Wow, what a breathtaking first day with plenty of thrills and excitement. I’ll let you know how I got on in the punting field at the end of the week but after Day 1 it’s a slight ‘advantage Gavin.’

So a quick recap of yesterday’s events…..

Firstly we had the jockey error that saw Richard Hughes give a 3 length headstart to a dual Breeders Cup winner and then try and close the gap down in less than a furlong. That he nearly suceeded shows just how good a miler Paco Boy now is. Take nothing away from the winner though, she’s very, very good, but I reckon Paco’s connections will be itching for a re-match.

We then beat the Aussie’s (which is always nice) when Equiano regained the Kings Stand and ended the recent domination of overseas winners. This was a pretty clear pick for our trends guide and the only slight dampener on the race for me  was that he returned 9/2. Having backed him at 10’s in the morning and seeing 8/1 freely available 10 minutes before the off it was an incredibly poor returned SP. I hope anyone who backed him got on at the early odds.

And then the highlight of the day for me (and another trends winner) when Canford Cliffs showed he’s back to his best and is the top 3yo miler in Europe. My brother had £2oew at 66/1 on Hearts Of Fire and counts himself unlucky but although he ran a fine race I still don’t think he would have beaten Canford with a troublefree passage. I’m really looking forward to seeing the winner race against his stable companion Paco Boy in the Sussex Stakes and over a turning mile it will be some contest. Glorious Goodwood indeed.

Richard Hughes got it right in the Coventry with a finely timed ride to get up close home on Richard Hannon’s top juvenile Strong Suit. Unsurprisingly, he’s now favourite for next years 2000 Guineas but a word of caution…12 of the last 13 winners of the Coventry all got turned over next time out. Even the 2007 winner, and future dual 2000 Guineas winner, Henrythenavigator couldn’t overturn that stat as he finished 2nd in the Phoenix Stakes on his following run. The bad run for The Coventry Stakes continued last year when the highly impressive winner, Canford Cliffs, got beaten as a 4/9 favourite on his next start in France.

Onto the 20 runner handicap that saw David Pipe pull off a bit of a coup with the ex-Alan King novice chaser, Junior. He won it well but didn’t appeal to me beforehand or even as he crossed the line. I was more interested in the battle for the places as I needed Dayia for my placepot. On the BBC slow mo replay I was convinced he was a clear 4th and was gob-smacked that it was given as a dead-heat. With the other horse dead-heating being the Fallon ridden favourite it made a big difference to the Placepot dividend as there were now 5 horses qualifying including the favourite. I’d like to see that print!

And finally the Windsor Castle which 50 yards from the line was a dream result. Having made Stone Of Folca and Excello joint selections in the trends guide we were happy to see them battling it out in 1st and 2nd place. How quickly things can change though as just 50 yards later we ended up with 3rd and 4th. It was nearly as annoying as Di Steffano in last years race….

 DAY 2

How my day goes will probably be decided in the first as I am on Shakespearean big time. I was really impressed with his performance at Epsom last time out and I’m looking for Frankie to bounce this one out and make all the running. I’ve gone against the trends here as penalty winners don’t win this race as a rule but this is a Group 2 horse and he should be able to defy the penalty. Come on Frankie!

Other horses that will be carrying my money are Mull Of Killough in the Hunt Cup (Roberts comments have been noted) with a saver on Dandy Boy, Twice Over in the Prince of Wales and Clairvoyance in the last although there is a trends runner in that race who looks very good.

I just hope I’ve got enough money left for tomorrow because I’ve got a big fancy in the Britannia and he is going to be a big price.

If you want to leave a comment telling everyone what you fancy today, please do…..

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Gary

His re-issued system horses have just started to splutter back to life over the last couple of days after a pretty poor run. On Monday he had a nice 20/1 winner and then yesterday scored another 3pt winner at 11/2. This has given the system a stay of execution and we’ll continue with it for a little longer.

As for his Outsider Selections for Ascot, well they went pretty well yesterday. He didn’t manage to get a winner but he had a horse placed at big odds in all of the first 5 races and a non runner in the 6th.

Race 1: Paco Boy 2nd at 11/4
Race 2: Borderlescott 3rd at 16/1
Race 3: Dick Turpin 2nd (advised at 9/1) and Hearts Of Fire 3rd (advised at 50/1)
Race 4: Roayh 3rd at 22/1
Race 5: Aaim To Prosper 3rd at 16/1
Race 6: Non Runner

Perming his selections in an each way accumulator would have returned over £3000 for a £1ew unit stake.
A 10pew Lucky 63 would have got £2100 back!……Not bad at all.

If you want to see what he’s backing for the next few days then you can subscribe to his service at http://www.horseraceoutsiders.co.uk/

Good luck for today,
Gavin.

P.S. Come on Shakespearean

P.P.S. Oh and Mull Of Killough, Twice Over and Clairvoyance!

My 5 best bets for the week…

Shakespearean (Jersey Stakes)

I really liked the way this one kept on running at Epsom and despite carrying a weight penalty that day he never looked like getting caught. I’m glad connections decided against running him in the St James Palace and are instead heading for the Jersey Stakes as a straight 7f down Ascot will be right up his street. If he runs in the opener on the Wednesday he will be my biggest bet of the week.

Canford Cliffs (St James Palace)

Back to the scene of his breathtaking 2yo win in the Coventry and on the back of his best performance last time out in the Irish Guineas Canford Cliffs has to be the one to beat here. Makfi will be out to show his 2000 Guineas win was no fluke but I think Canford Cliffs has improved enough to reverse Newmarket placings. Given Aiden O’Briens record in the race you have to fear Steinbeck now that he’s had a run but he does have quite a few lengths to find with Canford Cliffs and I’m happy to side with Richard Hannon’s runner.

Music Show (Coronation Stakes)

Beaten by the draw at Newmarket she ran a fine race in the Irish Guineas and with no Special Duty or Bethrah in the field this week it’s time for Music Show to gain her moment in the spotlight. The ground, the course and the distance are all perfect for this filly and there can be no excuses if she gets beat. If there are a minimum of 8 runners and I can get 5/1 or better (oh, and if I’ve got any money left by then) I’ll be having a big each way bet on her.

Manifest (Gold Cup)

With no Yeats to worry about this year the staying division will be looking for its latest star. Step forward Manifest. I’ve been following this one since before he ran as the Newmarket work watchers had been shouting his name long before he made his way onto the racecourse. It seems another year has made all the difference to him and the way he won the Yorkshire Cup last time out marked him out as a very promising Cup horse. Henry Cecil would love to win this race again and I think he has every chance with the 4yo Manifest given the manner of his latest victory.

Genki (Wokingham)

Something must have gone terribly wrong in the Wokingham last year as he trailed in last of 26 but he bounced back to win the Stewards Cup at Glorious Goodwood the following month before ending last season running 3rd in a Listed race at the Curragh. He’s had just the one run so far this season where he finished 4th of 23 on 1000 Guineas day. Drawn the ‘wrong’ side and carrying 9-09 he ran an absolute cracker and a reproduction of that run will put him in the mix for this notoriously tricky handicap. I’ll be hoping for 10’s or better to have a good each way bet on him.

and 3 outsiders….

