Review of the day

This pre-season is providing a few more lessons/reminders than I had expected !

After a couple of education points earlier in the week – I got a reminder of the biggest blight to my tipping career to date: second-itis !!

I suffered from this complaint last season, when I got almost twice as many runners-up as I did winners – and I’ve started off on the same footing this time round !

As I mentioned a few times last season, it is not an unfamiliar position for me to find myself in. I did some tipping early in 2010 and managed to tip 11 runners-up from 23 selections – all at very decent prices…

Obviously, it is something I’ve given a lot of thought to – both why it should happen – and how I can overcome it…

In terms of why it should happen, it’s difficult for me to explain (other than blame it on bad luck !). It is true, that betting at the odds I do, you should get more runners up than winners (my horses would invariably start a shorter price to finish second in a race, than they would to win – if such a book existed !) – but that doesn’t really explain my phenomenal strike rate on seconds…

I therefore have to accept that it is just one of those things – and figure out how best to overcome it.

From a personal perspective, I overcome it by laying my horses IR, at around even money. Therefore if they go close to winning, I usually ensure I don’t lose – and sometimes I even win !

From a tipping perspective, however, that isn’t really an option.

The only option open to me is to recommend EW betting. Whilst I will do that occasionally, I’m loathed to as a matter of course – as checking my records, despite the way results tend to fall, I would be significantly worse off if I had adopted this method.

Anyway, enough of that !!

Suffice to say that both Easter Meteor and Galaxy Rock ran cracking races (Tartak ran also ran pretty well). Galaxy Rock in particular look sure to prevail – losing out only to a power packed Richard Johnson ride on the ultra-game Balthazaar King (in fairness, if anyone was going to pip us, I would have chosen him !).

The mentions didn’t do too badly either: Our Vinnie was hammered down to 9/4 fav from 8/1 last night but was outbattled by According to Trev; Dodging Bullets is no longer the best maiden hurdler in training !; and Third Intention looked sure to make a winning chasing debut, but was run out of it by His Excellency, up the Cheltenham hill.

And so ended the first Cheltenham meeting of the new season.

I can honestly say it was as good an opening meeting as I can recall (and I’ve been watching them for many years !).

As I said yesterday, the handicaps in particular are going to be full of future winners and should be studied in detail !

I haven’t got any previews for tomorrow.

There is just the one domestic NH card at Kempton – and whilst it is OK, it’s a bit of a come down from the action of the past couple of days (and I can’t see any obvious angles).

The best NH race of the day actually takes place at Cork in Southern Ireland.

I’ve shied away from tipping in Irish racings in the past, but I think I will occasionally venture down that path this season (which should please one or two of the guys who have already committed to the service; ) )

The one that really catches the eye (and when I say really, I mean really) is the Tony Martin trained Pires.

Paddy Power have opened up with him as 7/2 favourite – and if you can get that price, I would be very tempted.

It might be an exaggeration to say that he has only got to jump round to win – but not much of a one !!

Finally, although I specialise in NH racing, the last word of the day, has to go to a flat horse.

Of course, he is not just any old flat horse, he is probably the best flat horse any of us will ever see.

I remain adamant that conditions were completely against Frankel today; he also missed the break in bizarre fashion; and yet he was still able to cruise up alongside the second best flat horse in the world at furlong marker, looking as if he had just joined in !

To watch him over the past 2 seasons has been an absolute pleasure. I will never forget seeing him destroy the field in the 2000 guineas, on the big screen at Thirsk racecourse. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was witnessing…

Next flat season will be hollow without him – it’s a good job we’ve got a full NH to look forward to before that point ;)

TVB