Getting Hitched and Marrakech Meanderings

Welcome one and all

This blogging lark aint as easy as it looks you know!

I've lost track now of the number of times I've offered heartfelt apologies for my inability to post on a more regular basis. Life continues to throw a spanner in the works and prevent me from delivering 2 or 3 reasoned and hopefully interesting posts each and every week.

I do, I feel,  have a reasonable excuse on this occasion though - I got married on 29th January and was then out of the country on honey moon for a week or so in early February. I don't know how many of you readers out there are "manacled together" in holy matrimony with your significant others but those of you that are, will know that the actual event is an unbelievably expensive and time consuming business! I had no idea how many things there were to arrange, remember, argue about and generally fret over!

However, all eventually went well and I think a good time was had by the attendees. The whole shebang took place at a wonderful old place in Burford called The Bay Tree Hotel in Sheep St- if any of you are in that neck of the woods any time soon, it really is worth a visit and a nights stay. The staff were superb and the hotel itself is a beautiful olde -worlde coaching inn with a great atmosphere. We hired the entire place for the weekend so guests could stay over and enjoy breakfast with us on the following morning. I must admit I was feeling a bit green around the gills on the Sunday morning and would have been happier laying in bed until around tea - time but you can't have everything.

Then, at a truly unearthly hour on Monday morning, Mrs MYBP and I flew off to Marrakech for a brief mini-moon (the real honeymoon is scheduled for later in the year) in what, I have to say, is the most manic, crazy city I have ever visited. Try negotiating your way on foot along a road in which pedestrians, bicycles, donkeys, motorbikes, cars and horse carriages are going in any direction they like with no regard for any of the rules of the road and with no concern for poor, naive tourists and you will have some idea what the place is like. Add to that a cacophany of shouting, screaming, beeping and general hubbub in a huge array of languages and dialects and  you can have a lot of fun but it's certainly not conducive to a relaxing break!

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Enough of my stuff, let's move on to the staggering events at Newbury on Saturday. I had planned on attending the meeting but was unable to because of a last minute clash of schedules - I guess now I'm married I'm going to have to get my head further around this "compromise" thing - and to be completely honest, I was very glad I didn't. I can't imagine how horrific it would be to witness something like that and I hope I never have to find out. My sincere condolences go out to connections of Marching Song and Fenix Two. I don't think a more freakish accident could be imagined. Let's hope that none of the other horses are adversely affected in the future though I fear this could be the case after reading a post on an electricians forum (the places I end up on the internet!) this morning in which the poster stated the other horses that were visibly discomfited by the shock are likely to suffer future heart problems. I certainly hope he is wrong. It seems clear to me that no one can be blamed for such a unforeseeable tragedy but I don't think that will stop the anti-racing/ animal welfare lobby from using it as a stick to beat racing with as they always do.

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Looking forward to Thursday, I'm very excited to see Peddlers Cross entered in the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso. For me, this horse is an absolute superstar and I confidently expect Binocular et al to be put to the sword come the festival in March. Peddlers represents by far and away my biggest ante-post bet for Cheltenham and a fluent display on Thursday will be just the fillip I need.  I took 20/1 about this one in September when it wasn't completely clear that he would follow the Champion Hurdle route and I'm very glad I did. I haven't  layed any of it off which is rare for me and I think the entire bet will make it to the big day.

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Finally today, I thought I'd mention a service that I have been a member of for some time and which I have found invaluable in balancing the portfolio of tipster services I subscribe to. It's called Secret Betting Club and it's a service that tracks the performance of a variety of tipsters and systems over long periods in an effort to guide punters towards worthwhile tipsters and steer them away from underperformers. It also gives a vast amount of decent betting advice including a regular PDF outlining the performance of their Hall of Fame tipsters and any new services that they are trialling.

As part of their service they have worked out a number of  "portfolios" of betting services to suit people's different circumstances. There are portfolios designed for every  type of punter whatever the time they have available or the bank size they can utilise. The performance of each of these portfolios is tracked in minute detail over a long period of time. Anybody setting up a betting investment portfolio using the information contained in the Secret Betting Club reports could do so with utmost confidence that there is a long history of profitability with  each portfolio and  that the services contained within that particular portfolio will fit in nicely with their current lifestyle.

I can't recommend the Secret Betting Club enough - it is a must for anybody who wants to take their betting seriously and has been an essential part of my armoury for a number of years. Have a look at it here:

Secret Betting Club

Even if you don't like the look of the club, sign up for their free  "Weekend Wager"  email that contains a load of free tips and some great information every friday.

That's all from me for today. I will be back later this week - honestly -with further betting thoughts and a look at some of the things I have been working on recently. Have a great week.

Kieran