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Naps Comp for April Most of us are going through a difficult time at the moment and whilst taking part and visiting the forum is not on the top of the list of priorities for people, here at Punters Lounge we realise how much a bit of normality can help. We have members from all over the world and our thoughts are with everyone. Racing like many other industries are struggling but we have taken the decision to carry on with the Daily Naps Competition and as a reward to our loyal members Paul is increasing the Prize Money on offer for the month of April. The new proposals we spoke about will be coming in although we are going to leave out the KO Cup competition until May as it may be difficult for 30 players trying to pick 3 selections each on the 4th of April when we may have limited action. The qualifying places in March will remain in place for the next KO Cup Competition. We will accept bets from any racing from around the world during April and all bets outside of Europe will be settled at the Industry SP which appears in the ATR or Sporting Life results section. (*Racing Post publish dividend prices which will be different from the Industry SP) We realise backing horses from the other side of the world is not everyones cup of tea and fully understand those that choose to sit it out until things get back to normal. I will continue to put the daily threads up and try and pinpoint what action is talking place. Just be aware of the off times, some US and AUS Racing will be very early in the morning. Race times will be based on the UK 24 hour clock, anything after midnight will count towards the following day regardless of when the meeting started. Hopefully in four weeks time we will have some better news, in the meantime we wish you all the best. Prize Money For April 1st: £100 2nd: £75 3rd: £50 4th: £25 Tipster with most winners with at least £10 profit will receive a £50 bonus All winners will also receive Punters Lounge Merchandise. Many thanks

Proposals As promised is the tables thread I am looking at ways to reward the more consistent players and also ways to keep up the interest to the end of the month. I find that clear leaders sit on their profit and players attempting to qualify for the Cup are doing the same which leads to many players not picking selections in the last couple of days or more. Just to be clear I have no feelings one way or another on how players go about approaching the competition, we all have our own way of betting, we just want everyone to feel they have something to play for. I have noticed over the last few months some rumblings about the way players approach the Naps competition and there is no doubt we have had a shift in more players going for the speculative outsider than we have before. I had a look at the figures and we are regularly hitting around the 19% S/R these days where as before we were often around the 25% mark. This is totally down to more players going for 25/1+ selections. The players who genuinely sift through the cards to find their best bet of the day feel as though they have no chance in winning the monthly competition. I can see once a player has hit a 50/1 winner just playing for a Cup place is not the best of incentives. I think we can reward performance and profit and have been looking at the last 12 months figures to see how we can do it. At first I thought it would be best just to award the player with the highest strike rate a percentage of the winners prize but I also don't think encouraging people to select 1/4 shots everyday is helping anyone, so taking that a step further, what about if we had a profit figure that you needed to surpass as well? If we say took the highest strike rate of those that made a profit in the month of at least £10 that would kill off any ideas of odds on shots every single day. Of course you would expect some short priced horses to be chosen and I have no problem with that, if its a Nap, its a Nap but by having the £10 figure it really rewards those that have performed well that month. I have done a couple of tables to show how it would have panned out since January 2019 up until last month. Interestingly just 2 winners of the comp came out with the best S/R. 8 players were in the top 4 cash prizes but it would have given 7 players a prize that wouldn't have normally received anything. I would say overall that suits most type of punter. Of course people may bet differently knowing about the new prize. In the second table i took away the upper profit limit and this highlighted the problem of players sitting on a small profit just to qualify for the Cup, I feel this would just get worse if there was a prize for the highest S/R only. I propose a prize of £20 for player with the highest SR that has at least £10 profit on the month. This prize may well go to a player in the top 4 already but the winner of the whole competition will still quite rightly win the most cash whatever the result. The second part of the new formula is to limit the amount of players qualifying for the Cup. At the minute anyone finishing in profit (or even, lol) gains automatic qualification into the following months KO Cup. This can be as many as 30+ players and this often leads to a few players reaching a profit figure and then stopping posting for last few days of the month, or even worse players reaching 15 bets and then just stopping. If we had a figure of 25 players only to qualify for the Cup then it would make it more exciting and something to aim for in the final few days of the month. I will also award a runners up prize for the KO Cup which has been asked for in the past. I am not looking to change any of the main rules of the comp, i think we should keep the main core of what the comp is all about ie; picking one horse per day. So we wont be changing that or messing about with stakes etc..... Let me know if you think this would be a way forward, please bare in mind we have a budget and we want to keep things simple. Proposals as from April 1st Winner : £60 Second : £30 Third : £20 Fourth: £10 Highest S/R with min £10 Profit : £20 Cup Winner: £30 Cup Runners Up: £10 Top 25 only to qualify for Cup. Table of those with the highest S/R and achieving a £10 profit Table of those with the highest S/R, no upper limit on profit Those in grey did not make the £10 profit mark.

