We can look forward to a fine Saturday afternoon of racing tomorrow, with the promise of more to come next week at Glorious Goodwood.

Of course, the feature race of the weekend is the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. It’s a middle-distance Group 1 event run over a mile and a half, and we currently have seven runners scheduled to go to post. Included among these is this year’s Derby winner Workforce, who is trading around the even money mark at the moment.

A ‘good thing’ you might think. Maybe. Eight of the last fourteen winners of this race were sent off as favourite, and the last six winners have all been the punters’ choice.

But the Stoute horse also falls down on a couple of trends as well. The Irish-bred horses have dominated this race in recent years, and you have to go back to Pentire in 1996 to find the most recent winner not to have hailed from across the Irish Sea.

The race has been won typically by versatile horses, with at least four wins under their saddle already, and wins over a variety of at least three different distances. Workforce is a relative novice by comparison. It’s perhaps a bit irreverent to remind everyone that Workforce has only won one decent race, when that race happens to be The Derby.

Nonetheless, there are two horses running tomorrow that tick more trends boxes than the favourite, namely Harbinger and Cape Blanco.

You could choose to lay bets against Workforce for an equal risk/reward ratio at even money. However, for me, much more appealing is the potential pay-off of backing Cape Blanco at around 6/1

So that will be my bet of the weekend, Cape Blanco for the King George.

I’m off to get stuck into more trends analysis ahead of Goodwood which kicks off next Tuesday. Enjoy your weekend, and for those fellow parents amongst you, I have selected a track which may well strike fear into your very hearts, as you look forward to the next six weeks….

It’s Alice Cooper – School’s Out For Summer!

Firstly, apologies for a lack of posting since last Monday. Among other topics, I had planned a look ahead to the John Smith’s Cup which took place last Saturday, and a piece about ‘persistence’ in betting. But the thing is, life got in the way! A couple of things important to me came up, and I had to take some time out to get them resolved. I also had a day already in my diary to take my youngest son out for his 5th birthday treat – a trip to Shropshire to pick up his spanking-new bike from the showroom. I don’t like going more than a few days without putting something new on the site for you all to read, but sometimes we have to prioritise our time, and there are only 24 hours in a day.

Life will get in the way of your betting too, from time to time.

I don’t really want this post to be a patronising ’public information’ broadcast, but it’s important to understand that your betting should always be fun. For the majority of punters it is a form of entertainment. For some punters it is more serious, and provides a second income. For an elite few it is their sole source of income. But no-matter how big a part of your life betting plays, in my opinion you should always enjoy your punting.

So if something crops up that causes you to miss a race, or miss a days racing, or to take a prolonged period away from betting, then so be it. Don’t beat yourself up when you check the results, and your favourite system highlighted a winner at 10/1 the other other day whilst you were away. If the system is any good, there will be more 10/1 winners.

In fact, taking some time out occasionally will actually improve your betting. After a period where you are not focusing 100% on facts, figures, form, systems, trends, and so on, you can approach your betting with a fresh view and a sharp mind.

I will be posting the ‘persistence’ article tomorrow, and on Thursday I plan to look ahead to one of the big races this coming weekend. Normal service will soon be resumed. Keep tuned.

As a point of interest, what is the biggest bet you have missed? I wonder if anyone can beat the story of World Cup winning goalkeeper and captain of Spain, Iker Casillas. Apparently when he was a boy, he forgot to post the football pools coupon for his father, and cost the family the equivalent of one million pounds! Can you imagine the father-son conversation that ensued?

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Most of you will know that I launched my first racing service a little over one month ago – HorseRacingTrends. I decided I was going to limit the number of members to 300 so I could manage the memberhsip personally and give good customer service. I also felt that limiting the numbers would protect the value of selections.

Well those three hundred places sold out within four days!

How did the service do in it’s very first month, and how can you get involved today? Watch this video and find out….

If you would like to join HorseRacingTrends I imagine you will have to be quick. This is not some cheap marketing ploy to get you to subscribe, and it may well be that by the time you have read this, those twenty spaces may already have gone, and the ’subscribe’ page may have been taken down.

Click Here To Subscribe Now

I hope if you are interested you are able to get in, and I look forward to catching up with you inside the Members’ Area at HorseRacingTrends.