Zacinto (Queen Anne)

Something has obviously gone wrong in his last two runs as he has failed to beat a single horse in either race but surely Sir Michael Stoute wouldn’t be running him in a Group 1 race if he hadn’t ironed out the problems, would he? Stoutey has a fine record in this race with 3 wins and 3 places from his last 10 runners and with all the attention focusing on the front three in the betting we can get an amazing 20/1 on his runner. Zacinto is the only horse outside of the top 3 that I can see having a chance of springing a surprise.

Mull of Killough (Royal Hunt Cup)

I really like this one and the 20/1 is a great price. He has form in big field handicaps and he’s running well this year so I just need a good draw (not in the middle) to have myself a big bet. There doesn’t seem to be any young horses with Group race aspirations lurking in the field this year and I think we could see the type of winner revert to being a good honest handicapper. Mull of Killough is certainly that and I’m looking forward to seeing him run on Wednesday.

Clairvoyance (Sandringham Handicap)

This one is likely to be a big price if she contests this fillies handicap on the Wednesday. There are some real top class fillies set to line-up in the race, not least of which are Oaks 3rd favourite Timepiece and Irish 1000 Guineas also ran Lolly For Dolly, but it does mean my fancy will have a lovely racing weight of around 8-02. She ran a fine race over course and distance at the beginning of May when weakening only in the last 100 yards to finish a creditable 5th to Alsace Lorraine (she’ll be contesting the Group 2 Windsor Stakes this week ). She was also entered in a Class 2 handicap at Thirsk on the Tuesday but connections have taken her out of that race to run here.

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Trends

Our guide for the first day is now available for download and on what looks a top class but very tough day’s racing I think we have some nice selections. We’ll be covering all 30 races over the 5 days of the meeting and it’s just £34.95. Or there is an option to buy each day individually for £9.95 so you can buy Tuesday’s guide and see how we get on……

http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php

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Gary’s Tips

There’s also Gary’s Guide for Royal Ascot where he’ll be casting his expert eye over the runners in all 30 races. His first day choices will be ready from lunchtime today and it’s just £19.95 for all 5 days…..

http://www.horseraceoutsiders.co.uk/

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You can read all about how I get on punting this week in my blog next Monday.

Good luck,
Gavin.

The final race, more specifically 3 horses, I’m going to look at from next week is the Kings Stand Stakes. It’s a 5f Group 1 Sprint that is run on the Tuesday and has been dominated by Australian trained runners in the last 7 years.

Since 2003 the runners from down under have finished  11471340281 with wins for Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007) and Scenic Blast (2009).

What’s particularly interesting about the 4 winners is that they all had a very similar campaign prior to making the long trip to race at Ascot.

All 4 of them ran, and won, in the Grade 1 Lightning Stakes at Flemington Park over 5f.
All 4 of them ran, and 3 won (exception Choisir was 6th), in the Grade 1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington Park over 6f.

3 of the 4 ran in the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield over 6f between these two races where they finished 3rd, 3rd and 5th (Miss Andretti didn’t run in this race)

Given the Aussies dominance in the Kings Stand it’s not surprising to see their runners fancied in the market (including the favourite) but what chance have they got of making it 5 from the last 8?

It’s easy to see why the current favourite is Nicconi as he too won the Lightning Stakes back in January and his record over 5f reads 1111
He got beat in the 6f Newmarket Handicap when finishing 14th but that has been no barrier to success here and back over the 5f of the Kings Stand he looks to have a good a chance as any of the previous Aussie runners.

The other Australian runner declared for the race is Gold Trail who stopped over in Singapore on his way to Ascot to take in their big Group 1 sprint. He finished 4th that day, which I’m sure paid all their travelling expenses, but with most of his running being done over 6f I reckon connections will be looking at Saturday’s Golden Jubilee as their main target next week.

I said their were 3 horses I’d be looking at and the third runner is very interesting in that he was originally Australian trained but now lives at Ballydoyle under the watchful eye of Aiden O’Brien. Starspangledbanner also ran in the Lightning Stakes where he finished 4th behind Nicconi but gained his revenge on that one in the Newmarket Handicap (over 6f) when finishing  11 places in front of him. Since joining O’Brien he’s had the one run where he finished 5th to Prime Defender at York again over 6f. He only weakened in the last 100 yards that day and I reckon that run will have put him spot on for Ascot.

Jockey Stats for Royal Ascot

 2009 ROYAL ASCOT TOP JOCKEY. FINAL TABLE

JOCKEY            WINS 2NDS 3RDS 4THS RIDES LSP

J. MURTAGH - 4 —- 1 —- 0 —- 0 —- 12   +8.33
R. HUGHES  - 4 —- 0 —- 3 —- 2 —- 20   +17.58
R. MOORE    - 3 —- 8 —- 1 —- 4 —- 29    -4.00
R. HILLS        - 3 —- 0 —- 1 —- 1 —- 17   +24.00
J. SPENCER - 2 —- 1 —- 2 —- 0 —- 10   +6.50
J. FANNING   - 2 —- 1 —- 0 —- 0 —- 9   +14.00
E. AHERN     - 2 —- 0 —- 1 —- 0 —- 12   +5.00
L. DETTORI   - 1 —- 3 —- 3 —- 2 —- 25   -19.00
T. QUEALLY - 1 —- 1 —- 1 —- 2 —- 11   +10.00

JOHNNY MURTAGH 11 year record:

157 rides for 31 winners (19.7% strike rate) LSP +£170.15
Last 2 years winners: 6 – 4

His incredible level stakes profit over the last 11 years was built mainly before he took the job as Ballydoyle stable jockey.

FRANKIE DETTORI 11 year record:

231 rides for 24 winners (10.4% strike rate) LSL -£60.97
Last 2 years winners: 1 – 1

He’s only managed the solitary winner for each of the last 4 Royal Ascot meetings.

RICHARD HUGHES 11 year record:

213 rides for 17 winners (7.4% strike rate) LSL -£20.42
Last 2 years winners: 2 – 4

He did manage a four timer at the meeting in 2002

RYAN MOORE 11 year record:

108 rides for 6 winners (5.6% strike rate) LSL -£65.00
Last years winners: 3

He rode in 29 of the 30 races last year and finished in the top 4 on 16 occasions.

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YORK TODAY

Today’s racing at York looks competitive and I’ll be having  just a couple of bets…..

Elliptical 2.40 York
The Only Boss 3.15 York

I’ll be having £2ew on each and a £1ew double for the BBB prizefund.

There’s still plenty of time to send in your number (1-49). Guesses to bonusball@nag-nag-nag.co.uk
Current prizepool £20.00

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Gary’s System Horses

Due to popular demand Gary has re-started listing his System Horses.

