A pretty good day having advised 4 winners at 18/1, 10, 9/1 and 9/2 and a couple of exotics which showed a near 46 pt profit. Overall we’re 88pts up after Day 1, but I wonder whether we would all be quite so delighted had I advised you to bet on The Tote. I shall…
Tips
Has the flaw in our algorithm been discovered?
As the person in charge of Raceweb, I feel obliged to point out that all Raceweb’s advisory notes – and do remember, these are not instructions – are based on well-researched and scientifically sound data. The data is compiled by people who have devoted their lives to the accuracy of their work. Sadly, because they…
A Grey day for a Kneesup lie-down
It is that time of year again, when Lady Kneesup, the former debutante Isadora Ablative-Courgette, haemorrhages cash like a Chancellor trying to save the nation’s economy. Simply put, she has created a “wagering system”, I use the term advisedly, that only requires one to back all the Grey horses in a race. Additionally, however, the…
Friday racing – the De Souza theory
Just a quicky in order to share with you some flags that have been raised from my database and trends generator – which is more accurate than an A level algorithm, as I can actually see the real results! Firstly Silvestre de Sousa. Brilliant on certain tracks at winning from the front. Among those is…
A quick look at Sunday’s sporting picture.
The world is unevenly divided between those who read Raceweb and those who do not. One hopes that those who do read Raceweb might also have an online account, which affords them the ability to have a £1 each-way bet or even £2 to win on our selections. Those who don’t read our thoughts, or…
The PHE and the PGA – Statistics only tell half the story
A reader writes that she is confused by my writing about “ball games”, and that “strokes in regulation” means nothing to her. I am much the same with equestrian tack, racing bridles and bits. The Triabit is in every sense a bit of a mouthful, (ED: Stop that immediately) and do not get me started…
The PGA Championship
Work has once again raised its ugly head and my mind is full of useful words like “…unifying points of entry”. No, me neither, but I popped them into the report anyway! I also quite liked the idea of my “…collaboratively transforming our asset-base of frictionless resources.” Meanwhile, the first few pairs are out and…
Goodwood, The Results. Also Windsor, The Systems
Firstly, the Goodwood results. Based on an e/w bet of 1pt e/w, and a winning bet of 2pts to win, we turned over 120 pts. We also had 3 forecast bets for 10 pts. Our return was exactly 260.39 pts, or to put it another way, we doubled our money. We had six winning bets…
Capt. Kneesup is unwell. His column has been undertaken by The Tissue
Apologies for this, but CK was last seen trying to climb the scaffolding of The Goodwood House Hotel, singing a crude variation of The Marsellaise. With such little notice, I hope you will forgive the brevity.
Goodwood Day 4 – Bunny would not approve
Dinner with Sam Hoskins and other chums last night, at another pub that has decided that C19 is an excuse not a reason to try harder. Sam is down to support his KVT members and their runner SIR BUSKER today. We have an engaging conversation, but close by, a man keeps trying to catch Sam’s…
Goodwood Day 3
The Keeper of The Privy Purse or the Hon. Kneesup as she prefers to be known, has berated me for failing to provide adequate description of our current circumstances. Thus, I have to tell you, that since Monday night and until tomorrow, we have been in residence at The Park House Hotel, Bepton, West Sussex….
Goodwood Day 2
Not a bad day at the coal face, and my call on Stradivarius’ race was bang-on. Well that’s enough preamble…
Goodwood Day 1
As you probably gathered from the results, I did not manage to get hold of Angelina for her input, (see raceweb passim), so it was not a great weekend on the tipping front. My physical condition was also hindered by a conference on Saturday night with the Madeira branch of the Confrerie des Buveurs de…
A la recherche des sous-titres perdu.
My relationship with the works of Proust has much in common with my relationship with Angelina Jolie. If we could get along we would probably be chums, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to tuck myself up in bed with either to relax. Also, I am almost Frenched-out, as Angelina might have said, having had a…
Let’s hope Mr Jobsworth stays at home.