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Since my last weekly round up England have crashed out of the World Cup and we’re all feeling a bit down-in-the-dumps. Never mind, we can get behind Andy Murray in the tennis now, at least until Friday afternoon! For me personally, I’m looking forward to three weeks of watching brightly-coloured lycra-clad maniacs pedalling up the sides of mountains around the Gallic countryside as Le Tour De France gets underway on Saturday in Rotterdam. God speed with Bradley Wiggins and everyone in the Sky Team crew.

Hey Paul, I hear you shout, this is a horse racing blog?

You’re right, and today I’m going to tell you why I’m backing Twice Over for the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday; I’ve got some good news for you if you missed out on joining my new service Horse Racing Trends at the beginning of June; I’m highlighting three trainers whose horses should command some respect when sent to Sandown;  I want to remind everyone how they can take a crisp fifty pound note out of my grubby hands; and then I’m rounding off with another typically topical retro track from the 80’s.

~o0o~

The big race of the week end is the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday. It’s a Group One race over one mile and a quarter, for horses aged 3 years and upwards. Looking back over recent years this race has been won by superstars such as Sea The Stars (last year), Falbrav, Halling, Pilsudski, and Daylami. The Eclipse exhibits a number of strong trends, and the favourite Twice Over hits most of these square on the head. The horse’s background leading into the race matches very closely the typical profile of previous winners.

He’s the right age, with the right breeding, he’s had two races already this season and one within the last month in the Prince Of Wales Stakes (13 of the last 14 winners had their last race at either Royal Ascot or the Derby), and he’s managed a top two position at least twice in his last four races. If I were compiling the odds for this race I would have him around the 6/4 mark and he’s currently available at 2/1 so I think it’s a good bet.

The only stain on Twice Over’s otherwiser pristine trends copy book is that he has been around the block a few times. As a five year old this is perhaps to be expected. But history shows us that all but two of the last fourteen winners had raced between five and sixteen times, and Twice Over has completed 18 races. These extra couple of races don’t concern me enough to put me off backing him.

~o0o~

You may or may not know that I launched my brand new racing service Horse Racing Trends just before Derby week end at the beginning of June. The launch was a huge success, and all 300 spaces sold out within 4days. In fact, when I actually took down the ’order’ page I had 307 new members.

Much to my personal relief (I hate to let people down) the first month went particularly well. In the very first race covered, the Diomed Stakes, I highlighted the winner Bushman at 11/1 and we were off to a flying start! Royal Ascot was something more of a struggle, and those members following my personal selections will have lost half a dozen points over the five days. But my HRT Race Ratings did far better, and pointed members to the winner of the Royal Hunt Cup Invisible Man at 28/1

The month finished in particularly pleasing fashion when Premio Loco won the Criterion Stakes last weekend at a tasty 25/1 and those members having the faith to follow my recommendations ended up 23 points in profit to SP.

Why am I telling you this? Well, on Monday I am going to be opening the doors to a very limited number of new members. The fact is that some people decided to cancel their membership within one month, as is their absolute right. Despite being profitable, people will have their own reasons why a service still may not be for them. In all, twenty seven people dropped out. Put in perspective, that’s just under 9% Importantly, there are 280 happy members as we move into the month of July.

On Monday I am going to allow another 20 spaces to be filled, and then that will be it for the foreseeable future. I will maybe take stock again as we move into the Jumps season, but this will definately be the last opportunity for this Flat season.

So if you missed out on the original launch, and you want to join, then make sure you check back here at the blog on Monday, when I will post a link to the Order Page again.