Personally I think the system has had it’s day but we’ll give it another week or so to see if it’s just a minor blip it’s been going through or whether it just started off on a lucky streak. If results don’t improve we’ll bin it completely.

His own personal selections are still running well though and are still showing a massive profit since he started his tipping page. He’s got a couple for today to try and boost his Royal Ascot punting fund.

For Royal Ascot he’s producing a Tipping Guide for all 30 races and you can order your copy from his new website….. http://www.horseraceoutsiders.co.uk/

Good luck,
Gavin.

Today I’ll be continuing my preview of the feature races for next weeks Royal Ascot meeting with a look at the top 3yo milers.

The St. James Palace Stakes is a race that traditionally brings together the runners that have competed in the Newmarket, Irish and French Guineas. This years race is no exception with winners and placed horses from all three races set to do battle. The winner next Tuesday looks set for the bragging rights as the seasons top 3yo miler.

Amazingly Aiden O’Brien has won 6 of the last 1o renewals and he’s set his stall out to win it again this year as 5 of the 15 horses currently declared are trained by him. But what are his chances?

For this race the best place to start is always those races I mentioned earlier as 13 of the last 14 winners of the St James Palace Stakes had finished in the top 4 of a European Guineas. In fact the last horse to have won the St James Palace stakes without a run in a Group 1 race that season was Shavian way back in 1990.

This years Guineas results were….

2010 Newmarket Guineas

1st Makfi
2nd Dick Turpin
3rd Canford Cliffs
4th Xtension

2010 Irish Guineas

1st Canford Cliffs
2nd Free Judgement
3rd Viscount Nelson
4th Steinbeck

2010 French Guineas

1st Lope De Vega
2nd Dick Turpin
3rd Shamalgan
4th Buzzword

It definitely pays to follow the Guineas form in this race and if we look at where winners of the St James’s Palace had finished in the respective Guineas we see the following: Newmarket: 2123415, Curragh: 21102111 and Longchamp: 1614.

The record of winners from the Newmarket 2000 Guineas is: 1451, Irish 2000 Guineas: 611071511, French 2000 Guineas: 16225135, German 2000 Guineas: 435 but it’s worth bearing in mind that since 1999 four of the last five beaten favourites were Guineas winners. Also, seven winners in that period had run in both the Newmarket and Irish Guineas (where four had made the frame in both).

If we look for these horses amongst the 15 declared for next weeks race I think it leaves us with- Makfi, Dick Turpin, Canford Cliffs, Free Judgement, Viscount Nelson and Steinbeck.

What is interesting is that no winner in the last 13 years has come direct from Newmarket to win at Ascot so this must count against Makfi. Also no horse in the last 11 years has won this race having run more than 9 times in their career so Free Judgement is looking a little over-raced.

All of which reduces our shortlist to 4: Canford Cliffs, Viscount Nelson, Steinbeck and Dick Turpin

I’ll be waiting for the race declarations before making my final decision as the draw plays a big part in this race. It’s run on the round course and only one horse in the last 14 years has managed to defy a high draw i.e. within 2 of the highest stall number. The last thing to remember is that outsiders don’t usually win this race as 8/1 is the biggest priced winner since 1997.

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Scoop 6

I forgot to mention yesterday that our 20 lottery lines went down on Saturday night meaning the syndicate fund is now depleted. If the fund starts to roll over again I’ll think about setting up another attempt.

In the meantime if anyone wants to join a syndicate for the Scoop6 there is the site I have mentioned before to consider. They actually won the Scoop6 last Saturday (along with 10 other people) and now have the chance to go for the £50,000 Bonus Fund this week.

You can check them out at  www.iScooped6.co.uk 

(I have no association with this site and make no money if you decide to join any of their syndicates. I’m simply advising that the site is there if you’re looking for a regular Scoop6 syndicate)

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Bonus Ball Bet

I’ve started the BBB up again and managed to get £20 in the prizefund last Saturday when Judge ‘N Jury just held on for 4th place in the Epsom Dash. I’ll be having 1 bet a day next week at Ascot in an attempt to boost this figure further.

Full details can be found by clicking on the BBB Tab on the top menu or you can simply send your number (1-49) to bonusball@nag-nag-nag.co.uk (there was a slight problem with this email address immediately after I gave it out last time but it’s working fine now.)

———

And finally, don’t forget about our 2 publications for next week…

1) The 144 page trends guide covering all 30 races

Available now from: http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php

and

2) Gary’s Tipping Guide which also covers all 30 races.

Available from: http://www.horseraceoutsiders.co.uk/

Good luck,
Gavin.

It’s Royal Ascot next week and this year looks like being a vintage meeting with many races featuring exciting clashes between the top horses from their respective divisions. The St James Palace looks like being the highlight of the week with the winners of the Irish and English 2000 Guineas renewing rivalry along with the Newmarket runner-up Dick Turpin and Ballydoyle’s hype horse Steinbeck.

I’ll be taking a look at that race tomorrow but first I’m going to turn my attention to the older milers and the opening race of the Festival…..

Queen Anne Sakes

It’s shaping up to be the race that decides the European mile bragging rights for older horses as it pitches the top UK miler Paco Boy against Ireland’s big hope, Rip Van Winkle, and the French wonder filly, Goldikova . The ante-post betting sees the three of them at the head of the market with at least 14/1 available on any other runner. It looks for all intents and purposes to be a three horse race but there are a few things to note before wading into any one of them…..

Goldikova

Firstly, no filly or mare has won this race in 50 years of trying which means Goldikova has got to be every bit as good as she was last year to stand a chance of overturning that statistic. The last 8 fillies to try and win the Queen Anne finished 07246723 and included the first and second favourites (Darjina and Finsceal Beo) in the 2008 race. If you add in the fact that there has only been 1 winner of the Queen Anne trained outside of GB and Ireland since the mid 1970’s and the case for Goldikova is weakened quite a bit.

Paco Boy

and this is his record when he’s raced with 11 or more opponents…..373d844

I think you’ll agree that it shows he has a definite preference for a small field!

I have no idea how many trainers will decide to run their horses against the big three and the race doesn’t have a history of large fields (only 4 times in the last 10 years has the race  attracted 11 or more runners) but it’s definitely worth remembering should quite a few horses line-up in the stalls next Tuesday.

Another slight negative for Paco Boy is that only one winner in the last 15 years had managed to win the Lockinge and only 1 horse to have won the Sandown Mile has ever won the Queen Anne. To be fair the horse that managed to do the Sandown Mile - Queen Anne double was in fact Paco Boy but it does mean that no horse has ever managed to win all three races in the same season.

Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle spent much of last Spring and the early Summer staring at Sea The Stars’s backside as that one disappeared into the horizon but he got back into the winners enclosure when returned to a mile for the Sussex Stakes. He comfortably accounted for Paco Boy that day, taking full advantage of the 8lb weight for age allowance, and followed up by taking the QEII stakes at Ascot 2 months later. The last we saw of him was when he unsuccessfully contested the Breeders Cup Classic as the 2/1 favourite and this is where his problem lies. You have to go all the way back to 1997 to find the last horse to have won this race on his seasonal re-appearance and back then it was simply a Group 2 race that didn’t take quite as much winning.

