Are you that confident going early that you’ll beat SP ?
Not usually best time for that really.
Haha, it's more that I'm a fan of driving discussion ..... so you could announce them now, and people can discuss them... if you still feel the same way bu this Sunday.... ok
But 2 weeks out seems to defeat the point :glee:
Blimey Yosser, you ain’t had many jobs, but when you are given one, you don’t mess about
:excitement:
:biggrin-new::biggrin-new::biggrin-new: I don't know the protocol. Never done one, never read one. If you want me to play it now i can play it now. It's literally to beat the prices. I can hold until next Sunday if that's when you want them in. I am greener than Jeriko Du Reponet over fences here :anonymous:
I’m excited, not sure I can wait till next Sunday!!
….todays the day :watermelon:
Ok folks. So the Yankee has been decided. I will post my reasoning for it below the selections. The selections come with the best prices available if you are lucky enough to have the right accounts. Some will like them, some will like some of them and some will like none of them and i know there are a couple of horses people are keen on that haven't made it. I think they all have a top chance of at least placing and have a decent enough chance of winning.
Last year, my book yielded 21 winners from 27 races with a multitude of placed horses. I have never mentioned this because i just don't think people would have believed me, but it's true (And i would have had the XC winner). If i can get anywhere near that again i will be happy as my stakes are higher this time. I (like many others on here) spend every day from the end of the festival to the start of the next one, looking for angles, trends and horses for the next spring. That's why i spent April through the summer on here dragging up threads and trying to engage conversation with whoever was still around. It's something i take very seriously because we are playing for real money. I know Jackie has ribbed me a bit because i have mentioned loads of horses that have been on various lengthy lists :glee: but that is how it starts, every race has 2 pages or so of horses on them that get whittled down one way or another before and during the season until i am left with about 10 for each. (took a bit of a hammering with injuries in the past month) I then whittle that down a bit more and allow for steamers coming out of the woodwork (imports mainly, as we know, OJA is the bible and most of those come from here before the market knows what has hit it) and usually end up backing about 7 per race minus handicaps which is a max of 5. Sometimes i go over and take a small hit. My rationale is getting a winner at 12/1 breaks me even straight away. Anything over is profit with the place money being the bonus. For instance, the Supreme reads, in current betting order. Kopek 20/1 e/w, Mundi 25/1 e/w, Romeo 16/1 e/w, William Munny 25/1 e/w, Workahead 25/1 e/w, Karbau 25/1 e/w and Kel Histoire 25/1 e/w and most races follow that trend. Lost Kaid D'authie from that race. I know i come out with novicey statements sometimes because i am no expert but i do know what i am doing. That doesn't mean the yankee will be any good because it is Cheltenham and the value is diminishing and its bloody hard :excitement: I have had to go with what i think is going to happen regarding the yankee so here it is. It's an e/w bet but you can play it however you like. I know it's only a bit of fun but i have trawled the day 2 races to find whatever juice i could find left in the market.
Brown Advisory - Stellar Story - 14/1
Cross Country - Bussleton - 10/1
Champion Chase - Marine Nationale - 7/1
Grand Annual - Path D'oroux - 14/1
So, why these selections?
Marine Nationale - The Champion Chase is notorious for favourites bombing out and although Jonbon is rock solid and has a superb race record, his quirks could open the door for a mistake. I like the way Barry Connell has campaigned MN this season. There was a lot of talk about his wind before the season and after his debut run but as i expected, he has improved a lot for race fitness after missing a long time off. With Gaelic Warrior and Il Est Francais seemingly aiming elsewhere, his 7/1 won't be around long. I love the Found A Fifty shout and have him at a huge price but i think MN is the clever bet. I would love MN to win for the Mikey O'Sullivans family and the charity bet.
Bussleton - The Naiad. How could i leave this guy out. The support for him since Paul put him up has been sustained, helped by the unfortunate passing of Delta Work. He is getting very popular on the preview circuits and is seemingly shortening by the day. Stumptown is the weakest favourite of the festival for me. The hike in the weights will make life very difficult and the chances of the Cross Country course being good ground for Galvin should be slim. It's known for it's incredibly poor drainage and Galvin's chances rest on it being decent ground. I can only see Bussleton's price contracting all the time.