~o0o~

Trainers to follow: there are three trainers I think worthy of close attention at Sandown. In the last five seasons Jeremy Noseda has enjoyed a 37% strike rate at the course, and a 43% level stakes profit. So for every £1 you staked on one of Noseda’s horses you would have got your money back plus a 43pence profit. William Haggas has achieved a 27% level stakes profit for punters at the course over the last five seasons. Richard Hannon is most successful at Sandown between April and July in races run over 7f to 1m1f and at class 4 level and above. Current entries:

3rd July Sandown 2:00 Group Therapy (J Noseda)

3rd July Sandown 2:00 Triple Aspect (W J Haggas)

3rd July Sandown 2:35 Oratory (R Hannon)

3rd July Sandown 4:50 Duplicity (R Hannon)

~o0o~

On Monday I announced a Readers’ Competition and the chance to win fifty pounds. I’m looking for readers to send in details of their favourite betting systems, or at least those they don’t mind sharing with everyone else. I’m going to choose three systems from those you submit, to go head-to-head over the course of a month. The betting system that scores the most profit, or at least loses the least money, will be the winner, and the owner will receive the £50 from yours truly.

I’m doing this in response to the survey which suggests you want to see more free betting systems here on the blog.

Read Monday’s post for full details

If the response is good enough, then this might be a regular event here on the blog, and we can share with each other a bundle of interesting systems, some of which will (hopefully) provide some decent returns.

~o0o~

How could I finish today’s post with anything else but ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ by gravelly-voiced 80’s power-ballad queen Bonnie Tyler. Enjoy!

Have you ever had one of those moments in your life where everything changed?

You might not have known it at the time – but the moment was defining, it changed the course of some area of your life in a way that turned things upside down.

I had one of those course changing moments early in what you might want to call my betting “career”. It was a moment that eventually resulted in my betting moving from being a hobby that was actually costing me a fair amount of money, to generating a consistent secondary income.

It was a moment that at the time didn’t feel life changing – but it was.

The funny thing about this moment is that it wasn’t a discovery of some secret betting system, it wasn’t the day I started following a new tipster… in fact it was a moment that didn’t immediately lead to any particular change in how I betted – because it was largely something that happened in my mind – a paradigm shifting moment.

It all started with nine words from my wife Sarah.

“You’ve got twelve months to make money from betting.”

She then told me that if I didn’t start seeing profits I’d have to stop betting altogether. The first of our three boys was only a few months old at the time, and I guess it was Sarah’s way of reminding me I now had important responsibilities, and we couldn’t afford to be pouring money away on the horses.

Up until this point I’d been talking about how betting could one day provide us with a full time income. I’d been showing her the growth of the returns from my bets so far, and projecting forward to what they might be in the future if things kept going.

I’d been on about it for months and things were going OK – the graphs I kept showing her were trending up, which actually only meant I was “losing less” - but I could see the possibility of one day being a full time punter.

But I’d been talking a lot…. dreaming a lot…. creating a lot of pretty graphs…. and not really DOING a lot.

I didn’t really see it (I was too close and too caught up in my dreams) but Sarah knew it and so she set me an ultimatum – a deadline that changed my thinking and more importantly led to me changing the way I went about my betting.

In the moments after Sarah’s ultimatum I had a realization that although I dreamed that one day my betting would become a business, up to that point I’d been treating my betting like a hobby.

I knew that if I were to succeed in seeing my betting accounts move from deep in the red, to showing a profit in the next twelve months, then that attitude would have to change. I needed to start looking at my betting as a business NOW – even though right now it was just an expensive hobby.

That moment changed everything.

That was the day that I….

….started putting serious time aside for analysis and research. I was and still am a big fan of speed ratings, but I would leave all my number-crunching to Sunday evening, and it would take three or four hours. Often I just couldn’t be bothered to do the analysis, and as a result my figures would become out of date and unreliable. Now I spend thirty minutes to an hour every day during the week, and I can easily keep on top of things.

….became more focused upon my core tasks of monitoring trends. Trends analysis is my passion (I know, I’m a geek, but I love playing with figures!) But I would sometimes get to hear of someone using another method of form study or statistical research, and waste time wondering if I could apply similar methods myself. Rather than concentrating on what I knew and what was already working for me.

….wasted less time on distractions. For example, I would always watch every race in which I had an interest. Not just races where I was actually having a bet, but also races where there may have been a qualifying selection in a system or method I was evaluating. It was madness! Me watching the race was not going to affect the result, and I worked out I was spending an average of 90 minutes a day watching the TV when I could have been using my time more productively.

….became more strategic in my thinking and set myself goals to work towards.