Cheltenham Tipsters Competition - Starts Tuesday March 10th Rules: 1 selection per race throughout the competition Bets settled to £1 level stakes - WIN Only Bets settled at SP Highest accumulative total over the competition wins £60 cash (via PayPal) Runner Up wins £25 and the third place wins £15, all prizes via your PayPal account. No edits allowed in selection posts No losses incurred for losers or Non Runners Replacement selections for NR's can be posted but must be before the first race deadline All Bets must be posted prior to the first race each day (no exceptions) Not compulsory to enter everyday (so if you miss the first day or two you can still take part) Leaderboard posted each evening All welcome, no need to register Winners will also receive PL Merchandise

though I'll never win, this really touches my heart. This forum is very heartwarming, sweet and does bring a loving, caring atmosphere (most members.🤣🤣)..very supportive and this forum does feel like a second home you can go to. 🥰🥰 Thank you all for the efforts, input and predictions on the forum. Stay safe, everyone and wish you all good health and happiness. 💞💞

Hopefully people have enjoyed my Road To The Cheltenham Foxhunter thread and it has helped keep everyone up to date with a race that always gets overlooked by the mainstream (and less mainstream) press despite the fact quite a lot of people actually are interested especially when you have well known horses like Minella Rocco and Don Poli involved. If you haven't seen and want to see my thoughts over the last 3 or so months then that thread is here https://forum.punterslounge.com/topic/171460-road-to-the-cheltenham-foxhunters/ This year's preview clocks in at just under 4000 words and apparently will take just under 15 minutes to read. I can't guarantee I will find the winner, but hopefully it will help guide you to what you want to back in the race. I have yet to see a more in depth preview of the race so without further or do here are my thoughts on the 31 horses remaining in this year's Cheltenham Foxhunter. Alcala - Rather unusually looks set to be Paul Nicholls' only runner in this race this year. Classy horse as his peak mark of 152 suggests and he won the Summer Plate at Market Rasen in 2017 off 142. He looked set to win on his first start since July 2018 when falling 2 out at Ludlow. He then made amends when winning the Walrus at Haydock getting the better of Wishing And Hoping despite making a bad error 2 out. After that he had to go to Fontwell to qualify for this and I don't think Angus Cheleda was overly hard on him at all given he knew he only had to finish 2nd to qualify. His trainer spoke of him having two hard races, but I find it hard to believe he had much of a race last time out. My concern about his chance is his stamina. At Ludlow they went no pace so it turned into a sprint, Haydock was over 2m6f and again they went a steady enough gallop as they did over 3m2f at Fontwell. The race he won over 3m2f in 2017 was a match. If he stays he is a player, but it is enough to put me off. Arctic Skipper - Won his first two points this season, but was a well beaten 8th at Down Royal behind Dylrow on Boxing Day. He won a 3 runner point last month, but a week later pulled up and it is hard to see him being good enough. Billaway - Willie Mullins has been talking his chances up in recent weeks and I can see why given he seems to be progressive and visually he ran out an impressive winner at Naas in January. That was his 2nd run of the season having run a nice race on his return to be 2nd at Down Royal on Boxing Day just going down a length to Dylrow. That Naas race was run at an absolute crawl though and it turned into a sprint which clearly suited him perfectly. To me that makes the form a bit suspect and I can see the 2nd reversing form with him for reasons I will state later. I certainly think he is one of the possible winners though given his profile offers more than most here, but I certainly don't think his price offers any value. Bishops Road - Thrashed a very good horse in Risk A Fine at the hunter chase meeting here in May, but the 2nd didn't handle the track or the ground that day so I wouldn't take it at face value. Bizarrely he then ran in a point 3 days later when he fell. I now wonder if they were trying to qualify him for this and get it out of the way. Instead they had to do that this season and he did so when finishing 2nd in the first hunter chase of the season at Taunton. That was behind Wishing And Hoping and he was 2nd on his seasonal return in a point back in November. For me he has a bit too find although the trip shouldn't be a concern given he used to run over further. Caid du Berlais - The first of a trio of runners for Rose Loxton and a horse I have already put up as a bet last month. As long as the ground continues to dry out I think he has a massive chance. He ran really well on soft ground when beaten less than 4L when 5th to Pacha Du Polder in 2018. He then went onto land the Punchestown Champion Hunters Chase by 21L. Last year he