Stellar Story - This one is going to split opinion. Better Days Ahead i hear you all say is the e/w bet here but he hasn't impressed me as yet this season even though i have him backed. (i have the top 6 backed) but his finishing efforts have left a lot to be desired. It's clear and obvious that what we know, Ballyburn and Dancing City are very good horses but the ground is going to go against one of them. I think that will be Dancing City, i think it will be decent enough ground so will play into Ballyburn's favour. Ballyburn is a keen going sort though and i fully expect this race to be run at a steady pace, he could easily pull his chance away. Stellar Story won an gruelling Bartlett beating The Jukebox Man and Dancing City so has the form in the book. His chase career so far has been hit and miss, he made a horlicks on debut but still won, he then blew out and was given an easy time and last time out he took a much steadier approach and the improvement was very clear to see. As much as i would love a Croke Park win because of the big price i have, i think Stellar Story is the unsung horse in here. He could quite easily find the improvement to go by the lot of them. He is a guaranteed stayer, he is on the improve but he needs a good round of jumping, however the same applies to most of the field. He get's the nod over another Gigginstown horse, Kalypsochance, who was next on the list in the Bumper.
Path D'oroux - WHAT!! No Unexpected Party. Unfortunately not. I know Unexpected Party was popular but he is a little too high for my liking. When you look at the make up of the race, Liberty Hunter and Firefox could and probably should go elsewhere as they have huge tasks at the weights. I think they will both defect to different races and the rest of the field will shorten. Path D'oroux is rock solid almost in every race he runs in. His rating never seems to move much and is nearly always in the top 3 or 4. He has run in here before, he is trained by the new shrewd Gavin Cromwell and he has course and distance winning form and i see no reason he won't be aimed back here. The King Of Prs was also under serious consideration for the same connections and has been coming to the boil nicely but fell in this race last year when well held. As much as i want Path D'oroux to win, i would also love to see Jazzy Matty win for the O'Sullivans and charity bet. The only other time i was happy to throw a bet in the bin was when Honeysuckle won the Mares for the De Bromheads after Jack's death. That was the best lump in throat moment post race i have ever seen at Chetlenham.
So, if you got this far down, you have just read War And Peace :excitement: and they are the bets. Hopefully they meet expectations and hopefully they bloody win. The win part of this Yankee from a 25p each way bet (£5.50 total) pays around £7000. If they all place it's around £75 and then all the in between bits pay various amounts with one or two winners chucked in etc. Let the fun begin. 1 more week at work then it's Christmas again.
Loving the work,confidence and way you've approached this Yosser, very best of luck with the yankee & all your festival punts.
Given the speed involved here if you happen to be a chippie or plasterer I'll be advising you to all my friends who need something done quickly :biggrin-new:
:glee::glee::glee: I am a sprayer mate. Been doing jobs for Man City and Luton Airport today but i am in over the weekend to knock the rest off.
In regards to Path D'oroux, i hadn't seen Cromwell's comments. He fits nicely into the trends and is in good heart. I would be bemused if he went elsewhere but could also understand it. I have already played the Yankee but as mentioned, if people would like to wait to see if PD goes elsewhere we could use Jazzy Matty as the sub and i would myself re-back it.
Q - I think Marine Nationale is a certainty to shorten when Il Est Francais and Gaelic Warrior appear to be ready to leave the market. Bussleton's price seems to be contracting every day and is being talked up on almost every preview. I think the (experts) have seen the market move and are just rowing in with the tide of support and i really don't think that will stop. I have just read a post that Firefox is shortening for the Arkle already so there seems to be some movement in what i was expecting to happen and Liberty Hunter can't be a strong fav. Unexpected Party and PD i expect will shorten by a few points here. Stellar Story could do anything in the market, i just liked him :welcoming:
:encouragement: Good enough for me, looks like you've given it some thought.
I had Path Droux down as one of my first bets for the annual, weeks ago, due to the collateral form - but his comments deterred me.
Looks like he'll probably stick to it also as he has so many other options, but we'll see.
Ok folks. So the Yankee has been decided. I will post my reasoning for it below the selections. The selections come with the best prices available if you are lucky enough to have the right accounts. Some will like them, some will like some of them and some will like none of them and i know there are a couple of horses people are keen on that haven't made it. I think they all have a top chance of at least placing and have a decent enough chance of winning.
Last year, my book yielded 21 winners from 27 races with a multitude of placed horses. I have never mentioned this because i just don't think people would have believed me, but it's true (And i would have had the XC winner). If i can get anywhere near that again i will be happy as my stakes are higher this time. I (like many others on here) spend every day from the end of the festival to the start of the next one, looking for angles, trends and horses for the next spring. That's why i spent April through the summer on here dragging up threads and trying to engage conversation with whoever was still around. It's something i take very seriously because we are playing for real money. I know Jackie has ribbed me a bit because i have mentioned loads of horses that have been on various lengthy lists :glee: but that is how it starts, every race has 2 pages or so of horses on them that get whittled down one way or another before and during the season until i am left with about 10 for each. (took a bit of a hammering with injuries in the past month) I then whittle that down a bit more and allow for steamers coming out of the woodwork (imports mainly, as we know, OJA is the bible and most of those come from here before the market knows what has hit it) and usually end up backing about 7 per race minus handicaps which is a max of 5. Sometimes i go over and take a small hit. My rationale is getting a winner at 12/1 breaks me even straight away. Anything over is profit with the place money being the bonus. For instance, the Supreme reads, in current betting order. Kopek 20/1 e/w, Mundi 25/1 e/w, Romeo 16/1 e/w, William Munny 25/1 e/w, Workahead 25/1 e/w, Karbau 25/1 e/w and Kel Histoire 25/1 e/w and most races follow that trend. Lost Kaid D'authie from that race. I know i come out with novicey statements sometimes because i am no expert but i do know what i am doing. That doesn't mean the yankee will be any good because it is Cheltenham and the value is diminishing and its bloody hard :excitement: I have had to go with what i think is going to happen regarding the yankee so here it is. It's an e/w bet but you can play it however you like. I know it's only a bit of fun but i have trawled the day 2 races to find whatever juice i could find left in the market.