….began to look for new income streams. I gave up my salaried job and went into business with a friend of mine, selling eBooks on eBay. This provided me with an income whilst freeing up more time for me to focus on betting. My information marketing business on eBay eventually led to me creating SkyBlueKangaroo and developing it into an online business.

….started to look for a business coach who could teach me how to take what I enjoy doing, which is researching profitable betting methods and then writing about them, and turning that into a business from which I can earn a living. As the saying goes….

“If you enjoy what you do, you will never work another day in your life.”

That day began the process for me of taking my vision, and turning into the income streams I am lucky enough to enjoy today. Betting and my online business interests give me great personal satisfaction, whilst also giving me the freedom from a nine-to-five job. And it all started with my wife’s encouraging words (or “nagging” as it is otherwise known!)

While not a lot changed immediately in my betting methods that day – the impact over the last four or five years has been significant. I’ve not looked back and many of the things I changed back then have become patterns and a natural part of my daily work flow.

The #1 reason my betting developed into a profitable business was that I began to treat it as one.

Further reading:

The typical professional gambler is a schizophrenic

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Will it be you?

In my ongoing survey of what you want to see more of on this blog, the leading response is for more free betting systems. So I’m going to suggest something a bit left-field, to see if we cannot find a home-grown betting system from amongst the ranks of you good readers of SkyBlueKangaroo. Call it our very own version of Britain’s Got Talent if you like. Let’s see if we can find a betting system with the X Factor.

I’m counting on everyone that reads this blog to make this idea come to life, but this is how I see this competition working….

I want you to share your betting systems here on SkyBlueKangaroo. As long as you don’t submit the details of any commercially available products, and get me into trouble for breach of copyright, then they can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Backing systems, or methods for laying horses to lose, it’s completely up to you.

Obviously I’m not expectting anyone to give up the secrets of their ‘golden goose’ betting system that has been making them a tidy few quid for the last five years! This is essentially a bit of fun, but also the chance for us to share some ideas as a community.

I will then pick three systems to go head-to-head over the course of one month. I will record the results of each system here on the blog. The system that makes the most profit (or loses the least money!) after one month will be declared the winner, and I will award fifty quid to the whoever put it forward.

This is what you need to do….

Underneath this post where it says ‘Leave a comment’ leave the full details and rules of your system. Next week I’ll choose three betting systems to go forward to compete against each other for a month.

If the response is good enough, then this might be a regular event here on the blog, and we can share with each other a bundle of interesting systems, some of which will (hopefully) provide some decent returns.

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As we approach the weekend I’ve got three horses to mention for the Northumberland Plate on Saturday, a special word for one of the heros of our sport, and a topical tune (or should that be ‘toon’?) to round things off.

Lets start with the biggest race of the week end, the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle. It’s a handicap race for thoroughbreds aged three years old upwards, and run over the staying distance of two miles. This is one of the highlights of the flat racing year in the north of England and is the feature race of a three-day festival that takes place at Newcastle Racecourse, usually on the last Thursday/Friday/Saturday in June.

The Northumberland Plate is popularly known in the north-east as the “Pitmen’s Derby” as in its early years it was the one opportunity for the local mining families to enjoy a day at the races. Today the geordie lasses treat it as a north-east’s version of Royal Ascot, but with a [shall we say] slightly more “relaxed and informal atmosphere” encouraged in no small manner by the sponsors since 2003 John Smith’s and their products.

Twenty two horses will be going to post this year, which makes this another one of those big-field handicap puzzles, much like the Wokingham, the Royal Hunt Cup, and the Stewards Cup. So who do I think could make it into the frame, and even stick his head in front at the post?

The first horse I think fits the bill is Stansill from the Alan Swinbank yard. He’s won already this season and his last outing was at Haydock when he showed he can stay the trip. In mid-May he finished just over four lengths down in a Listed race at Hamilton. He should go off around the 12/1 mark and is likely to be one of the top half dozen in the betting.

I’m drawn to a couple more runners at more interesting prices too. First, from the Brian Meehan stable and currently available at 25/1 is Aaim To Prosper. He ran in the Ascot Stakes just over a week ago, finishing five lengths down on the winner after twenty furlongs, and that race has produced four of the last fourteen winners of the Northumberland Plate. He’s won over today’s trip so I think he has the tools to do the job.

