Higgins and Frankel - A Pair of Heroes?

Apologies, dear friends, are again in order...

Two weeks have elapsed since my last post -I have to admit to being thrown a curve ball by all the recent bank holidays and my posting/working schedule has all "gang agley" as someone famous once wrote. Robert Burns I think it was but I wouldn't put my house on it.

As a result I never managed to put up my World Championship Snooker analysis. The 2 bets I did mention (Dott and Alan) performed ok, both reaching the quarter finals without either of them playing to their potential. I hope some of you managed to lay them  off as they both shortened considerably from the prices I suggested were value.

Judd Trump performed out of his skin to reach the finals and I know of at least one reader who had a reasonable bet on him at 80/1 earlier in the year for a very decent each way payout. It looks like we will be seeing a lot more of him in the future now he has matured and is finally fulfilling his huge potential.

I have to say Higgins is a worthy champion though and his performances since returning from his ban have been as dominant as any snooker player I have ever seen. Add into the mix that he recently lost his father and his triumphs this season begin to look nothing short of miraculous. I felt a little sorry for him when he was being interviewed by Hazel Irvine after the final. She seemed intent on bringing him to tears for televisual purposes and he, until right at the end, seemed equally intent on retaining his composure. A true champion.

*************************

Betfair Lambourn Open Day

The weather decided to smile on the Lambourn Open Day this year (rather different from my experience last year that you can read about here ). I always look forward to this annual event where we get to meet our equine heroes and it was much improved by a scalding hot, sunny Good Friday this year. If you haven't been before, make sure you get down there next year. Most of the stables are fully open to the public and there are some good fun events (involving a number of top jocks) in the afternoon. Best of all, all the money raised goes to worthy charities in the Lambourn area including the Lambourn Valley Housing Trust - an organisation dedicated to providing affordable housing for both retired and working stable staff in an area where housing is very expensive indeed.

The highlight of the day for me was getting up close and personal with Long run, the best chaser in the country and winner of this years Cheltenham Gold Cup. Nicky Henderson's Seven Barrows is a fabulous training facility. I'll pop up some video I took on the day a bit later - when I've worked out how the hell to do it!

**************************

The Frankel Express Rolls On

Any of you who haven't yet seen Frankel's demolition of a top class field in Saturday's 2000 Guineas are in for a real treat when you do. He literally galloped them all into the ground going 15 lengths clear after half a mile and still leading by 7 lengths at the line. An absolutely stunning performance by an absolutely stunning horse. Anybody who thinks he was tiring towards the end I think would be wrong - he was simply puzzled and idling in front wondering where all the other horses had gone! The stats against favourites in this race were very strong making his achievement all the more impressive.

Whether he deserves quotes of 6/4 (with a run) for the Derby remains to be seen. I'm not convinced that he will stay the extra or handle Epsom but I wasn't convinced he would win the guineas either so what do I know!

***********************

Last week, I commenced a testing period for the value betting service I am hoping to launch, with the help of a group of hardy volunteer system testers recruited via this very blog. Many thanks to all those testers!

The first 7 days of the test have gone well produing a profit of 14.88 points to advised prices. Pretty good considering that was backing win only and we had 2nd placed horses priced at 28/1, 25/1, 20/1 (twice), 16/1, 11/1, 9/1,  and 7/1. One of those bigger priced ones getting up (two of them were beaten a neck or less) would have made fantastic profits for the first week. The trial continues so watch this space!

**********************

Finally, later this week I'll be in touch with news of a laying method that I have been introduced to that has impressed me greatly. It's more of an education than a system and teaches the reader exactly how to identify horses that have been priced far too short. I'm a firm believer that this kind of product is of  more use in the long term than a mechanical system (though it does specifysome strict rules) because it teaches the fundamentals of finding good value lays. More on that later in the week .

Everybody have a great one

Kieran