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Here’s some of what I’ve enjoyed reading in the world of sport this week…
I’m always a sucker for nostalgia, and there’s something I love about obsolete technology too, so I enjoyed reading Twohundredpercent’s look at the imminent demise of teletext very much indeed. The television text service was for many years the main way to access the latest football scores on a Saturday afternoon, with the added drama of having to wait for the right page to come up (and then inevitably looking away and missing them at the crucial moment). In this age where everything is available on demand, and Soccer Saturday’s constantly scrolling results, it’s fun to think back to how things were in simpler times.
Geegeez looks at the trends for November’s Melbourne Cup, if you could do with a few pointers for one of the world’s biggest horse races. I could always do with some help with how to not lose my money, so this is very welcome.
And there’s fun to be had at the Rogue’s Baseball Index, a sort of urban dictionary of, well, baseball.
What sporting stuff have you been looking at this week?
Being something of a glutton for punishment, I continue to plough on in search of a winner.
Goldolphin and Frankie Dettori are in a rich vein of form at the moment, so I’m concentrating on their runners today:
York:
Spring of Fame
Huntdown
Dandy Man
Salisbury:
Black Snowflake
All in the mug punter’s favourite bet, an each-way lucky 15. We’ll see how lucky I am, eh?
When I restarted this blog I eased myself in with a series of tips – or at least a daily record of what I was betting on each day. To begin with there was some profit, and I was sad that I was only betting to incredibly small stakes. Then I lost and lost and lost, and was extremely happy to be only betting to incredibly small stakes. However, I figured that such a remarkable knack for picking the wrong horse/football team/baseball team/cricket team etc wasn’t really worth noting in blog form.
Until today that is, when my betting escapades make a (welcome? unwelcome? unnoticed?) return. With some time off work I’ve had the opportunity to study the form, decide on a plan of action and go to war with the bookie. However, I’ve ended up just following other tipsters and going along with what seems like reasonably sensible bets. I’d say Poets Voice is the only conclusion I’ve come to on my own – so perhaps you’re best avoiding that one like the plague!
Today’s selections:
York Racing:
2.15 Poets Voice
2.50 Jukebox Jury
Football
Sunderland to draw or win
Celtic/Arsenal to draw
Good riddance to Goodwood!
Goodwood:
3.40 Jimmy Styles (15.00) and Mac Gille Eoin (17.00) 1pt ew
5.25 Mountain Pride (6.00) 2pt win
Galway
2.25 The Shepherd (7.00) 2pt win
OK, despite my tiny meltdown over Sevenna yesterday I’m not giving up just yet. At 20p a point (as exclusively revealed yesterday) I’m not exactly meddling with high stakes gambling. However, by my calculations, I’m down to 56.7 points from the original 100 point start, after today’s bets. So I need to start making a little bit back soon, or otherwise you might just see a strange man in the street posting 20p pieces down the drain, as an alternative to this.
So, here goes…
Goodwood:
2.10 Drumfire (4.50) 2pts
3.25 Tartan Gigha (17.00) 1pt ew
4.00 Dick Turpin (2.00) 2pts
5.10 Red Dune (13.00) 1pt ew
5.45 Strictly (6.50) 2pts
Bangor:
4.50 Cooksgrove Lady (1.80) 2pts
Plus, as it’s Friday and I’m feeling dangerous I’ve gone for an each-way Heinz on the above too, a massive 1p a line, so £1.14 in total. If every horse comes in, I’m in the money. Of course, this isn’t going to happen.
Rather angry with myself – decided against backing Sevenna in the 4.00, after seeing it drift in the market. Of course, it’s now gone and won. I could have cleared a fair bit of losses right there. Now, in future I’ll be even more inclined to bet on hunches ‘just in case’ to avoid this very situation (as I did on the first two days), only to lose even more in the long run. I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that I just can’t win. Betting is a mug’s game etc etc.
But without these tips, I’ll have to actually generate some content…
The horror continues…just one winner this week would be lovely. I would genuinely suggest laying these, with my current (lack of) tipping skills. Luckily for me (and I’m letting you in on a little secret here), for this particular run of bets I’ve been staking the princely sum of 20p per point. So, I’ll not be filing for bankruptcy just yet.
Today I’ve veered away from studying form, trainer form, draw bias, the going or anything else. I’ve basically gone with what I’ve seen tipped elsewhere, and with Dazed and Amazed, a horse that actually won for me once. So, even if these come in I can’t really take any credit. “Today’s tips” as a blog post title is probably over-egging this particular pudding.
All Goodwood:
2.10 Hyades 2pts
2.45 Sugar Free 2pts
3.25 Schiaparelli 2pts
5.45 Dazed and Amazed 1pt ew
5.45 Piscean 1pt ew
A shocking day yesterday, and now the project is down about 10 points overall. While probably focusing on a couple of races would be more sensible, the scattergun approach has won out again today. Another day like yesterday (one place finish) and maybe I’ll rethink. I really need two or three of these to come in.
Anyway, today’s losers…
2.10 Swingkeel (7.50) 2pts
2.45 Chapeno (7.00) 2pts
3.25 Paco Boy (4.33) 1pt and Forgotten Voice (29.00) 0.5pts ew
4.00 Highland Glen (7.50) 1pt and Akmal (11.00) 1pt
4.35 Damietta (7.00) 2pts
5.45 Something (13.00) 1pt and Purissima (5.50) 1pt
12 points staked.
First day of Goodwood and a big push here to get back into profit.
2.10 Lang Shining (11.00) 1pt ew
2.45 Tactic (13.00) 1 pt ew
3.25 Ouqba (6.00) 2pts to win
4.00 Mister Manannan (10.00) 1pt ew
4.35 Sugar Ray (12.00) 1pt ew
5.45 George Benjamin (5.50) 2pts to win
12 points staked. I’ve gone with some in-form trainers (both at the track and generally) and tried to avoid the low draw. Hopefully the each-way bets are a safer means to a return – shame they are only for the first three places…
No joy yesterday, hopefully some better choices today.
1.25 Ascot – King’s Point (21.00) 0.5pt ew
4.25 Golden Sword (5.00) 1pt to win
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