The third horse I’m going to throw into the mix is Royal Diamond saddled by Michael Dods. He hasn’t hit form so far this year, but he won a class 2 handicap last September at Ffos Las beating Chiberta King who is one of the fancies for this race. At 33’s I think he offers some value against the field.

~o0o~

Chapeau!

A little belatedly (but I have been busy) I wanted to say “chapeau Sir” to Tony McCoy who was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Sadly AP may not ever get the ultimate recognition from sports fans with his name on the Sports Personality Of The Year trophy, despite being the Champion jockey for fourteen consecutive years, but I was pleased to see him get a pat on the back from one of horse racing’s most high profile fans.

~o0o~

I’m finishing off this week with another topical track. England face Germany in the World Cup (again, and please, PLEASE, no penalties!) this Sunday afternoon. So, after combining the Geordie theme of the Northumberland Plate with football, I arrived at Gazza’s horrendous version of “Fog On The Tyne”. C’mon England!

This week, fellow TIP’s, I thought I would compile a list…. everybody likes a ‘list’ don’t they?

Most people reading this blog are looking to make their betting pay. So today I have put together a list of people who have managed to do just that – my Top Ten Professional Gamblers in UK Horse Racing.

If you bet for entertainment but want to break even and enjoy an inexpensive hobby; if your aim is to see a profit at the end of each season, no matter how small; or if you have aspirations of earning a secondary income from betting, then I also recommend you take note of some of the further reading and get hold of some of the books mentioned. Modelling yourself on the habits of successful people is a maxim I hold very strong, and you can learn from the stories of these pro punters.

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Clive Holt

Clive Holt is a legend in punting circles and it was his father who first showed him that money could be made from betting. Holt Snr owned a couple of greyhounds during the 1960s. In the early part of 1975 Clive decided was ready to take up gambling on a full time basis and quit his job working for the Electricity Board. He started out using a fairly random approach which was dictated by his finances, and at first he didn’t keep any proper records of bets he had made.  He soon made the decision to start recording all his bets, and this was the first of two business-like strategies he implemented to help him make a better profit.  The second was to set aside a dedicated betting bank.

His first bet was £67 to £30 on a horse called Western Jewel who won easily, and within a couple of months he had made more money from betting than he was earning in a whole year working for the Electricity Board.  Over the years, although rarely winning more than £1,000 at a time, Holt’s profits from betting afforded him an enviable lifestyle of exotic holiday, luxury cars, and a country house with acres of land.

Clive Holt was the man behind Fineform, and he has written a number of books:

Profitable Winners Always Back Value Winners

Fineform Winners Guide

Be A Successful Punter

Profitable Betting Strategies

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Terry Ramsden

Terry Ramsden made his fortune through investment company Glen International in the 1980’s.  He was already worth millions and, amongst other things, he owned a string of race horses. He was well known for his betting and in 1985 won £2million on just one horse.  The following year he had another collossal win on Motivator in the Coral Golden Hurdle Final. Towards the end of the 80’s Ramsden’s company folded and around the same time he started losing huge sums of money on bets. There are reports he lost £1million on one bet alone.  Eventually he went bust and he fled to America.

Terry Ramsden won but also lost millions of pounds. In the late 1990’s he was jailed for concealing assets during his bankruptcy, including a rumoured £70,000 win on the horses. When he returned to public life a few years later Ramsden failed to enjoy his previous successes and has since been involved in a number of legal disputes over money.

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Alan Potts

Alan Potts was just 14 years old when he started betting on horse racing and made the choice to become a full time professional punter after he was made redundant from his office job in 1991. He has revealed it took him many years to become a consistent winner, and despite making an estimated £50,000 a year from betting in the past, he has also suffered losing runs.  You see, it happens to the very best!

He is an owner, a successful author and a pundit, yet his main source of income still comes from his betting. In 1999 he jointly formed The Golden Anorak Partnership and this is the banner under which his horses now run.

Alan writes articles for the WBX betting exchange, and has published two books:

Against The Crowd

The Inside Track

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Harry Findlay

Akin to Terry Ramsden above, Harry Findlay is another larger-than-life gambler who has not only made a fortune, but also lost a fortune from gambling over the years. He has always had a soft spot for greyhounds and worked with them for some while after leaving school. Also like Ramsden, Findlay suffered a spell in prison, when aged just 20 years old, having been convicted of credit card fraud.