Of the three I’d probably side with Rip Van Winkle but as is the norm with me I’ll be looking for something from the other end of the betting spectrum to cause a shock.

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Thebes and Big Fields

There is another horse that’s worth avoiding if he takes up his engagement in the Wokingham next week at Ascot and that’s Thebes. I’ve mentioned this horse and his record in big field handicaps before but for those of you who may have missed that post here are the stats.

He’s a pretty decent handicapper who’s invariably in the top 6 of his races and has won 7 of his 41 starts. With 15 top 3 finishes in his career his form figures usually look fairly good and you may feel like chancing him as an outsider in one of these big field sprints. But beware as although he usually contests these types of races his record in them is terrible.

On the 9 occassions he has run in a race with 20 or more runners the best position he has managed is 7th.
His full record reads 22nd of 28, 10/20, 22/25, 27/27, 18/20, 13/21, 16/26, 12/25 and 7th of 29.

When contesting races of 11 runners or fewer his record reads: 211157123416611 which for a handicapper is pretty decent.

With a field of 25+ runners almost guaranteed for the Wokingham he’s one to avoid no matter how good his recent form looks.

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As I mentioned yesterday we’re going for a two pronged attack on the Royal meeting next week with

1) The trends guide covering all 30 races

Available now from: http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php

and

2) Gary’s Tipping Guide which also covers all 30 races.

Available from: http://www.horseraceoutsiders.co.uk/

Good luck,
Gavin.

We all saw how easily Workforce won the Derby and he’ll probably go on to be a very good horse but there were a few other horses that caught my eye over the weekend with a view to some upcoming races. They probably won’t scale the same heights as the Derby winner is destined to but I reckon we’ll get paid out on these….

1) Shakespearean

The Godolphin stable seemed to have turned the corner, just in time for Royal Ascot, as their runners performed very well at the meeting. I thought Shakespearean was particularly impressive in winning the Surrey Stakes considering it was his first run of the season and he was giving weight away to all the runners. There were quite a few 100+ rated horses in the field so the form looks solid and I reckon the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot may be on the agenda for this one.

2) Approve

A 2yo from the Willie Haggas yard who ran 4th at Epsom on Saturday. He was beaten 2 1/2 lengths at the finish but would have been a lot closer had the gap opened up for him on the rail. It didn’t, and Eddie Ahern had to switch him to the outside to make a strong challenge in the last 150 yards. The way he stayed on over 6f may persuade connections to go for one of the minor 2yo races at Royal Ascot, specifically the Chesham Stakes over 7f on the Saturday. Failing that I reckon he’ll be one to look out for this summer in the better class 2yo Nurseries.

3) Mull of Killough

If this horse hasn’t been laid out for the Hunt Cup I’d be very surprised. He made his seasonal debut running 3rd in the Lincoln and followed that up with a 21st in the Spring Cup when sent off the 13/2 second favourite. That was a particularly rough race that saw Mull of Killough suffer more than most and he was allowed to amble home when his chance had gone. But that was nothing to his run on Friday when again he suffered bad luck in running just as he came to challenge for the race. He was repeatedly blocked in down the home straight and inside the final furlong before Jamie Heffernan accepted the situation and eased his horse down to finish a very unlucky 5th. After all that he was still only beaten 2 1/2 lengths and granted better luck in the notoriously difficult Hunt Cup I can see him being very competitive. 20/1 looks good to me.

4) Gertrude Bell

Her 7 length 5th in the Oaks tells only half the story as she looked the likely winner from the 2 furlong pole only for her stamina to give out on her. She weakened quite drastically late on in the race and I think a drop back in trip to around 10 furlongs will see her make up into a genuine Group 1 performer. The Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood looks the obvious choice given the record of 3yo’s in that race but I’d imagine Mr Gosden will probably give her one last chance at 12f in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot. It’s usually a pretty poor Group 2 race and she may just get away with her stamina but if you’re reading this John, forget the Irish Oaks and bring her back in trip for Goodwood, there’s a good chap.

5) Coordinated Cut

Bit of a long range hope this one as I reckon Coordinated Cut is tailormade for the St Leger. In all three of his runs this season I’ve looked at him and thought this horse will love the step up past 1m 4f. He was all about stamina as a 2yo and after his gutsy seasonal debut win he appeared to lack the speed of the front two in the Dante. His run on Saturday in the Derby had all the hallmarks of a horse in need of a trip and I’d imagine that Michael Bell will be planning his season along those lines now. The Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, the Voltigeur at York followed by the St Leger. He’s currently 12/1 for the final Classic of the season.

———–

Royal Ascot

This week I’ll be deep in study for the biggest flat meeting of the year, Royal Ascot. It wasn’t a great meeting for me last year and I gave up counting the number of placed horses I had over the 5 days. The trends were very good but I just couldn’t pick the right one when left with a choice of 2 or 3 runners. Last years Wokingham is a race that still gives me nightmares as I spent a day and a half umming and arring whether to go with Jimmy Styles or High Standing. They both had perfect profiles but, for some reason which I can’t remember, I eventually went with Jimmy Styles only to see High Standing romp home. To add insult to injury Jimmy Styles went on to win the Ayr Gold Cup later in the season without a penny of my money on him. Darn!

The trends guide for Royal Ascot will be out on Monday but we do have a 4 race ante-post guide which is out now. You can get your copy and pre-order the full guide by clicking below….

http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php

Also, Gary is going to be doing a guide for Royal Ascot that will be a purely tipping look at all 30 races. He’ll be giving his personal opinion on each race and trying to find a big priced winner to back. The days races will be available from the evening before.

He is currently writing an ante-post look at the two big betting handicaps (Hunt Cup & Wokingham) and this will be ready later this afternoon/evening depending on how long it takes me to put in the full stops and commas. Those people who have already paid will have this guide sent out to them as soon as it’s ready.

His record at the big meetings this year has been nothing short of phenomenal and if you’ve backed any of his winners and want to help support his wife and 6 kids then the guide is just £20. Available below….

http://www.horseraceoutsiders.co.uk/

Good luck,
Gavin.

The Derby

A horse by horse guide…..

Al Zir:

Pros: Ran a decent 3rd in the Racing Post Trophy lasts season and doesn’t have the front two from that race to worry about today. Keiren Fallon is on board and no one knows how to ride Epsom better than him.
Cons: Frankie prefers the chances of Rewilding and his 9th in the Guineas wasn’t a very good run as all of the last 11 Derby winners had finished in the top 2 on their previous start.

At First Sight:

Pros: As he’s a pacemaker, if you back him you’ll at least have the horse in front for around 10-12 furlongs of the race
Cons: He was well beaten by Midas Touch in the Derrinstown Trial and, in today’s race, after setting a strong pace for his stablemates will have burnt himself out well before the final furlong.