Brown Advisory - Stellar Story - 14/1
Cross Country - Bussleton - 10/1
Champion Chase - Marine Nationale - 7/1
Grand Annual - Path D'oroux - 14/1 / Bumper - Kalypsochance 13/2 (reasons mentioned in below posts)
So, why these selections?
Marine Nationale - The Champion Chase is notorious for favourites bombing out and although Jonbon is rock solid and has a superb race record, his quirks could open the door for a mistake. I like the way Barry Connell has campaigned MN this season. There was a lot of talk about his wind before the season and after his debut run but as i expected, he has improved a lot for race fitness after missing a long time off. With Gaelic Warrior and Il Est Francais seemingly aiming elsewhere, his 7/1 won't be around long. I love the Found A Fifty shout and have him at a huge price but i think MN is the clever bet. I would love MN to win for the Mikey O'Sullivans family and the charity bet.
Bussleton - The Naiad. How could i leave this guy out. The support for him since Paul put him up has been sustained, helped by the unfortunate passing of Delta Work. He is getting very popular on the preview circuits and is seemingly shortening by the day. Stumptown is the weakest favourite of the festival for me. The hike in the weights will make life very difficult and the chances of the Cross Country course being good ground for Galvin should be slim. It's known for it's incredibly poor drainage and Galvin's chances rest on it being decent ground. I can only see Bussleton's price contracting all the time.
Stellar Story - This one is going to split opinion. Better Days Ahead i hear you all say is the e/w bet here but he hasn't impressed me as yet this season even though i have him backed. (i have the top 6 backed) but his finishing efforts have left a lot to be desired. It's clear and obvious that what we know, Ballyburn and Dancing City are very good horses but the ground is going to go against one of them. I think that will be Dancing City, i think it will be decent enough ground so will play into Ballyburn's favour. Ballyburn is a keen going sort though and i fully expect this race to be run at a steady pace, he could easily pull his chance away. Stellar Story won an gruelling Bartlett beating The Jukebox Man and Dancing City so has the form in the book. His chase career so far has been hit and miss, he made a horlicks on debut but still won, he then blew out and was given an easy time and last time out he took a much steadier approach and the improvement was very clear to see. As much as i would love a Croke Park win because of the big price i have, i think Stellar Story is the unsung horse in here. He could quite easily find the improvement to go by the lot of them. He is a guaranteed stayer, he is on the improve but he needs a good round of jumping, however the same applies to most of the field. He get's the nod over another Gigginstown horse, Kalypsochance, who was next on the list in the Bumper.
Path D'oroux - WHAT!! No Unexpected Party. Unfortunately not. I know Unexpected Party was popular but he is a little too high for my liking. When you look at the make up of the race, Liberty Hunter and Firefox could and probably should go elsewhere as they have huge tasks at the weights. I think they will both defect to different races and the rest of the field will shorten. Path D'oroux is rock solid almost in every race he runs in. His rating never seems to move much and is nearly always in the top 3 or 4. He has run in here before, he is trained by the new shrewd Gavin Cromwell and he has course and distance winning form and i see no reason he won't be aimed back here. The King Of Prs was also under serious consideration for the same connections and has been coming to the boil nicely but fell in this race last year when well held. As much as i want Path D'oroux to win, i would also love to see Jazzy Matty win for the O'Sullivans and charity bet. The only other time i was happy to throw a bet in the bin was when Honeysuckle won the Mares for the De Bromheads after Jack's death. That was the best lump in throat moment post race i have ever seen at Chetlenham.
So, if you got this far down, you have just read War And Peace :excitement: and they are the bets. Hopefully they meet expectations and hopefully they bloody win. The win part of this Yankee from a 25p each way bet (£5.50 total) pays around £7000. If they all place it's around £75 and then all the in between bits pay various amounts with one or two winners chucked in etc. Let the fun begin. 1 more week at work then it's Christmas again.