These days bets from his home office which is fully equipped with a several television screens and monitors, often showing a variety of different sporting events. As well as being a professional punter Harry is also an owner.  He jointly owns the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman, who has more recently won  the Hennessy Gold Cup for the second time.  Big Fella Thanks is another of his co-owned horses, named after his beloved greyhound 1999 Coursing Derby winner Big Fella.

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Dave Nevison

Dave Nevison was a City currency trader before turning professional punter in 1993 having lost his job. He now reortedly earns a six figure income from betting and also from journalism and punditry columns for various newspapers and publications.  Dave has his own horse racing tipping service and has written two books:

A Bloody Good Winner: Life As A Professional Gambler

No Easy Money: A Gambler’s Diary

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JP McManus

Multi millionaire JP McManus is one of the better-known race horse owners, and big time gamblers. Originally from Limerick in Ireland, McManus started betting as a school-boy before working in his family’s plant hire business. He stood at his own betting pitch for a while at Limerick’s greyhound track, and it wasn’t too long before he progressed into owning horses as well as betting and laying.

Today JP owns more horses than any other National Hunt owner. His first ‘sizeable’ win (rumoured to be in the region of £250,000) was at Cheltenham with a horse called Mister Donovan who was sent off second favourite but ended up winning the race. He also famously took over £1 million from the satchel of popular Scottish bookie Freddie Williams in 2006 at Cheltenham. McManus is a high roller in the world of gambling, but a fair percentage of his wealth is said to come from international financing and money dealing, which he manages from his base in Geneva. Unfortunately in 2008 McManus was diagnosed with cancer, although he is now said to be doing well.

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Barney Curley

Barney Curley is both a professional gambler and a trainer and hails from Northern Ireland. He has a reputation for being one of racing’s most colourful characters. Despite watching his father run up massive gambling debts he still decided to take up the same “career” himself. In 1975 he was the brains behind one of the biggest betting coups of all time, as a result of which he netted over £300,000 from a horse called Yellow Sam.  He has also appeared in court charged with promoting an illegal lottery after raffling his mansion for £1.5 million.

Giving a Little Back (Autobiography)

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Patrick Veitch

Patrick Veitch has to be acknowledged as one of Britain’s most successful gamblers, and he has won over £10 million from betting. Something of a mathematical genius he was just 15 years of age when he got a place at Cambridge. Instead of completing his degree he turned to gambling and started his own tipping service. By his mid 20’s Patrick Veitch was already making a great deal of money.

But then came a turning point in his life.  He was the target of a criminal and forced to live in hiding for many months, putting his career on hold and eventually leaving him broke.  However, the episode only made him stronger, and he became more successful than ever. Soon he was making £1 million a year from his strategic betting methods. Veitch is a strong believer that there are no short-cuts when it comes to betting. The only way to win is by working hard at it to get it right. You will rarely see Patrick at the races.  He uses thirs parties to place his bets and spends most of his time watching and analysing events from his computer.

Enemy Number One (Autobiography)

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Alex Bird

The late Alex Bird made a considerable amount of money from betting after The War and it has been estimated he had an annual gambling turnover of £2 million. His interest in gambling began when he was a child, and he learned a lot from his father who was a bookmaker. However, he recognised there was potentially more money to be made from the punter’s side, and he became arguably Britain’s best known professional punter of all time.

Bird employed several strategies for getting one over on the bookies, but his most famous was probably the success he enjoyed betting on photo finishes, which in those days took about 5 minutes to develop.  This process earned him a fortune over a period of around 20 years and only stopped when technology advanced and there was no longer the delay in photo developing. Alex Bird rarely listened to anyone when it came to betting, and invariably made up his own mind. He stuck rigidly to his rules and systems.  Even now, almost 20 years after his death, there are still systems available that are based on the practices he used.

His biggest bet was on the well known horse Mill Reef in the Gimcrack. The following season Mill Reef won the Derby, again backed by Bird. By this point he had backed seven Derby winners in eight years. One of his last bets was on a horse called Final Shot in 1990 when it was victorious in the Ayr Gold Cup.