It’s going to be interesting to see what August 1st holds for Goodwood. I had already decided to attend and was planning to join a throng on Trundle Hill where, on that magnificent and historic site, the less-inherited have always watched the racing. I suspect there will be at least a 1,000 bodies with picnics…
If the room stops spinning, I’ll give you some tips
When trains arrive in stations at 70 mph going sideways, or your marriage to Mr Depp ends up in court, or you have spent many happy hours in the company of your camera-wielding mate, Ghislaine Maxwell, the term “Train Crash” can be fairly applied. At 4:30 this morning, I walked away from just such an…
Never ask “What can possibly go wrong?”, because Murphy will tell you!
I wept all the way to the bank yesterday, with frustration, fury and sorrow. If I am brutally honest, and as many of you will know I am an infinitely lazy bugger. A fading international boulevardier with a penchant for interesting stories, a knowledge of racing which infuriates and delights me in no small measure,…
FICK FACK FOCK the declension of the Latin for stuffed
Some gremlin attacked the writing today and thus refused – unnoticed by me – to update the end product. This meant that the pair of you who read this stuff sadly missed out – probably – on backing one of our best days ever. Sounds like total tosh? Of course, it does – but please…
It never rains, but it pours
A frighteningly quick post today, as once again we face more midweek racing as attention turns to The July meeting at Newmarket and the Dante at York (both courses racing GS). You have to be strong to keep up this sort of relentless pressure and, as I showed in my last post, PROFITABLE! Even I…
In the cold light of day – the weekend wasn’t a total disaster
I have finished grinding my teeth, and I sort of accept Frankie’s apology with his admission on Sunday, that he should have come 2nd. Saturday was a bit of a blur and my eye definitely came off the ball, as I was also running a near-£1k Sweepstake that was effectively paying 17/2 to the winner…
“To win without risk, is to triumph without glory.” Pierre Corneille
I was reminded of Corneille’s view when wondering why I felt quite so deflated after Serpentine’s Derby victory. It is certainly nothing to do with Aidan’s training abilities, although his entry numbers must have an impact on various stakeholders. There is at least something devastatingly simple about Aidan’s racing philosophy and I paraphrase: “Contrary to…
Saturdays TV Races
Well, the Golf is 50/50 having lost Kevin Na in the Cut but with Tyrell Hatton looking to initiate a Day 3 charge. He’s still 16s but its only for 4 places now, whereas we had him for 7 places. Bottas has shortened and is now a 4/1 chance. The Indycar practice was enthralling and…
The Oaks – All you need to know
The picture above was taken one hundred years ago – it is the start of the 1920 Epsom Oaks. The winner Charlebelle is seen second from left and she was bred and owned by Alan Cunliffe at his stud in Tipperary. Her sire, Charles O’Malley was third to Lemberg in the 1910 Epsom Derby. She…
The Derby – Profiles of the Runners & key trends
THE DERBY RUNNERS Racecard No (draw) HORSE NAME (Trainer/Jockey) 1 (5) AMHRAN NA BHFIANN (Aidan O’Brien/William Buick) Unimpressive debut, (13/16 Curragh – Gold Maze 5th). 3yo career might have some shape, but he was 4th LTO with the first three taking minor honours in the Irish Derby. If you drew him in a sweep and it…
Pizzas In, Eyes Down, it’s a proper weekend of sport on the box
I have got to take some time out from my near-constant dismay at the car-crash that passes for nuanced debate these days. It’s just a stream of liberal, Woke, virtue-signalling, prurient guff that a small minority with little education and less common-sense, tirelessly promulgates in the name of change. Instead, I shall heave the shutters…
Fred Archer’s four runners produced a great race.
