Scott, Sterne, Garcia and Westwood. There were also a few none outright bets from Keith, and I’ll cover Ben Coley’s and Paul Jones bets for the Open as well. I kind of feel that I am putting on too much, but we’ll see if that’s the case when I see how the results have gone. I certainly won’t be punting this heavily on any other golf tournament during the year. I dread to think what my liabilities on the Open are so far, and I haven’t finished betting on it either.

 

It’s the big Vantoux Stage in TDF tomorrow, so I’ll be almost certainly be having a bet on that, and there’s also likely to be some bets on the darts which starts this weekend. I will also be adding my sports results to the blog, starting from this week, which will include the Open selections.

Tuesday 12th July 2016

After an hectic weekend I  felt a bit low on Monday, not sure if it was the excitement of an epic Sunday, the excesses of the weekend catching up on me, or a bit of punting fatigue. This led to a day off work on the Monday and a couple of  poor bets as well. Fortunately I got things back under control and didn’t suffer a chasing blowout. I also placed Ben Coley’s Open outright bets, which were Speith, Harrington, Wood (Chris), McDowell, and Kaymer.
  
With all this in mind I decided to take time out on Tuesday, and left my Iphone at home, which would take temptation out of reach, and give me a rest for the day, well at least punting wise. I’ll be doing the same for the rest of the week  as well, just to hopefully get things back on track. It’s a tough business punting sometimes, mentally draining.
  
It’s going to be busy on the sporting front with the Golf, and also the World Matchplay Darts starting on the Saturday, but the racing looks pretty poor, so I’d expect that aspect to be
relatively quiet.
   
 I’ll be back later in the week with an update.

Week Review 10th July 2016

It was a very busy punting week with the big Newmarket meeting taking place from the Thursday onwards, and I also had some bets on the Tour De France, and the Scottish Open Golf.

The opening day of the Newmarket meeting on Thursday was relatively quiet and results weren't great until Horsetrader returned to form with Dubai's Secret at the Newbury evening meeting. At Newmarket it was a mixed set of results, with Mehmas being the best winner for me, which was tipped up by BetAlchemist.

I managed to finish work early on Friday, on which there were a monumental number of quality horse racing cards. There were so many bets. and again Horsetrader did the business with Oceane coming late and fast to win the money at Ascot. Newmarket looked a tough card and so it proved to be as none of by bets there resulted in any returns. Fortunately though, I'd decided to go back in with Tipping Legends, who always seem to finish the season strongly, and JC certainly delivered for me tipping 3 winners out of 4 including Mistiroc at 9/1 in the last at Chester. It was a strange Friday, as unusually it was a dry one since I was driving to my Mums the next day.  This wasn't great after a hard week at work as a nice glass of wine is gratefully received on Friday to help forget the stresses of the week. 

Saturday I was at my Mums, just helping her settle in after her recent move. There were plenty of bets and I was also on Chris Froome for the first high mountain stage of this years TDF. We got home early afternoon, and I settled down to watch TDF, and what a stage it turned out to be with Chris Froome making an audacious attack on the mountain decent and time trialling all the way to the finish. Incredible, truly incredible from one of my favourite sportsmen and a nice 10/1 winner.

I went to the local for a few after the cycling to calm my nerves and recorded the horse racing to watch later. It was a very busy day, and I ended up with a small profit on the day. Horsetrader contributed with a 16/1 winner Golden Steps and I was also heavily involved with Limato, who hacked up in the July Cup.

I took a day off betting on the Sunday, but things got even better for me as Ben Coley, who'd had a poor run came back to form with a 50/1 winner in Noren. That was a great way to end a fabulous week, and meant that I could leave my wages in the company account untouched for yet another week.

The upcoming week, looks quiet on the horse racing front, but I'd expect to be heavily involved in the Open Golf at Royal Troon.

Tuesday 5th July 2016

Taking 3 days off punting until what looks like a very busy weekend. I am given the golf a miss this weekend, which almost certainly means that Ben Coley will tip a 50/1 winner.

My tactic to maintain discipline involves leaving the iphone at home, and taking the burner, that way I am never tempted. Hopefully this will stop me having a bad day or potentially chasing losses.

I'll be back at the weekend.

Weekend Review

A quiet weekend, I had to work late on Friday, and then we met the in-laws for a meal on Saturday dinner time in Staffordshire. Saturday evening it was a few beers whilst listening to some music at the Gatley Festival, and I managed to sneak a couple of crafty pints in on Sunday afternoon.

In punting terms it was a mixed set of results, Horsetrader has two losers, and it was another blow out from Roger Bush. Roger emailed subscribers on Sunday to say he was taking a 2 week break, which will hopefully break the bad run.

Bet Alchemist had 3 bets with 3 placed each way efforts, and Northern Monkey made a small profit with the big win by Brando, and also a win from Dandyleekie.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend was supplied by Ben Linfoot and the 20/1win by Secret Art. Linfoot and his value bet column always seem to good during the flat season, and he's now showing me the biggest profits since I've started keeping records.

Less said the better about the golf, as Jason Day unbelievably blew a golden opportunity with a very disappointing finish.

My current figures are:

Ben Linfoot = +£1935
Horsetrader= +£1637
BetAlchemist=+£1617
Northern Monkey= +£127
Roger Bush= -£270

It should be a quiet start to the week, but then its the big Newmarket meeting from Thursday onwards.



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Weekend Preview

Its been pretty quiet during the week with just a few bets from Northern Monkey and Roger Bush (who I've started following again). There's been a couple of winners but a few losers, but no major change in my situation. In the golf I'm hoping for a Jason Day win.

There's already been a few bets for Saturday, three from Linfoot, a couple from Betalchemist, and a maximum each way bet from Horsetrader. I've also got a few ante post bets as well, and they've all made it to race day.

Tomorrow its a meal in Staffordshire with the in laws, and then plenty of beer and music at the Gatley festival. As usual I'll be recording the racing and watching it when I get back home with perhaps a nice glass of whiskey.

Fingers crossed for a great profitable weekend for all....