Azmeel:

Pros: He finished 2nd in the Sandown Classic trial and won the Dee Stakes at Chester. He’s only once finished out of the first two in his career when a beaten favourite in a sales race at the Curragh. One of the more likely runners to stay the trip.
Cons: The form of his Sandown 2nd hasn’t worked out very well and neither trial he’s run in this year is renowned for providing the Derby winner

Bullet Train:

Pros: Trained by the mestro Henry Cecil and he won the Lingfield Derby Trial very impressively.
Cons: The last Derby winner to have won the Lingfield trial en-route was High Rise in 1998 and this years race was very poor for a Group 3. Made his debut as a 2yo at Yarmouth and it’s usual for a Derby winner to make his debut at a Grade 1 track (this trend goes back to at least 1990)

Buzzword:

Pros: Is bred to appreciate the trip and the stable is in good form.
Cons: Has been well beaten in Group company and hasn’t won for 5 races which is a massive trends negative. He’s also run a lot more times than is usual for a Derby winner (10 runs) with all of the last 11 winners having run no more than 7 times.

Coordinated Cut:

Pros: Was the early ante-post favourite for the Derby after his well touted debut win at Doncaster when with Peter Chapple-Hyam. Didn’t seem to progress when he only beat one home in the Racing Post Trophy but has since changed stables to Michael Bell and has run very well on both occassions this season. looks sure to appreciate the 1m 4f trip.
Cons: Ran 3rd in the Dante and it’s a well known trend that no horse beaten in that trial has EVER won the Derby.

Hot Prospect:

Pros: A decent 2yo who has run creditably in defeat on two starts this year. Gave Bullet Train a tough time in the Lingfield Derby Trial until weakening in the last half furlong.
Cons: Has been beaten by both Coordinated Cut and Bullet Train this season and there seems to reason why he will reverse placings here. Yet to win in Pattern company unlike the last 11 Derby winners.

Jan Vermeer:

Pros: Bullet proof trends profile and unbeaten since his debut. Won his trial race very easily despite giving weight and fitness away to his rivals.
Cons: His last run was just 13 days ago and may ‘bounce’.

Midas Touch

Pros: Won the Derrinstown Stud last time out and that has been the number 1 trial for the Derby in the last decade.
Cons: That was a poor renewal of that trial with just 4 runners and Jan Vermeer has already beaten him when they both ran in the Criterium at the end of last season. Unsurprisingly Johhny Murtagh has jumped ship.

Rewilding

Pros: Improving 3yo who has been supplemented by his new connections into the race after his impressive win in a Listed trial at Goodwood. Frankie Dettori’s choice of Godolphin’s trio and he looks a major player.
Cons: He’s done little wrong but the slight doubt is that he has yet to win above Listed Class.

Ted Spread

Pros: Won his trial in the style of a battler and in the process proved he handles a sharp track and the distance. He scores quite well on the trends and had some fair 2yo form.
Cons: The last Chester Vase winner to win the Derby was the mighty Shergar and it would be a big surprise if he is in that league! The horse he beat at Chester was hammered by Jan Vermeer next time out and he could probably do with a bit of rain..

Workforce

Pros: His trainer knows how to get one ready for the Derby and this one has been his number one hope for along time. Ran a fine second in the Dante last time on his seasonal debut when he had excuses (the bit slipped through his mouth) and doesn’t have the winner to worry about now.
Cons: It’s that trend again ‘no horse beaten in the Dante has EVER won the Derby’ and it’s been some time since a horse so inexperienced (just 2 runs) has won the Derby.

Right, lets have a go at forecasting the complete result ( I must be mad…)

1st Jan Vermeer - handily placed behind pacemakers. Sent to the front 1 furlong out. Stayed on well
2nd Rewilding - Mid division. Effort from 2 furlongs out. Challenged for lead entering final furlong but readily outpaced.
3rd Bullet Train - ran just off the pacemaker but well clear of the rest of the field. Caught in last furlong. Ran on well to hold third.
4th Workforce - Out the back. Ran on well to take fourth but never troubled leaders.
5th Coordinated Cut - Raced in midfield before effort and outpaced 2 furlongs out. Stayed on again close home.
6th Ted Spread - Held up. Stayed on from 3 out but never in contention.
7th Midas Touch - Raced in rear. Never reached challenging position.
8th Al Zir - Mid-division. Challenged from 2 furlongs out. Weakened final furlong.
9th Buzzword - In rear throughout.
10th Azmeel - Mid division until effort 3 furlongs out. Still with leaders until weakened final furlong.
11th Hot Prospect - Raced with leaders until weakened rapidly from 3 furlongs out.
12th At First Sight - Set strong pace until headed and weakened from 2 furlongs out. Eased when beaten. Tailed off.

There’ probably more chance of me winning the lottery than that happening but it should be fun to see how accurate it is.

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Britain’s Got Talent

It’s the final tonight and although it doesn’t have the best line-up of talent they’ve ever had on the show it should still be a great night’s TV viewing. Here are my own personal thoughts on the contestants……

SPELLBOUND

Brilliant gymnasts and undoubtedly the best act in the final. Their audition and semi-final acts were flawless and featured great choices of music and feats of gymnastictry (?) BUT there’s so much going on it’s difficult to take it all in on a TV screen and can they come up with a third amazing set? The most likely winners but not much value at around even money.

Kieran Gaffney (10/1)

Plays the drums and plays them really well BUT apart from that Cadbury’s advert with the gorilla has there ever been an exciting drum solo performance? I think not. He’ll probably get Phil Collins’s vote but he won’t get mine.

Liam McNally (20/1)

A youngster who can sing quite well and will appeal to the ‘older’ viewer BUT he’s not in the same class as Aled Jones was at that age and will need a great song choice and an improved performance to stand a chance of winning.

Tina and Chandi (8/1)

I have a real problem with dog acts, once you’ve seen one dog roll over or lift it’s paw you’ve seen them all. There was a similar act in an earlier Season of this show and they were miles better than these two but still didn’t win. You’d be barking mad to vote for this act.

Twist and Pulse (16/1)

Two annoying brothers who shake their arms and legs around like a couple of demented drunks on a night out in Cardiff. I think they spelt their name wrong, it should be Twit and Repulse

Connected (22/1)

A pint-size Westlife that makes you ask, why? BUT they will get the teenage vote who apparently make up the largest majority of voters for this type of show and will therefore probably make the top 3. (Bluesquare go 22/1 at 1/5th odds the top 3)

Janey Cutler (8/1)

Scottish singer who is about 105 and deaf as a post. She couldn’t hear the backing track in the semi-final causing her to sing completely out of sync with the music and won’t win if she makes that mistake again.