had a rushed prep as he picked up a minor injury and he only made his reappearance 12 days before the race. He then ran no sort of race and he was never travelling before pulling up. He then went back to Punchestown and won by an even bigger margin, 28L, than last year. This year he has had a much smoother prep as he made his seasonal return at Buckfastleigh in January and he beat Marcle Ridge by 5L which is really solid form. His trainer has mentioned she is not sure if he gets up the hill and that was the case in 2018, but if we have quicker ground on Friday I think he will. He is also 2 years older now which should help. His two Punchestown wins are two of the best pieces of form in the race and he has to go on any shortlist. Chosen Dream - Landed the Stratford Foxhunter in 2018, but was flattered by that as the ground was over watered which meant the fancied horses disappointed. He pulled up in this last year and although I am told he is really well on form it is hard to make much of a case for him Don Bersy - Won a couple of points last season, but shown better form this term for me as he beat Bishops Road in November, was 2nd to The Dellercheckout and then won by 20 at Thorpe Lodge. He then refused to race last month which is something he did in his last two starts under Rules. That has to be a big concern if you are wanting to back him, but his form doesn't look good enough anyway. His previous Rules form was all over 2m as well. Don Poli - Rare that a point to point makes the front page of the Racing Post, but he did when winning at Alnwick back in December. I think it was a good idea to send the horse to Nick Pearce to get him qualified nice and early in a couple of points. He is already a duel Festival winner having won the Martin Pipe in 2014 and then the RSA Chase the following year. In 2016 he was 3rd in the Gold Cup and he was the Lexus winner that season as well. So he clearly has plenty of back class, but the problem is he had shown any form under Rules since February 2017. He appreciated the drop in class when winning those points, but he had to be niggled in both races to keep him interested and he was made to work quite hard to win the 2nd of them. Winning a couple of small field, weak points is one thing, winning a Foxhunter is a totally different ball game though. No doubt Nick had left a bit to work on, but I wasn't impressed with what I saw at Alnwick and I think in a big field in a race that is likely to be strongly run that he will just drop himself out and not fancy it. What I will say though is if you do want to back him because he hasn't been seen since January he has been forgotten about and you are probably getting a bigger price than if he had run recently or in a hunter chase. Dunhallow Tornado - Ollie Pimlott has had a cracking start to his training career and this is a horse I really like. He looked impressive in two hunter chase wins at Catterick and Kelso 2 years ago and then found the ground too quick at Cheltenham's hunter chase night. Unfortunately he had to miss last season through injury and he returned last month at Brocklesby when getting up close home to score. That was a pleasing come back run and if it did happen to be soft/heavy on Friday I would want to be backing him. The problem is the forecast is suggesting it isn't going to be that testing and as much as he will handle it my thinking is it brings more horses into play the quicker it gets. Connections will probably be wishing this race had been on Tuesday when it was very testing and although I think he can out run his price, the drying ground is enough to stop me backing him. Dylrow - Looks an improved horse this season having beaten Mighty Stowaway on his first point start in November. He then beat Billaway at Down Royal on Boxing Day. He was then only 5th at Naas behind him the following month. That race turned into a sprint as mentioned so I do think the form is suspect, but given he was winning over 2m a year ago you would have thought that would have suited him. There is a case to say that he shouldn't really be 50/1 based on the Down Royal effort, but he wouldn't be for me. Hazel Hill - Last year's impressive winner and currently favourite to retain his crown as Salsify, On The Fringe and Pacha Du Polder have done in recent years. There is no doubt he was the best hunter chaser around last season although there has to be a question mark about what sort of form he is currently in. After the Foxhunter win he came back for hunter chase night and just got the better of a great battle with Caryto Des Brosses. He was set to follow the same path to Cheltenham as he did last season, but Chaddesley Corbett was called off and that meant Warwick came too soon after his win at Sheriff Hutton. That told us little new, but it is the defeat to Minella Rocco at Wetherby which is the issue. He jumped badly to his right there something which he didn't do in this race year, but he did do here in May. My feeling is a small field might be to blame for that and with more horses around him he will jump straighter. I