Saturday 15 February 2014

Competition Picks - Saturday 15th February

Afternoon all,

We have 32 entries today. Here are the most popular picks

2.40 Ascot - Houblon Des Oboux 4/1
2.55 Haydock - Wychwoods Brook 8/1
3.15 Ascot - Two Rockers 6/1

The second most popular were Highland Lodge, Loch Ba and Heath Hunter.

Free bets placed:

3 x £20 singles
3 x £5 doubles
1 x £2.50 treble

Any returns to the winner

Good luck all.

Thursday 5 December 2013

Jumps Trial - Selection for Saturday 7th December

Both Gibb River and Houblon Des Obeaux were unplaced last week- not the best start to the trial - so here's hoping for better on Saturday in the Becher Chase.

2.05 Aintree (Sat)

ROBERTO GOLDBACK gained experience of the Grand National fences when running in the National itself last season. He was in touch until blundering at the 24th, dropping off thereafter and eventually unseating rider Barry Geraghty at the last. However, the experience gained that day should prove invaluable as he returns for another crack at these unique fences, now running over a shorter trip.

He showed his class when landing a Grade 2 chase in Ireland for Dessie Hughes and made a winning start for his current stable when landing the United House Gold Cup handicap at Ascot last season. He's racing off a mark only 1lb higher than at Ascot on Saturday and ran a promising fourth in this year's Ascot renewal, finishing a nose behind stable Triolo D'Alene, who has since won the Hennessy to give the form a big boost.

It may be that Roberto Goldback, too, improves between his first and second runs, as many runners from the Henderson stable this year have needed a run and haven't been fully tuned up first time out.

The selection is more exposed than some of the market principals but Hello Bud twice prospered in the race with a similar profile and perhaps his wealth of chase experience and past experience of these fences proved crucial.

Summary of jumps trial selection for 7th Dec (weak, medium or strong selections, win or EW)

1.50 Newbury - Roberto Goldback 16/1 Coral, Betfred, Bet Victor - weak EW selection

Saturday 30 November 2013

Jumps Trial - Selections for Saturday 30th November

There are two selections that could offer a bit of value at the Hennessy meeting at Newbury tomorrow.....

1.50 Newbury

This is a 2m3f handicap for horses rated 0-150 and was won by the smart At Fishers Cross last term before he went on to scoop the Albert Bartlett .

One that is worth keeping a close eye on in the betting is Alan King's Batonnier as he has lightly-raced profile like last year's winner, but he's returning from a 672-day lay off.

King is enjoying a fine season and his Invictus - who is prominent in the betting for the Hennessy later on the card tomorrow - is another one returning from a long break. You wouldn't put it past King to have either runner ready but, at 8/1, the doubts over his well-being now back from a break perhaps aren't fully factored in.

Another lightly-raced one to consider is Paul Nicholls' Saphir Du Rheu, who was sent off 6-1 joint-favourite for the Fred Winter last term. He's 1lb lower than that day now, and enjoyed a recent pipeopener at Sandown, but at 10/1 he's coming into line with his true price.

I prefer GIBB RIVER over both as, even at 7/1, he appears to represent solid value. He's actually racing off his last winning mark, as, after signing off the 2011/12 season with victory at Sandown, he missed the whole of last season.

Nevertheless, there was much to like about his recent comeback run at Ascot when fifth behind Pine Creek, as he stayed in contention for a long way until blowing up late on.

If stripping fitter for that outing, off an unchanged rating, then he's weighted to go well for Barry Geraghty.

3.00 Newbury

In the main race of the day - The Hennessy - HOUBLON DES OBEAUX makes some each-way appeal at a nice price.

He mixed it up with some smart novices last term, finishing third behind Captain Conan at Sandown and then chasing home Rocky Creek over 3m at Ascot, beaten by little under two lengths.

That rival is 7-1 for this race and 3lb better off with the Venetia Williams representative now moving into handicaps, but what our selection does have in his favour is that he's already dipped his toes into handicaps and shown himself to be competitive, proving his match fitness in the process.

He's been a horse Venetia Williams has always held in high regard and she made no secret of the fact she felt he was overpriced going into the RSA last spring.

He disappointed, suffering from a mistake at the 15th before staying on again at the finish for seventh, and therefore has work to do with the winner, Lord Windermere here.