Tobias Mead (33/1)

Started off as a backing dancer for the 80’s group the Nolans (not exactly Beyonce is it?) and won through his audition with a bizarre back to front dance act that involved him putting his hoodie on the wrong way round and waving his arms about. I’m sure Kriss Kross did that back in the 80’s. His semi-final act had some more dancing and a gold ball flying around the stage which I’m sure I also saw stage magician David Copperfield do in the 80’s(but without the dancing). Unsurprisingly he’s about 80’s on Betfair to win tonight.

Christopher Stone (40/1)

or should that be Chrizzzzzzztopher Stone. He’s a 29yo singing accountant (yes, really) with all the personality of a PAYE spread-sheet. He can sing very well but he’s not exciting and certainly doesn’t have the appeal to be another Paul Potts. It all adds up to no chance.

Paul Burling (7/1)

Which just leaves the comedian & impressionist Paul Burling who you’d have to say is pretty decent at both. He did a great Harry Hill sketch to win his Semi-Final and if he has another routine up his sleeve that is just as funny (and he hasn’t exhausted all the people he can mimic) he could surprise. Worth a second look in the betting.

 My Top 3: Spellbound / Paul Burling / Connected

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Bonus Ball Bet

A terrible start yesterday with Hannon and Hughes letting the side down but if that hasn’t put you off entering then here are the details for the BBB….

1) It’s completely 100% FREE to enter
2) Anyone reading this blog can enter
3) Simply send in the number (1-49) that you think will be the Bonus Ball for the National Lottery Main Draw on Wednesday 30th June to bonusball@nag-nag-nag.co.uk
4) Please put your number in the subject field and include your name in the email.
5) Anyone correctly guessing the Bonus Ball number will receive an equal share of the Prize Pot.

There’s plenty of time left to get the Prize Pot bulging and for today’s attempt I’ll be having £5ew Judge ‘N Jury (3.15 Epsom)

Click on the Bonus Ball Bet tab at the top of the page to get full details of the Prize Fund

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Lottery

The 20 lines for tonight’s Lottery draw syndicate are….

I’m hoping for a bit better luck than I’ve been having recently or, as Rog commented, it looks like it’s another caravan holiday for the family this Summer. Please no, I don’t think I could handle another 7 days in a glorified cardboard box…..

Good luck,
Gavin.

I’ve spent a lovely week in a caravan in North Somerset with the family (and an unwelcome colony of ants!) but there’s only so much lounging around by the pool drinking Budweiser I can take and I’m now looking forward to getting back home. The biggest problem I’ve faced this week has been trying to find a Racing Post but the manager of the local Betfred has been very helpful and let me have his copy the days I’ve been unable to secure a paper of my own. On the betting front I’ve managed to break even this week thanks to Forte Dei Marmi on Monday but would have finished well infront if Dylanesque had managed to hold on last night. Guess what folks? Another second!

Before I leave I’ll be having  a couple of bets on today’s racing…..

Firstly, I’m going to start the Bonus Ball Bet up again this month and will attempt to get the prizefund rolling with 4 horses at Epsom today. I reckon Richard Hannon and Richard Hughes may have a decent afternoon and will be having a £1ew Lucky 15 on….

Ordnance Row 1.40 Epsom
Vitznau 2.10
Lucky General 4.50
Kajima 5.25

Details on this months competition will be announced tomorrow.

I’ve had a really big double on Timepiece and Bullet Train for the two Classics and if I’m lucky enough to collect I’ll be off to Vegas for my birthday to play in the World Series of Poker. Incidentally, I’ve been trying to win a seat for the WSOP on Pokerstars this week and have been frustrated by a really bad run of luck at just the wrong time. The 5 tournaments I’ve played have seen me finish 11th, 16th, 19th, 8th and 22nd out of the usual 350 runners when a top 3 finish is required to win a seat. Very annoying.

With those two Henry Cecil runners already covered, as a saver, I’ll be having 3 doubles and a treble on…

Aviate (The Oaks)
Fame And Glory (Coronation Cup)
Jan Vermeer (Derby)

That should just about use up all my remaining holiday spending money but I’ll have to remember to keep £5.50 to get back over the bridge into Wales…..

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Festival Trends

Our Epsom Guide last year was probably one of the best we produced with plenty of winners (up to 14/1) over the two days and included the forecast in both the Oaks and Derby, the tricast in the second race of the meeting, two ’lay’ horses which both got beat and the day 1 Placepot 154 times!

This years guide covers all 14 races at the two day meeting and is now ready for download. Our 2010 Derby and Oaks Ante-Post guide highlighted two horses that have since been heavily supported and now sit at the head of the betting markets.

The Epsom Guide is available for just £14.95. Click below to get your copy…..

http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php

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Scoop6 / Lottery Syndicate

After wading through our 87 lotto lines it appears we managed a paltry 2 lines of 3 numbers which equates to just £20. I’ve re-invested the £20 in another 20 lines for Saturday’s draw. I’m back home later today so I’ll post the numbers then which will be in plenty of time for the draw…..

Good luck,
Gavin.

Last night at Sandown wasn’t a very good meeting for me as Dylan had his friend round and I missed backing Jo’burg in the first as we were all playing G1 Jockey on the Wii. Nothing better than beating a couple of 6 year old’s over a virtual 3900 metre chase course with some superior riding tactics. I reckon Timmy Murphy (and a few others) should have a go on this game to try and brush up on their timing!

Anyway they got bored of losing quite quickly and decided to play Star Wars instead meaning I did get to back Cape To Rio, Darley Sun and Prince Seigfried. I would have been better off taking them up on their offer to ‘let me be Darth Vader’ as the force definitely wasn’t with me. Cape To Rio was beaten by a better horse but I think my money was lost on the other two before the races started. In hindsight Darley Sun at 2/1 was a crazy price and I should have left it well alone.

Why? Well, have you noticed just how bad Saeed Bin Suroor’s horses are running?

He must be a very worried man at the moment because Godolphin’s results so far this season have been nothing short of disastrous. They changed their tactics slightly this year and brought their horses over from Dubai a few weeks earlier than normal but it hasn’t helped them overcome their usual slow start and they’re finding winners even harder to come by than in previous seasons.

If you look at all the runners over the past fortnight for the Suroor stable it makes for some sorry reading…..

- Since 14th May they have sent out 27 horses throughout Europe for just 1 winner.

But it’s only when you consider how fancied their runners have been that you realise just how bad the situation is….

-26 of those 27 runners were sent off at under 10/1 (the 27th was 11/1 at Sandown last night)
- 8 of the 27 were clear favourites
-6 of the 27 runners finished stone cold last at odds of 4/6F, 8/1, 15/8F, 5/1, 7/4F and 13/2

For the whole of 2010 they have run 38 horses in Britain for just 3 winners,  £50,000 win prizemoney and a level stakes loss of -30.30. Admittedly over 50% have finished in the top 4 but well over 60% of those races were contested by 8 or fewer runners.

That’s not a lot to show for the multi-millions Sheikh Mohammed ploughs into his racing and Mr Suroor will be hoping their fortunes change in June as Epsom and Royal Ascot loom else he’ll be being served with his P45.