don't think he wants to make the running and that didn't help matters at Wetherby. The trainer said afterwards he was a bit sore so that was one excuse and I also think Derek O'Connor out rode Alex Edwards as well. I will talk more about that later, but I do think at the very least he will reverse form. The problem is he is hard to want to back at the current price because of his run last time and although I do think we will see a different horse here I would want a drift before backing him. The trainer is confident of a big showing and he could be a horse to get onside on the day because I think he will drift and then the doubt about what sort of form he is in will be factored into the price. If he is in the same form as last year then he clearly has a massive chance. It Came To Pass - Beat Billaway in a hunter chase at Cork last April and then probably would have finished a distant 2nd to Caid Du Berlais at Punchestown, but he unseated at 2 out. 10 days later he did then beat On The Fringe at Killarney. He won a hunter chase at Cork in Novemeber which was basically his seasonal debut as he unseated at the first the week before. Was a 24L 7th to Dylrow and Down Royal and was pulled up last time out. On balance his form suggests he has a fair bit to find. Law Of Gold - Was progressive last season and it ended in winning the John Corbet at Stratford in May. I didn't think it was the strongest renewal of the race especially as some fancied horses disappointed. Having said that Pink Eyed Pedro was 3rd and he has done well in handicaps since. He has had just the one start so far this season at Horseheath when running out an easy winner. That wasn't a strong race, but he could do no more win than as he did. The problem is I think he needs good ground and any soft in it is not going to help him. This is by far the best race he has ever been in as well and at 7 it could just be it comes at least a year too soon for him. Marcle Ridge - Won a very weak race here on hunter chase night and then was 2nd at Warwick. At the time it didn't look a great effort, but given Killaro Boy nearly won a huge prize at Uttoxeter in the summer then he did well finish within 9L of him. As mentioned above he was 2nd to Caid Du Berlais on his only run of the season so far. That was a solid effort, but also his form suggests he has to find a bit to hit the frame here. Minella Rocco - I suspect plenty of non hunter chase experts will be all over him on Friday and we will see plenty of at at his best he is the best horse in the race. I have already seen two TV presenters put him up as one of their best bets of the meeting which is crazy given they know little about hunter chases and you can be certain that neither will know anything about a horse like Law Of Gold for example. Maybe he will win, but all I keep hearing about his chances is that he was 2nd in a Gold Cup and he has won at the Festival before. The problem is that was 3 and 4 years ago now and since then he has basically been pretty poor and he was even struggling to complete. His two hunter chase wins this season were only his 2nd and 3rd wins over fences and I think he was fortunate to win those. At Warwick he benefited from Maxwell getting cramp on Bob And Co and then looked like getting beat by a horse could Kashmir Peak who has been beaten in a weak hunter chase and a weak point since. Derek O'Connor came over for the ride at Wetherby and he gave him a very clever ride to win the race and the chances are Hazel Hill ran below form. Derek kept him wide on the better ground and left it late to pounce. Reading between the lines of what Derek has written in his column in the Racing Post I don't think he fancies his chances at all and it was no surprise to me that he has said he will be riding Staker Wallace on the preview circuit. If the ground dried out a lot then I can see he will change to Minella Rocco as Staker Wallace needs cut in the ground. In my view he will get back into a bigger field at a strong pace and decide he doesn't fancy it again. I'd be tempted to place lay him on the day if he's a short enough price. Horses of his sort of profile rarely win the race nowadays and it will be a case of non hunter chase experts 1 hunter chase experts 0 if he does go and win (as was the case when Pacha Du Polder first won the race). Update: Since writing the above Derek O'Connor has surprised everyone by going with Minella Rocco over Staker Wallace. For me this could mean 3 things. 