Went the day well? It rained, it blew, Madame took the shears to the barnet, and the racing turned out to be way better than I had expected – indeed the Fred Archer turned out to be a proper race, where an early tussle possibly left the favourite shy of petrol at the finish and…
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Well stap me vitals, and call me Greta – nine TV races on a drizzly, blowy Sunday afternoon and 56 runners between them. Just goes to show the vital jobs that race-planning, the NTF, and the BHA do in ensuring that public interest is maintained at the highest level. My friend McFly-on-the-wall tells me that…
I’m in no rush to get to the beach today
Am I alone in thinking that the thousands of people on Bournemouth beach, of which at least 25% appeared to be children, might perhaps have been missing the point? Am I going mad when the real news tells me that a very decent primary school headmistress is suspended, because she declared in public that not…
Royal Ascot: Saturday 19th June 2020 – Day Five
Our Literary correspondent, High Rise, sent me a brusque note today about my curmudgeonly criticism of ITV and specifically Francesca Cumani’s hats. He pointed out that the poor girl needs to keep her face free because she is on TV and thus, the wide-brimmed hat a la Ms Eliza Doolittle would not cut it for…
Royal Ascot: Friday 18th June 2020 – Day Four
Really tricky on Thursday, despite the 14 hours notice of impending rain and likely going changes. I was already struggling when I got tucked up by Roger Varian and his observations on Molatham’s last outing on Soft ground. “He’ll hate it” he said or words to that effect. Lumme, it turns out Roger, old darling,…
Royal Ascot: Thursday 18th June 2020 – Day Three
Well, what a cracker for all the Sir Busker owners! Madame had a small wedge on it and we spoke to the rightfully incoherent shareholder afterwards. We might try to speak again tomorrow. We continued our policy of bringing comfort to those more fortunate than us today, by delivering vital supplies to a family in…
Royal Ascot: Wednesday 17th June 2020 – Day Two
With hindsight, the last Magnum of AIX yesterday was possibly a step too far. Suffice it to say, that I was so drunk, I only backed Pyledriver on the grounds that he was being ridden by Sylvestre de Souza. I remember nothing after 9:00 pm, and this morning the idea of solids is too much…
Royal Ascot: Tuesday 16th June 2020 – Day One
No preliminaries, we all know why we’re here…… Kick On! 1:15 pm – Buckingham Palace Handicap (Handicap) “Cripes” as Bunter might say. Tricky or what? I have cogitated about this field for almost 40 minutes and only managed to narrow it down to a dozen. I don’t think the draw is going to matter much,…
Strange times indeed
If you thought this week that Time had taken leave of his/her/its senses, then you are not alone. Most of this week seems to have had every minute of each hour filled with angst at This tribal issue, and ennui at That. Do I really care if Sid and Bob sling a statue into the…
Love is a many-splendored thing
What might we have learned at Newmarket last week? FAR ABOVE could be very good if he goes to The Prix L’Abbaye, where he will almost certainly get the damp ground he prefers, despite spanking 11 others in The Place House Stakes. Does KAMEKO get 10f or 12f? My guess is he’s quite likely to…
We need some Guineas
It was a real delight to see the resurrection of The Pharoah of Galway, Peter O’Tool and his wise insights into the 2000 Guineas. On my side I had two hours sorting out the Gremlins; (for those of you with a technical bent, it was the SMTP routing handler which was set to Local rather…
Qipco 2,000 Guineas Analysis
If Pinatubo has ‘trained on’ he may be a once in a generation horse with the ability to turn this into a procession. There is, of course, no reason to believe that he hasn’t – he is firm in the market and Charlie Appleby clearly has a spring in his step. Certainly it would be…
A second run at the tips
Every now and then, we might be able to find the time in our grinding schedules, to step out for a light snack at lunchtime. Perhaps some potted shrimps and a chilled glass of the 1999 Jean-Noël Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet. Perhaps a ripe fig and a small piece of the Brillat-Savarin. The sun shines gently on…
Apologies
Hours of work have simply disappeared when I hit the Publish button. It was the second time today it has happened and I have obviously got a gremlin. This, therefore is by way of a Test and I will try and let you know the shortened version of my efforts later.
One step forward, two steps back and one to the side.