What price Mahmood Al Zarooni is in charge of the entire Godolphin Spring by the end of the Summer? If Rewilding wins the Derby it could be even sooner than that.

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Lottery Numbers

For all members of last weeks Scoop6 Syndicate here are the lucky numbers we’ll be hoping come out on the Lottery tomorrow night. No syndicate member has requested their share back so there are 87 lines with, like last Saturday, everyone getting 10/1944th of any winnings……

Today…

Gary’s posted his biggest bet so far in his Tips section and if you’re interested in following him you can find the horse by clicking on the ‘Gary’s Tips’ tab on the left hand menu.

For those of you who were at Newmarket for Matt’s racing day you may remember Kristofferson who most of us backed at a big price at one of the away meetings. He got brought down by a horse falling at the top bend (although the Racing Post claimed he slipped up) when just getting back into the race and the way the front ones stopped that night he may have sneaked into the places if he had avoided the trouble. He runs again tonight in the 8.50 Stratford and is currently 25/1 with Paddy Power. Both Gary and I are looking to get our money back.

The weekend

I’m off with the family to North Somerset for half term so postings may be few and far between for the next 7 days. I’ll be back in plenty of time to see Henry Cecil win the Oaks and Derby but until then, enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend and…..

Good luck,
Gavin.

P.S. Lord Shanakill at Haydock tomorrow will decide if it’s fish ’n’ chips or the Harvester for food all next week .

Sandown holds it’s very popular Brigadier Gerard evening meeting tonight which includes the 5f Listed National Stakes for 2yo’s. Matt and I used to go to this meeting every year from the mid nineties to the early noughties but haven’t been for a few years now. But one person who’s been going far longer than us and still goes every year is Richard Hannon who has spent the last 20 years dominating the National Stakes. He runs the likely favourite again tonight in Cape To Rio.

In fact, he’s won the last 3 renewals of the race and will be looking to repeat the period  from 1992-1997 when he won it 5 times in those 6 years.
His record from 1992 reads 1/1&2/1&5/2/1/1/4/2/3/7/1/4&6/-/6/2/1/1/1 and if you had backed all his runners you would be +14.80 to level stakes.

Cape To Rio is around the 11/10 mark for tonight.

If you want to see what else I’ll be backing tonight then you can download my trends guide for tonight from …

http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/briggerard2010.pdf

It’s 100% FREE and it’s a direct link to the Guide. No sign-ups or card details required. 100% FREE!

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I’ll be back tomorrow with the numbers for our Lottery Syndicate. All 87 lines of them…..

Good luck,
Gavin.

The Scoop 6….

3 winners and 3 seconds is what we ended up with. Close but no cigar.

The 3 winners were down to Gary’s very confident pick, Parisien Pyramid (more about that later), Balducci who was a trends horse plus blog readers most popular and Hamish McGonagall who was picked by all of us as a fairly strong fancy. 

Of the ones that let us down, Final Victory and Kingsgate Native were considered but I have to be honest and say that I wouldn’t have gone with Tactic over at York unless I was able to choose the whole field. Munsef was my strongest fancy from the six races and I just can’t believe that Tactic beat him by 14 lengths. Where did the winner find that kind of improvement from his last 4runs? We’ll probably never know.

We did however manage to get the Place Dividend up twice which gave us a return of £87 and therefore a payout of 45p per share.

What I propose to do, if this is agreeable to everyone, is offer every syndicate member the opportunity to reclaim their 45p share by sending me a Paypal request before Friday morning. After this time, all money that is left in the pot after any share payouts will be used to buy Lucky Dip Tickets for Saturday’s Lottery Draw with any winnings split equally between all syndicate members who have not reclaimed their share.

I will post all the lottery numbers on the Blog before the draw numbers are announced.

If anyone doesn’t want their share to be used in this way please reclaim your money before Noon Friday 28th May.

Thank-you everyone for getting involved and I’m just sorry that we couldn’t get the result we all wanted. I hope you managed to get some fun out of it, especially after the first two had gone in, and maybe we’ll do it again once the fund starts building back up.

Kingsgate Native

A couple of interesting points came about from the Scoop on Saturday. Firstly, if we had permed every horse that readers submitted in their scoop suggestions, apart from having to lay out over £150,000 to put the bet on, we would have had nothing to show for it. Quite incredibly there wasn’t a single reader who suggested doing Kingsgate Native in the Temple Stakes. I’m glad I wasn’t alone in thinking he was the weakest of the front 4 in the betting.

Secondly, in two of the races (2.15 & 2.45 Goodwood ) every horse was chosen by at least one reader which I think goes to show how tight the Scoop races were on Saturday. The fact that they went only 12/1 the outsider in the 9 runner field of the 2.15 Goodwood says it all.

Beyond Desire

I’ve been harping on about this filly since September last year after she got stitched up and turned over when my biggest single bet of 2009. I lost a few more quid backing her for the 1000 Guineas when she didn’t run but judging by her comeback appearance at the weekend  it won’t be long until I get my money back. I had a decent bet on her on Saturday at 5/4, which went some way to repairing the damage, and would imagine she’ll be able to run up a sequence in sprints this Summer hopefully culminating in success in one of the big Group 1 races. Preferably the July Stakes as I’ve got £25ew at 50/1 on her.

Weekend Golf…

Great weather, great company, er, truly shocking golf. Thanks to some poor strokes, dodgy putting and some creative accounting by the scorer I managed to finish last of four. I’m beginning to think Paula (comments) had it right and I’ve now retired my golf clubs. I’d rather have a hundred bad beats on the poker table than suffer another 18 holes like those I had on Saturday. Apparently a bad round of golf is better than a good day in the office but whoever said that obviously didn’t have their office in a poker room or the betting shop.

Gary…

What can I say? The guy is in the form of his life and has been tipping out of his skin for over 2 months now.

Since he’s started putting up his selections on this blog he is an incredible 150 points up on both his selections and his system. Even more incredible when you consider that’s just since 18th April. If there’s a tipster in the country who can boast, and prove, those kind of profit figures I’d be very surprised and would gladly plug him on this blog.

For those who doubted the validity of his claims that Parisian Pyramid was a top priced 8/1, you were indeed correct…….. 8/1 was not the top price available on Saturday. It was in fact 10/1 and it was freely available at this price. Plenty of you have commented or emailed to say that you were on at the 10’s, I know we were. Gary gave it as a 4pt win on his selection page and followed that up with 2pts on his system page. At 10/1 this would actually have given him another 12 points profit to his already highly impressive profit figures. When news came through to us of his win the amount of whooping and jumping around we did on the golf course wouldn’t have looked out of place had any of us scored a hole in one. I’d blame my poor round on all that excitement but I’d been playing badly long before the result was in. Must have been the sun….