1 he things the ground is going to dry out too much for Staker Wallace and/or Minella Rocco has been working the house down at Jonjo's and he has had to go with him and/or he things the Irish horses aren't as good as the British. Now Derek has chosen him I am not as negative on his chances as I was before, although I still personally can't back him. Mr Mercurial - Been such a consistent hunter chaser over the years and his Scottish Foxhunter win was his 9th hunter chase success. I don't think he stays this far round a track like Cheltenham and he was 12th in this back in 2016 and was the same position at Aintree last year. Will run his race, but will be surprised if he is good enough to get close. Rewritetherules - Sprung onto the hunter chase scene in May last year when winning at Down Royal and Tipperary in the space of 3 days. His next run was in a handicap where he was only 6th off 116. This season he beat a useful enough field first up and then struggled to win a weak race last month. On the face of it that was a very poor effort, but the trainer said he had a stone bruise the week before and the owners were keen to run as it was their local meeting. His jockey said he got there too soon and he idled as well. So we should be expecting more here and he is progressive, but he is only 6 and you have to be very good to win this race as young as that. I am happy to pass him over. Sausalito Sunrise - Beat Ravished at Hexham last April in a hunter chase when with his former connections, but then was very disappointing at Worcester. Won the Lord Ashton Of Hyde's Cup at Cocklebarrow over 3m6f on his only start for his new connections. That was a decent enough effort, but nowhere near the level for this. Shantou Flyer - Ran a huge race to be 2nd in the race last year especially as he had to run twice in 10 days to qualify for the race after being 5th at Warwick behind Hazel Hill on his first hunter chase start. He narrowed that gap to 4L in this contest. He is now at former Paul Nicholls worker Rose Loxton's yard and he made a winning return at Larkhill in a race which has actually worked out very well. Given he was below par on his seasonal return last season I fully expect him to carry on improving and he was totally dominate at Fakenham where he had Tully Touch 25L back in 3rd and giving him 11lbs whereas Law Of Gold only beat him 12L off level weights. It was good to see Maxwell choosing to run him over Bob And Co as I think that is the right decision. The owner/rider has even said he feels a better horse this time around. He is only 10 as well and I think he has a massive chance. Southfield Theatre - Gave Lily Bradstock a lovely spin round in the race last year when 9th although that was 48L behind Hazel Hill. Did well to win the 4m race on hunter chase night here and has won two of his three points this season. On the other he was beaten by Virak which was still a decent effort. Hard to see how he can really improve on last year's 9th though. Staker Wallace - Has been a hard horse to keep sound as since making his debut in November 2015 he has only run 6 times. In 2017 on just his 4th start and after wining a maiden point he ran a really credible 3rd to Foxrock at Leopardstown. He then had 3 years off before running a huge race to finish an 8L 2nd at Naas. Given the lay off you can upgrade the performance and he followed that up with beating a solid yardstick in a point to make sure he qualified for this. Derek has been talking him up on the preview circuit and it is clear he holds him in high regard. At this stage to me he is the main Irish hope in the race. He does need soft ground so he wouldn't want to dry out and if it did I can see Derek not riding or him even not running in the race. If Derek's name is next to his on Wednesday morning then I think he will end up going off favourite for the race. I have already put him up for this ante-post. Update: As mentioned above Minella Rocco is Derek's ride although Jamie Codd has been booked so there is still a top jockey booked, but I am surprised Derek has changed his mind. Stella Notion - Was a useful handicapper for Henry De Bromhead in Ireland and managed to win at Kelso off 137 in May 2018 for Tom George. He then went to Tom Frost's where he won two points at Larkhil before being beaten 38L by Monsieur Gibraltar at Southwell. According to the Racing Post he is now on his 3rd trainer since then having run once for Emma Clark when he was pulled up behind Hazel Hill at Sheriff Hutton in January. Now Philip Kirby trains him and I have been told that James King takes the ride which is a good jockey booking. Wouldn't be an obvious one to back, but the trainer might bring about some improvement. Top Wood - I can see Top Wood being popular e/w given his superb record in the race. He was just denied by Pacha Du Polder and Harriett Tucker two years ago and then he was 3rd to Hazel Hill last year. After that he then went and won at Aintree when he wanted it more than Burning Ambition in 2nd. He ran really well on his seasonal return when 2nd in a handicap at Ascot off 139 and he was over 15L in front of Minella Rocco. Wasn't quite as good at Haydock next time, but the ground was very testing that day. I couldn't really put anyone off wanting to back him e/w, but he is now 13 and surely he has had his best chance of actually winning the race. Kalabaloo - The only mare in the race and she was an impressive winner of the mares race on hunter chase night. Was then sent off a short price favourite for the John Corbet Cup at Stratford and was a well beaten 4th behind Law Of Gold. Has won a couple of Ladies Opens at Alnwick this season but