Life and Secrets of a Professional Punter

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Phil Bull

Phil Bull made huge sums of money from betting. But not only was he a very successful gambler, he was also a breeder, owner, writer and publisher. It is estimated he made millions during his career. In 1948 he launched the now internationally renowned organisation Timeform. Phil was the original ’shrewdie’. He viewed the season as a whole, and his form study followed the same pattern for every race.

How To Make A Book

Phil Bull: The Biography by Howard Wright

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Further reading:

Ten People You Should Listen To In 2010

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Well, how was it for you?

Did you get hammered like the bookies, or did you come away from Royal Ascot with a King’s ransom in your back pocket? Or did you muddle through, happy to get some first class betting action at minimal cost, on top of a first class spectacle of flat racing?

Let me give you a glimpse of my Ascot Betting Diary….

On the first day we were treated to no less than three Group 1 contests, and as per tradition the Festival got under way with the Queen Anne Stakes. With my typical belligerence I walked straight past the neon ‘for sale’ signs over both Goldikova and Paco Boy, and instead went rumaging around in the bargain bucket and picked out Ouqba and Zacinto at big odds. I had a tenner each-way on both, and my wager on Zacinto almost paid off as he came in fourth less than a length down on Dream Eater in third. Close but no cigar. And forty quid down after race one.

Then came the Kings Stand dash, and my £40 was split between Kingsgate Native and Total Gallery. Kingsgate Native was never in a position to put in a challenge, and Total Gallery started in rear, was soon pushed along, and then eased off. So my money was done again. Eighty pounds down after round two.

One of my most confident bets came next in the St James Palace Stakes. Canford Cliffs ticked all the boxes for me before the race, and he carried my £20 stake comfortably to the line. 11/4 was better than I expected earlier in the day, and so I got back just under sixty quid on Betfair. Still twenty down on the day.

My last bet on Day One was with Samuel Morse in the Coventry Stakes. He gave chase to the leaders but could manage only fourth, but a creditable performance nonetheless. So at the end of Tuesday my Ascot account was down to the tune of forty pounds. A little annoying as the newsreels trumpeted how well the punters had done!

Day Two, and the first dish to be served up was the Jersey Stakes. My £20 was looking good on board Red Jazz and indeed he kept the whole field at bay, save the one runner that took my money, Rainfall. Beaten a head, and nearly four lengths clear of third. But no pay day.

I went £100 into the red in much the same fashion in the Windsor Forest Stakes. Shamwari Lodge was well beaten, but my second runner Spacious went down this time by only a short head at 13/2

Shalanayar did nothing to bring me closer to parity in the Prince Of Wales Stakes and so now I was one hundred a twenty pounds in the hole. Respite was to come in the Royal Hunt Cup, as I had twenty quid on each of Tiger Reigns, Dandy Boy, and Invisible Man. I was keen on Tiger Reigns, but it was Invisible Man who provided the big winner of the week at 28/1 I was paid out at 57/1 on Betfair. Happy days, and now I was £980 to the good.

Ladies Day started with the Norfolk Stakes and I fancied the chances of Bryan Smart’s 2yo colt Excel Bolt at 7/1 He managed third place so I was happy I had made a good value bet, even if it didn’t pay out this time. £960 ahead. I backed Acquainted and Fatanah in the Ribblesdale Stakes, with no return. Still playing with £920 of someone else’s money.

Last year’s St Leger runner up Kite Wood carried my hopes in the feature race of the day, the Gold Cup. He never progressed out of mid-field. And so at the end of day three I was £900 ahead.

On to Friday, and the day started well with Memory winning the Albany Stakes at 15/2 In the King Edward VII Stakes my choice Green Moon got upsides to challenge over 2f out, but was outpaced in the final furlong to finish fifth. Anna Salai was my selection in the Group 1 race of the day the Coronation Stakes. A winning day overall though, and another £120 to add to my £900 and I had cracked the grand barrier!

The fifth and final day, and I just wanted to walk away from the week with a four figure profit. The Hardwicke Stakes was looking like a penalty kick for Harbinger and he did indeed oblige fairly comfortably. Odds on though.