To all of you who are feeling guilty about getting all these winners for free then there will be an opportunity shortly to show your appreciation. Gary will be doing a special tipping guide for Royal Ascot which will give an indepth analysis of all 30 races and his selections for each race. It will be just £19.95 for the entire meeting. Check it out here…… http://www.horseraceoutsiders.co.uk/

For those of you not feeling guilty in the slightest about getting all these winners for free then don’t worry. We are delighted to say that all the system horses and tips will continue to be absolutely free of charge. Today’s horses are uploaded and I can pass on the information that he is very keen on Seneschal in the first at Leicester and you should take the 12’s at Betfred….

Good luck,
Gavin.

Thanks for all the comments and emails which have provided the following horses as the most popular….

2.15 Mac Gille Eoin
2.30 Balduccini
2.45 Classic Vintage
3.00 Equiano
3.10 Aajel
3.40 Hamish McGonagall

Adding these to mine, Gary and the Trends selections we have ended up with a perm that looks like this….

2.15 (3-4-7)
2.30 (2-4-6-15) No Hubris is a Non-Runner
2.45 (3-5-9)
300 (3-4-5)
3.10 (2-9-11)
3.40 (5-7-12)

Which is 972 lines and £1944.

I sold 183 shares at £10 each (£1830) meaning Gary and I own £114 of the perm.

So for every share you hold you will receive 10/1944th of any winnings.

I hope everyone’s happy with that and we can get a good run for our money!

Time to hit the fairway.

Good luck,
Gavin.

The Tote have annouced that the 6 races for the Scoop 6 will be….

2.15 Goodwood
2.30 Haydock
2.45 Goodwood
3.00 Haydock
3.10 York
3.40 York

Which includes 4 handicaps, a Listed race and the Group 2 Temple Stakes.
The 16 runner sprint handicap that it ends with is particularly tough so I’ll leave Gary to sort that one out!

If you would like to help pick the selections simply email 1 horse from each race to me at gavin@nag-nag-nag.co.uk or leave them in the comments box.

The two races we have covered in the Trends Guide for Haydock are included in the Scoop 6 and will play a big part in the selections for those races.

I’m off down to Devon as soon as Dylan as finished school so I’ll pick up any emails/selections later this evening before heading to the casino for a game of poker.

Gary and I will put our heads together tomorrow morning to finalise our horses before putting the bet on and posting the perm on the blog.

We’re then off to the golf course with our little bruv and Gary’s eldest son for 18 holes round Dainton.

4 Ball Betting: Gary 5/4 Gavin 5/4 Glenn 5/1 Simon 13/2

We’ll be keeping our eye on the results throughtout the afternoon thanks to the wonders of modern technology and mobile internet access although I think the use of mobiles on the golf course is frowned upon by the Club officials (I’m sure they’ll make an exception when there’s £2million on the line). It should be a fun few days……

Good luck to everyone and have a great weekend,
Gavin.

Well you certainly caught me by surprise there! I knew a lot of you were keen to have a go at the Scoop 6 but I didn’t realise just how many of you there were. Within 90 minutes of putting up yesterday’s link an incredible 183 shares had been sold and as I wanted to try and keep the syndicate manageable I decided to pull the plug. I’m very sorry if this meant any of you missed out on joining our merry band of men and women.

If you did miss out but still want to join a Scoop syndicate then you may like to try the website that I mentioned yesterday (thanks again Craig)…. http://www.iscooped6.co.uk/

So with mine and Gary’s contributions we have around £2000 to construct our Scoop6 Perm with which, while it is a lot of money, is fairly small in terms of the bigger Scoop6 perm syndicates. The biggest problem with the Scoop6 is that it costs £2 per line which effectively doubles the price of your bet and thus reduces the number of selections you can use but it should give us a perm looking something like 3×3x3×3x3×4 which is 972 lines or £1944. I can’t see any race having what you might consider ‘banker material’ but I reckon 3 horses per race should give us a fighting chance (although in some of the races I’m sure we’ll need about 10 chances!).

The Tote haven’t yet announced which races will make up Saturday’s Scoop6 but once they are published I’ll put them up here. We’ll use the trends horses, Gary’s picks, your most popular selections and good old fashioned form study to hopefully scoop the pot….

So if you want to help us out by picking a few horses yourself then simply choose one in each race and email them to me by 8pm Friday night at gavin@nag-nag-nag.co.uk The most popular ones will be used. I’ll post the full perm and selections here on the blog about 1pm Saturday.

Thanks for all your words of encouragement, I hope we can give everyone a run for their money and make it a fun and exciting afternoon.

Which leaves me only to say, ‘the very best of luck to all of us’.

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FESTIVAL TRENDS FREE TRIAL OFFER

Available only to Nag3 blog readers this is our best offer yet. We’re giving you a completely FREE trial of Festival Trends until the end of the month. Results have been excellent so far this year and we are up over 120pts in profit for level stakes at SP.

We’ve got Haydock and The Curragh on Saturday with Newmarket, Sandown and Redcar to come next week.

You can only sign up here…. http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php

I’ve waived the need to register your card details so it’s now a completely free, 100% genuine trial with no catches whatsoever.
The link will be taken down at midnight tonight (20th May 2010) so be quick if you want to join up.

Good luck,
Gavin.

Okay everyone, you win.

Thanks (I think) for the all the comments, emails and text messages pledging your support for a crack at the Scoop 6 this Saturday.

This is how it’s going to work (if you don’t agree to any part of the following please do not join up)…..

All payments will be made through Paypal. This is the only payment method available.
Shares will be sold at £10.55 each (£10 for share and 55p for Paypal fee).
You can buy a minimum of 1 share and a maximum of 5 shares. (Any excess shares bought will be refunded)
Keep your Paypal payment receipt as this will be your proof of entry to the syndicate.
The perm we do will depend on the amount raised but I want to keep it manageable and under £2000.
I’ll be placing the bet on Saturday at 1pm and will post the selections at this time.
Gary and I will have the final say on selections but if you wish to suggest a line please email 1 horse per race for all 6 races to gavin@nag-nag-nag.co.uk. You do not have to send in any selections to be a part of the syndicate. Any selections sent in will be added up and the most popular chosen.

 The Tote should announce the six races that will make up the Scoop6  tomorrow.

Please use the link below to enter the syndicate. If the link is missing then the Syndicate is FULL. Any money sent after this will be refunded and no claims to any syndicate winnings will be allowed. The syndicate will operate on a simple first come, first served basis.

Simply select the number of shares you require and click the Pay Now button

Any questions please email first….

Oh, and should we be lucky enough to win then all winnings will be equally distributed according to how many shares are sold. Payment will be made as soon as any winnings are paid out by the Tote.

 SYNDICATE IS NOW FULL - DETAILS TO FOLLOW

If the syndicate is full and you still want to have a go at the Scoop 6 then you may like to have a look at this site (thanks Craig) http://www.iscooped6.co.uk/

Good luck to us all,
Gavin.

P.S. The Festival Trends free trial offer will be available tomorrow. Don’t panic though as there are currently no guides available for download. This weekends guides for The Curragh and Haydock won’t be published until tomorrow afternoon.