the fact she was 1/2 and 2/5 tells you all about the quality of the opposition. My feeling is she is unlikely to be good enough, but I do think she is better than she showed at Stratford and can run a nice race. Summary - With no more rain forecast it looks like the ground is only going to get drier come race time and I would say we will be looking at good to soft all round. Ideally Staker Wallace would want it softer, but it should be OK still and even though Derek has decided not to ride, Jamie Codd has an incredible strike rate at the Festival so he is a great jockey to have still. I have to say though he is the right sort of price so I am not sure there is much value left in the price. I have no idea who will be favourite now. I would imagine Minella Rocco will be popular among the non hunter chase/pointing followers and I see Paul Kealy has tipped him up in The Weekender. Even though Derek is on him I would still be a bit surprised if he did go and win, but as I mention above I am not so strongly against him as I was. Billaway has been spoken highly by his trainer so he could be popular in the market although given how much speed he showed last time I just wonder if he wants a stamina test and I think Staker Wallace can reverse the form. Hazel Hill is touching 6/1 now and I wonder if he might drift a bit more. I might add a small cover bet on Friday if he does drift a bit more because his trainer remains confident and given he has swerved the race with Wishing And Hoping he clearly thinks he still has a massive chance despite the loss last time. That is clearly a concern, but as mentioned above there is reason to believe that he could easily bounce back here. Caid Du Berlais is the other horse I put up and he is back out to 14/1 in a couple of places now. I am topping up to make it a full point on him now especially with the extra place available. The ground should have dried up for him and I fully expect him to run more like his 2018 showing than his 2019 one. With his class I find it pretty hard to see him out of the first 5 at the very least and hopefully he can finish strongly up the hill. The main bet I am going to have though is Shantou Flyer to give David Maxwell his first win in the race. I think he has chosen the right horse over Bob And Co and he ran a really good race to finish 2nd in the race last year. He won a point which has worked out very well on his seasonal reappearance and then bolted up at Fakenham after which Maxwell said he was better than last season. If he is right then that clearly makes him a leading candidate and I think he is a big price at 9/1. Top Wood will have his fans, but I think at 13 his best chance of actually winning has gone. I know a few shrewd pointing followers are keen on Law Of Gold at a big price and I can see why up to a point as he's a progressive horse in a field where not many seem to have much of a chance. At 7 though I wonder if it is a year to early and I think he has at least 20lbs to find on form for all that he is progressive. Something usually at least places at a price, but to be honest I can't really pick one which might do so I am going to focus on the top end of the market and the proven class of Caid Du Berlais and Shantou Flyer plus the possible new star Staker Wallace. Caid Du Berlais 1pt e/w (or 0.25pts e/w if already on) @ 12/1 with Bet365 @12/1 (14s available to 3 places with Betfair) Shantou Flyer 1.5pts e/w @ 9/1 with Bet365 Already advised Caid Du Berlais 0.75pts e/w @ 14/1 Staker Wallace 0.75pts e/w @ 14/1

Must admit I feel under a bit of pressure as I can imagine these tips are going to be more popular than before given the circumstances. I imagine we might see some late call offs, but as it stands most of the 3 National League games and the Northern Premier League games are set to go ahead. I have 6 bets and hopefully I can help make people some money. Maidenhead v Stockport The home side are trying to get away from the relegation zone, whilst the away side are trying to get into the play-offs and it is the away side I like here. They are unbeaten in 5 games and their away form is very strong as they have lost just twice in their last 10 away fixtures and Maidenhead have lost 6 of their last 9 home games. They have also lost 4 on the bounce including when I opposed them last weekend against Boreham Wood. Stockport ought to be too strong for them and they ought to be clear favourites. Darlington v Farsely Celtic Darlington won their first game in 6 last Saturday when beating Telford, but they had drawn their previous 3 which were all solid performances. They have been strong at home pretty much all season as well having lost just 4 times and I think they are a better team than Farsely. Celtic had to go to Evesham to play my own side on Monday and blew a 1 goal lead and Gloucester aren't very good. Farsley's away form isn't great either having lost 4 of their last 5 on their travels. Overall it is just two wins in 10 and one of those was against a really bad Blyth side. The home side look a good price. Spennymoor v Hereford