31/05/2011
0
On May 31, 2011
We backed Art Thief at 8/1 and he was available at a general price of 15/2. The horse was well supported in the betting markets all day and hit a low of 7/2 at one stage. Art Thief returned an SP of 5/1 after significant support came for Dubawi Dancer, the winner of the race, at 8/11.
Art Thief did not break well and looked in trouble after a couple of furlongs. The horse looked uneasy on the undulations of Yarmouth. At two out, the jockey Tom Queally asked the horse to quicken and Art Thief obliged; making up much of the ground on the outside and found himself in 3rd place. That was the best position the horse achieved in the race and Art Thief finished 5th in the end, staying on at the one pace.
I’ve watched the race a few times now and counted Art Thief changing his legs 14 times in the last couple of furlong. Every time he hit rising ground he lost momentum and this resulted in a poor handling of the ups and downs. As yet we’ve not spoken with connections but there’s no doubt they will be disappointed with the run as they thought the horse would finish first, or second behind Dubawi Dancer, and I know they have left behind a decent amount of money.
Despite this performance, I would give Art Thief another chance on a flat galloping track, possibly over another two furlongs.
That brings May to an end in what was a quiet month, due to the week break, with not many bets. We did make a profit of 8pts but it’s a shame that we could not end the month with a winner. We are now entering a very busy time after a quiet spell in April & May, but we did say it would be quiet in the two toughest months of the year.
We have Epsom starting on Friday an then Royal Ascot. We anticipate that there will be quite a few antepost bets in the coming weeks once some of the main races are priced up.
The ‘Just Info’ horse ran ok, finishing 2nd. Gulf President was outpaced in the final two furlong as we thought, but it was also not suited with only jumping five hurdles instead of the ten. Gulf will be winning once stepped up in trip.
13/05/2011
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On May 13, 2011
We backed one horse, Irish Heartbeat, with 1pt E/W who ran a fair race. One furlong out I thought we were going to be in the money as Hanagan had a nice run in between two horses and briefly joined the leader of the race. From then on our bet did not quicken and stayed on at the same pace until the finish line. The horse was beaten around two and a bit lengths.
The jockey reported after the race that he thought he was going to win at a furlong out as the horse was travelling really well, but that finishing burst was not found. He also suggested because the horse travelled so well it maybe better to run on seven furlongs and attempt to make all. Irish Heartbeat was quite well backed and went off at 8/1; we got the 12/1 so there was the advantage of having a value bet.
We placed two bets at the York Dante meeting with zero run for our money on Rose Blossom who got smashed up as the stalls opened and the bet just mentioned. Not a huge amount of damage was done as both bets were only to small stakes, but we still don’t like losing. We are now just over 10pts up for the month and this is the minimum target we set ourselves each month, so we’re still on track.
The just info however did well with Bapak Chinta winning. Little Rocky and Abdicate finished first & second respectively. The best part was Crassula who so nearly beat the odds on 1/3 shot; another stride and he would have won after being backed down from 33/1 into 16/1.
11/05/2011
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On May 11, 2011
Our money was lost in around the first two seconds of the stalls opening. Dalgar, who was in stall seven next to Rose Blossom, jumped out to his right and hit Rose Blossom hard; our jockey Paul Hanagan nearly went over the horse’s head and did very well not to fall off. That was that, we had zero run for our money and lost all chance. This is one of the perils of flat racing that I hate, but you have to accept that there’s no point getting angry.
Throughout the flat season you will back around 5 horses that will lose the race as soon as the stalls open. They may miss the break or get a bump and once it happens there’s nothing anybody can do about it. It’s disappointing but, as we’ve stressed numerous times, a good bit of luck is required on the flat. We’ve had it of late with some good results but today our luck was not with us.
The only thing satisfaction that we can take out of the race was that we went minimum stakes and have plenty of time to get the money back after today’s set back. Delegator won the race, so we’re happy to put our hands up and admit that we got that decision totally wrong. He did look as big as a bull on TV; even the presenters on Racing UK said it,but he won in the end. Must be plenty of improvement in him still so he could be a very good sprinter.
07/05/2011
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On May 7, 2011
We placed one account bet on Bourne; our strongest bet for quite a while. It’s pleasing to say that Bourne got the job done for us at 4/5, finishing off a good week in the process. Bourne was very heavily backed all day and returned an SP of 8/11.
The race was not ran to Bourne‘s strengths and the pace was very slow. Our selection traveled well but soon put the race to bed inside the final furlong. The winning margin was a couple of lengths but don’t let that fool you about how much this horse had left in the tank. Bourne needs a fast pace over one mile four as well as good ground. Yesterday’s trip would be the bare minimum for the horse but the end result was perfect; his rating can’t go up that much but it will enable him to get in the Ebor.
With a furlong to go I was amazed his price on Betfair touched just over 2/1; who or why people were laying him I have no idea. It just goes to show you how people who don’t do their homework make huge mistakes. Bourne must be produced late and quickens up well. If you knew about the horse it was clear he was going to win.
This tops off a good week with just two account bets and both winning as we backed Overturn earlier in the week at 11/2. The ‘Just Info’ also played its part this week with our main info guy being nothing short of brilliant; 7 winners all at nice prices including a 16/1 2nd and not forgetting Spirit Of Adjisa winning at 16/1. On top of this we made a great call yesterday on our Twitter page where we tipped Hawkeyethenoo at 15/2 who came home first.
We are now just under 15pts up for May. If somebody said we would make 20pts in April and could take 15pts in May I would have snapped their hand off. These are two very tough months where the majority will lose.
04/05/2011
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On May 4, 2011
I’m pleased to say that Overturn won quite easily for us and led from start to finish in the Chester cup; never really looked in any danger. We achieved an even better price with the SP being 11/2 and as a result of BOG offers members achieved that slightly increased price also. The race went perfectly from start to finish just as we were told by trainer Donald McCain.
Overturn broke well and set a good pace. Everything else was struggling then Eddie slowed it down to recover some breathe. Exactly half a mile from home he kicked on leaving all other jockeys sleeping. A great start to May for us, continuing our great start to the year.
The ‘Just Info’ also performed well; Captain Dunne just touched into second at 16/1, Brown Panther winning at 5/1 and Wonder of Wonders, which we put on the twitter page, won at 6/5 after being backed in from 13/8.
We’ve had a few emails from people who did the lucky 15 E/W and accumulator on Overturn, Captain Dunne, Brown Panther and Wonder of Wonders which returned a decent four figure sum. A lovely day and thank you for all the emails.
