Cheltenham Festival 2011 Review
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On March 22, 2011
With the Cheltenham Festival now over we now have a spare few minutes to reflect on how we did at the best race meeting of the year….
BetterTipster has a fantastic record at the Cheltenham Festival, in fact its 100% since we started this service and we’ve never failed to make less than 20pts profit.
So, did we keep our record? Did clients clean up again? Well, the answer is a very clear YES. Following our staking plan members made upwards of 30pts profit.
This success was down to the likes of Sizing Europe, who we backed antepost at 10/1, Go All The Way, E/W at 33/1 in the bumper which paid 8/1 for the place. Big Bucks was also a strong bet. See below what members were told about Sizing Europe:
“I’ve no idea why they tried this horse over three miles, it was certainly a bizarre decision. Remember his solid victory in last year’s Arkle, on drying ground, where he jumped like a stag? When running left-handed Sizing Europe’s form reads 2113110511. We feel it’s suitable to ignore his last four runs as they have been on right-handed tracks. He’s now back to his optimum trip and for the first time since his Arkle victory a left handed track where he should show some sound quick jumping. As a result we feel that he is excellent E/W value at 10/1.
Sizing Europe jumped his rivals ragged and won very easily landing a super bet for members.
We also pointed members in the direction of Junior, Won 5/1, Bensalem, Won 5/1, Sir Des Champs, Won 7/1; all of which were at the big prices before being gambled on heavily each to win at much shorter odds.
Another Great Cheltenham for BetterTipster.. Bring on Cheltenham 2012!
17/03/2011
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On March 17, 2011
Today was another good day; Big Bucks bringing home another five points for us. The other jockeys tried everything that they could in order to get Big Bucks beaten going a really slow pace. Big Bucks did it the hard way just about making all.
I knew when he was jumping the last that our money was safe as nothing passes Big Bucks on the run in. He just does enough each time. In fairness Grand Crus ran well, but he never looked like beating our selection. Big Bucks was the short priced cert of the meeting, just like last year and the year before that.
The day was made even better following the success of our ‘Just Info’. From what I can tell at this early stage, plenty of you had a good bet on Plato who landed a nice touch for the Henry Cecil yard. I could not account bet this horse with it being the amateur that it is, but Lorna Fowler gave the horse a great ride, hands and heels, getting the job done nicely.
Junior also landed a huge gamble for the Pipe yard; 6/1 into 100/30 and won by half the track. Kalahari King finished second, maybe given a bit too much to do, but with Bensalem winning our money was returned on the Lucky 15.
We are also really pleased that some members have won good money from the multiple bets. If you had Sizing Europe, Big Bucks, Bensalem & Peddlers Cross then well done! All our antepost bets have now run, so at this moment in time we just have the one bet left that was sent this afternoon.
15/03/2011
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On March 15, 2011
We’ll start this review time with the main race; the Champion Hurdle.
We backed Peddlers Cross with Boylesports who were offering money back if your horse finishes second. Thank god we went with this bookmaker as our horse duly finished 2nd, meaning that our full stake money was returned. Peddlers Cross ran a cracking race and was just beaten by Hurricane Fly. I’ll be totally honest in saying that I think Peddlers Cross should have won I’m sure the trainer shares my opinion.
Originally the race strategy for Peddlers Cross was to use Overturn as a pacemaker. Unfortunately Graham Lee went over the first three hurdles far too quickly on Overturn and set a pace that wasn’t sustainable, and so it proved, as Overturn faded early in the race.
The Champion Hurdle race was won in a slower time than the Supreme Hurdle. This should never happen but did so because the pace makers really messed it up. Peddlers Cross needed a strong gallop that would draw the sting out of the quicker paced flat horses on the run in. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Peddlers Cross had everything beat apart from Hurricane Fly and unfortunately we just got done for speed on the run in. From what we’ve heard, Jason Maguire had a few words with Graham Lee after the race. Fair play to the winner though, at least we had money returned and there was no loss though it’s always frustrating to have a close second.
I was not happy with our bet on Magen’s Star despite the really good money for her. To remind you, we backed Magen’s Star in the morning at 50/1 and the horse’s SP was 14/1. Magen’s Star never looked happy on the ground; her knee action was really high. At no point could she get away from the field and as mentioned in email, the writing was on the wall after two hurdles. We hope you managed to hedge some or all of the bet after the price slide which created a fantastic trading opportunity.
The massive disappointment of the day was Medermit who never went a yard. Choc Thornton had the whip out after two fences and for whatever reason Medermit never turned up. We’ll try to catch up with connections thoughts at some point on Wednesday as today was not the time to bother them.
It’s pleasing to know that plenty of you backed Bensalem who won at 5/1. The ride Choc gave him was nothing short of brilliant. He crept into the race and won under a power packed ride.
So, all-in-all, money back on Peddlers Cross and a loss on Medermit & Magens Star leaving us about bang level on the day after Bensalem’s fortunes.
29/01/2011
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On January 29, 2011
Today was a really good day for us; with just the one account bet placed on The Giant Bolster who won well for us. The 8/1 which the horse was advised at disappeared very shortly after the email was sent out, so for purposes of transparency of our account bets we’re recording the price at 7/1. The horse was backed heavily just before the off and hit a low of 9/2 at one stage before returning 5/1.
We’ve had some tough luck of late and, as we all know, we so nearly had it again at the first fence where The Giant Bolster came rather close to being brought down. Thankfully though, despite losing a few lengths, we were ok.
From then on we crept into the race. Turning for home our class eventually through and jockey Rodi Green produced The Giant Bolster at the last to win, going away in the end. After the race there was a good interview with David Bridgewater who thinks in couple of year’s time this horse will be a Gold Cup contender. He also said the horse would improve greatly by March and needs three miles.
Regardless of the race, if the horse starts off of level weights he must hold a fair chance of victory. Today that was the main advantage for us. So after all the tough luck and near misses we’ve had, we finish January around 10pts in profit. We stuck to our guns and rules today and, as they will for the long run, we have done well.
Will have news on Bensalem this Sunday once we have spoke with our connections, I was very pleased with the recent run where the horse travelled like the second best in the race, that is until two out where he blew up. Choc Thornton never got stuck into him at any point and eventually Bensalem was only a few lengths from being placed.
29/12/2010
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On December 29, 2010
One account bet placed today in the form of a 1pt E/W double.
The Newbury meeting was bit of a farce as thick fog hit the track, so it’s not easy to give full details on the race. First up was Megastar who was heavily backed into 2/1. Megastar ran a solid race and finished second after Harry Skelton stole the race riding Rock On Ruby. Kicking for home early allowed him to get an unsalable lead. Megastar chased hard and finished well, clear of the 3rd horse, but the jockey won this race. The E/W part of the bet was ok so at this point we faced no problems.
Then we needed For Non Stop to be placed and he unfortunately finished 4th. Non Stop jumped into the lead at three out and cleared the last, running level with Backspin around 5-6 lengths clear of the field and it looked a two horse race and a certainty to be placed. Our selection then just stopped out of the race on the run in and finishing very tired.
It looks like the winner, Backspin, is a good animal and Non Stop used too much energy trying to keep up with him from three out. Either way our selection finished 4th and our E/W double lost. Bit of a setback but we only lost out at minimum stakes and there is plenty of time left in the week.
One piece of good news was the running of the main ‘rivals’ against Big Bucks today. Restless Harry & Duc De Regniere are another two that can be taken out of the World Hurdle betting. A fit Bensalem will beat both of these horses easily. The World Hurdle is a two horse race come March; I can’t see Bensalem being out of the top three.