I backed three horses in the Golden Jubilee Stakes Group 1 sprint, namely Sayif, Prime Defender, and the eventual winner Starspangledbanner at 13/2 Betfair paid me at 7/1 so Iwas now £1,140 in profit.

The last race in which I took a financial interest wass the Wokingham Heritage Handicap. Sadly, this cavalry charge was not to be as rewarding as the Royal Hunt Cup earlier in the week, and my three selections, Rileyskeepingfaith (11th), Edge Closer (8th), and Noverre To Go (7th), finished down the field. My ending balance ended up a couple of tenners short of £1,100 in my favour, and more than makes up for a frustrating Cheltenham back in March.

I have Invisible Man to thank for coming out ahead overall, but it is a well documented fact that many pro-punters will owe their profits to a number of big priced value winners throughout a season (I hasten to add I do not class myself as a pro-punter!).

My selections were all made based upon my trends analysis, as opposed to pure form reading. But form came up trumps as well this year, with the bookies taking a pounding from the punters, and giving back a lot of what they made at Cheltenham. Good ol’ swings and roundabouts.

Let me know how you got on this year at Royal Ascot. Share your triumphs and disappointments by leaving comments below.

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It’s been quite some while since my last post, fellow TIPs, so today I am going to bring you up to speed with what’s been going on (I’ve been busy, you know!).

But first, I asked, and you replied….. what are you talking about, Paul?

I’ve been running a survey, to ask what you want to read and see more of on this blog. “More free stuff, Paul!” particularly betting systems, has been one of the most common requests. And so today, just like the bus that comes around the corner the very moment you arrive at the bus stop, I have news of a ‘giveaway’ event you may well want to pay a visit.

BettingSystemGiveaway.com does pretty much what it says on the tin – it’s giving away free betting systems…. and other cool stuff as well, as it happens.

There’s no such thing as a mid-day meal you don’t have to pay for… granted. However, there is nothing for sale here, and you will not be asked to get your wallet out. But, although the video says there is “no hidden agenda” the fact is you will have to give away something of value, namely your email address, before you can get to the goodies. You can fully expect that once you have your free gift, you will receive further messages from the various contributors. I doubt very much that anyone will abuse your trust, because I’ve been told that only truly respected marketers have been allowed to participate (and I can personally vouch for most of the names you will find, several of which are listed in my ‘10 people to follow in 2010′ post back in January).

But here’s my advice, if at any time in the near future you feel like someone is only sending you sales messages, and basically just trying to sell you stuff whenever you hear from them, then ‘unsubscribe’ from that mailing list, or put the offending email address in your ‘blocked senders’ list, or both.

I promote products and services from time to time. Sure. I will encourage you to spend some money and invest in a service or product I feel will provide you with value, every now and then. But those messages are always in the minority, and in fact I generally try to balance at least four or five emails with free content, to every marketing message.

Enough about email management, you are all big enough and ugly enough to look after your own inbox!

There is some really worthwhile stuff on offer today, so pay a visit to the giveaway web site and fill your boots.

Click Here To Visit BettingSystemsGiveaway.com

Incidentally, I would be interested in your feedback…. which was the best giveaway gift in your opinion, and why?

~o0o~

OK, on to Part Two of today’s post. Why have I been neglecting this blog of late, and what have I been up to recently?

In a word, well three words to be exact…. Horse Racing Trends

I have finally decided to launch my own racing service, and it went ‘live’ last Thursday. As the name suggests, the service is based upon the analysis of trends to highlight winners. Amid a small amount of pomp and circumstance the doors opened on Thursday lunch-time, and just four days later it had SOLD OUT!

I limited the number of members to 300 hundred and was startled after more than two hundred people paid their money within the first few hours! Over the course of the week end people were joining in dribs and drabs, and member #300 subscribed on Monday evening. And so the curtain came down on a sell-out show.

So it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster last fortnight, but normal service will now be resumed here at SkyBlueKangaroo with the regular flow of horse racing and betting related content.

Until next time….

PS. Don’t forget to let me know which of the giveaway gifts you found interesting and/or valuable, and also spill the beans about any that were not quite up to scratch, even if free!

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