However, Newbury rides differently to Cheltenham, which offers hope he could narrow the gap on the Irish raider - who has been backed off the boards in the last week since trainer Jim Culloty revealed his confidence behind his chances - and the manner in which he put a competitive Ascot field to the sword on his reappearance earlier in the month (Merry King back in second) suggested he's continued to improve during his time off the track and could make up into a smart sort this year.

He looks a grinder, and one that could improve again for this step up in trip.

It does need acknowledging that Aidan Coleman has overlooked him in favour of riding Katenko, who was well-regarded last season but missed Cheltenham after suffering from a bout of colic. He beat subsequent Paddy Power Gold Cup winner John's Spirit by nine lengths so could be feasibly weighted, but you get the impression that it was a tough choice for Coleman to make and he's sided with the horse with the better reputation, and sexier profile.

Katenko is returning from a lay-off though and when it comes to making a value assessment, he's 7-1 versus our selection, who is four times that price with Betbright. That simply looks too big a discrepancy for a six-year-old that posted a career best last time out and could have more to offer over fences on his tenth chase outing.

Summary of jumps trials selections for 30th Nov (weak, medium or strong selections, win or EW)

1.50 Newbury - Gibb River 7/1 Coral, Paddypower, Ladbrokes - medium EW selection
3.00 Newbury - Houblon Des Obeaux 28/1 Bet Bright, 25/1 Bet Victor, Stan James, medium EW selection

Friday 29 November 2013

National Hunt Trial - 2013/14

Last winter I decided to start compiling my own performance ratings for the all-weather and the results produced between November and March were the strongest set of results since the service began in 2010.

With that in mind, I transferred the methods on turf for the 2013 season - but things simply didn't work out in that alternative sphere. While it is clear in my mind that, for next season, we can't use the performance ratings for turf races, their effectiveness for jumps races has yet to be tested.

Therefore, the purpose of my blogs over the next few months will be to evaluate whether there is any mileage in using the figures in the NH scene too.

It may be that things don't work with the jumpers either and if that's the case then it looks like the sole use for the figures will be the AW - but we might as well investigate and see how things pan out - as anything that can potentially lead to greater turnover and a source of possible profit is worth testing out.

None of the bets which follow will be included in my official spreadsheet records, nor will they have a stake attached to them*. They won't be officially proofed anywhere, but just to prove nothing has been after-timed, I will also Tweet all selections via my Twitter page (@NMPunter) as well as posting the reasoning on this blog.

*Bets will have a 'weak', 'medium' or 'strongly fancied' comment and 'win' or 'each-way' attached to them.

With a football trial already running alongside my main service, I didn't want to bombard members with any more e-mails. Hopefully posting any jumps picks in here will keep things separate from the main service though and we can evaluate the results later down the line when a greater number of bets have been placed.

Cheers,

Wayne

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Latest Results

A breakdown of all of my latest results can be accessed by clicking through the Racing Index logo on my homepage (www.northernmonkeypunter.co.uk). Results are given to SP and BSP.

A full breakdown of all bets to advised stakes and prices is sent out to my members in an Excel file at the end of every month.

At the end of July the overall service profit was +244.43 pts from a total of 1313.95 pts staked (+19 % ROI)

Winners in July included Bunbury Cup winner Bonnie Brae (13/2),Very Good Day (18/1) and Sheila's Buddy (20/1).

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Group B

Holland have been readily dismissed for tonight's group clash with Germany after their opening round defeat against Denmark but, come the end of the group stage, that result might not seem so bad after all as the Danes appear to have been vastly underrated.

If Holland's attack is firing on all cyclinders this evening then they have the potential to breach the Germany defence, which looked penetratable against Portugal at the weekend.

Denmark have been written off against Portugal but beat their opponents during a qualifying encounter and showed they'd been completely underrated with a superb opening game victory against Holland. Portgual need to show a little bit more ambition if they're to win tonight as they only came to life against the Germans when they'd slipped behind

Denmark +0.75 asian handicap (1.75) & Holland +0.25 asian handicap (1.70), 1 pt win double with Bet 365.

Monday 11 June 2012

Sweden / Ibrahimovic win cast

William Hill have published a price boost for the Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score anytime/Swedento win win cast from 3/1 to 8/1 (there is a banner on the Football / Euro 2012 link that you can follow on their homepage) which looks outstanding value considering this bet is 10/3 in places elsewhere.

Skybetand Bet Victor offer 3/1 for the same bet, Hills Ladbrokes 10/3.

Ibrahimovic/Sweden wincast 8/1 William Hill, 2 pt win