I signed off the last note, “Onwards, ever onwards”. My concept of the S de Souza’s front-running ability wasn’t far off the mark, but it did feel lateral rather than progressive. We had you might remember a ½pt e/w Yankee for 11pts total and a 2pt win on his CITY WANDERER. We had a winner…
An unbalanced world around the racing
A terribly sad and worrying note from my chum Thomm in St Pauls, Minneapolis who lives in what might be considered akin to the Sloane Square end of Chelsea. In fact, it is less than 2 miles from where the police started this whole ghastly business and Thomm’s description of the last 72 hours makes…
Day 2 of the return.
While I would love to pass off my crude notes as some sort of well-honed guidance, the reality is of course that I am, like most of you, still getting my eye in. The things you forget to check beforehand – like Newcastle’s Clerk going in deep with the harrow. I hadn’t clocked a couple…
Astonishing how a few winners bucks up the soul
Well, that actually went pretty well. We saw a couple of decent maidens and marked some notebook performances; we had a couple of decent results and – thanks entirely to Alex “But-er” Hammond, we discovered after the first that they had harrowed the Tapeta very deep and the ground was running soft. Sadly I didn’t…
What’s got 720 legs and has just come back?
Yup – it’s racing. After months, and with sobbing flat trainers down to the last dozen of that jolly Burgundy they picked up at Cagnes-sur-Mer; with owners getting sticky with the sobbing trainer, and with Lambourn 90% convinced that social distancing was a binary option, we have 10 races for our edification tomorrow. Unsurprisingly and…
If it’s Saturday, it must be the Nippy Girl at Dannero
Yes, folks, this is what it all boils down to – the inestimable sport of Trotting or Harness Racing. The latter, according to Wiki, is the more correct title and is described thus: Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart…
Crikey – Raceweb fails to show a profit at Cheltenham! Who knew
I’m wondering whether to get a decent webcam so that I can contribute to important face-time remote meetings, looking serious, full of wisdom and yet somehow avuncular. My concern is that no webcam is going to give me the look of a George Clooney offering Madame a cafe au lit. (yes I can spell). Aside…
Cheltenham Day 4 – Staying alive, staying alive
It’s getting increasingly difficult to tell between exhaustion, alcohol poisoning, and some ghastly virus passed on by an itinerant back-slapping, celebrating Irishman. I was, on Thursday, surrounded, (trapped would be a better word), in just a situation. Sat in the confines of The Cheltenham Automobile Society’s on-course HQ, one chap had bought a “lucky dip”…
CHELTENHAM 2020 DAY FOUR – Quick and Dirty from The Pharoah of Galway
1.30 TRIUMPH HURDLE ALLMANKIND 2PTS WIN A WAVE OF THE SEA 1PT E/W 2.10 COUNTY HURDLE ADJALI 1PT E/W STOLEN SILVER 1PT E/W OAKLEY 1PT E/W 2.50 ALBERT BARTLETT HURDLE HARRY SENIOR 1PT E/W THYME HILL 1PT E/W LATEST EXHIBITION 1 PT E/W 3.30 CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP CLAN DES OBEAUX 3PTS E/W BRISTOL DE MAI…
CHELTENHAM 2020 DAY THREE
I am hoping that lots of you followed my advice on day one and none of you on day two – the outcomes were very different…. Here goes for today: 1.30 MARSH NOVICES CHASE SAMCRO 2PTS WIN MASTER FISHER 1PT E/W 2.10 PERTEMPS NETWORK FINAL HANDICAP HURDLE THIRD WIND 1PT E/W SKANDIBURG 1PT E/W THE…
DAY 3 CHELTENHAM. Nearly out of hand-wash……
Exhausted. Surely this punishment can’t go on. Together with some 50,000 of my closest friends, I have chosen to self-isolate this week in a marquee or two at Cheltenham, where I am drip-fed Guinness, white and red wines of varying qualities and have to eat food to which only a very grumpy gourmet might turn…