Got to take a chance on Hereford again at a big price given how much they are improving. I put them up last week to beat Farsely and they were impressive coming on the back of beating York 4-1. I also put them up on Tuesday when drawing 0-0 at Kettering, but there isn't too much wrong with that given the state of the home sides pitch. Spennymoor are a good side and deserve to be favourites, but they put in a bit of a dud performance last week against Altrincham and I think an improving Hereford are under-rated. Braintree v St Albans A couple of weeks ago Braintree caused a bit of a shock when beating Bath 2-0, but that is one of only 2 wins in their last 10 games and although St Albans are a point below their hosts that is mainly down to the fact Braintree had a good start to the season and St Albans a poor one and as things stand for me St Albans are the better side. They have lost their last 2 games 2-1 but those came against two of the most in form teams in the divison, Dartford and Chippenham. Prior to that they managed to beat 2nd place Havant which shows what sort of level they can reach and I think they can pick up 3 more points here. Chippenham v Wealdstone Given I have put up Chippenham a few times of late to great effect I am going to chance them to beat the league leaders here. For those who haven't seen my previous tips of Chippenham they have improved massively under former Gloucester manger Mike Cook which is no surprise to me given what he did at Gloucester last team to keep them up. They have only lost twice in their last 10 and are clearly a much improved side. There are signs Wealdstone are showing some nerves as they lost to Chelmsford, drew to Dartford and had to come from a goal down to beat Dulwich last week. This will be a tough test for them and I am happy to take a chance on the home side winning their 6th game in their last 7. Radcliffe Borough v Whitby Town You might think I have gone made putting up a team who haven't won since Boxing Day, have picked up just two points in that time and scored 7 goals. However I think there is good reason to back them here. They recently got Lee Flower in as manager and he has improved the side. They put in a really good performance last Saturday to get a 2-2 draw against a very good Nantwich team. Whitby are pretty good themselves to be fair, but they haven't won in 4 and they had a kind fixture list. They drew 3 and lost 1. The loss was to Stafford who hadn't won in 7 at the time. Granthem have only got 5 points in their last 10 games and they drew with them and one of their other draws was against Mickleover who have only 2 points in their last 5 games. This gives me hope that an improved Radcliffe can get a first win since Boxing Day. Stockport 1pt @ 8/5 with Bet365, BetVictor, Betway and William Hill Darlington 2pts @ 5/4 with Bet365, Betfred, BetVictor and William Hill Hereford 1pt @ 9/2 with Bet365 St Albans 1pt @ 19/10 with Bet365 Chippenham 1pt @ 11/5 with Bet365 Radcliffe 1pt @ 13/5 with BetVictor

Its is my countries National today & i think i have 2 cracking e/w bets in the race and with skybet paying 5 places these two deffo worth a look. This is a very competitive & open looking race. We have a lot of the usual suspects in this race one's that run in the nationals in the different counties in Ireland. The fav does not fit that bill, Ifyouatchmenow from the powerful Willie Mullins yard looks a fine chaser in the making impressive winner lto but up 8lbs and a price of around 4/1 is not for me today. General Principle does fit bill is a regular in these and usually runs well and is a former Irish national winner on a fair mark and has a claimer on top is in decent form but i just can't get excited about the 12/1 on offer from bookies so not for me but would be no surprise to see a big run from this horse today. The strong Elliott yard are strongly represented with 6 runners a couple of them more fancied than the one i have backed OUT SAM 12/1 has Jamie Codd on top who is a damn fine Jockey this horse won the Cork national back end of 2018 back down to a very good mark can pick up another one of these races up shortly off this very attractive mark ran a cracker in the cross country at Cheltenham although i would have liked 16/1 or more i will settle for 14 big chance today imho as has my second selection im very sweet on SPACE CADET 28/1 (40's in places but not paying 5 places) running a big race today, that's too big a price in my book. Record of 1/18 run does not look great or anything to be excited about but has run some really decent races in decent company on a good looking mark has a 7lb claimer on top this formerly trained Elliott runner should go well today. One other worth a mention Ah Littleluck is a res but at 40/1 would be a small e/w play if getting into the race. Best of luck all.

Many thanks BillyHills of Southport (used to live there once) for running this competition. Would like to dedicate the win to a close family member who died just recently and who we say farewell to this Tuesday.

Hopefully the weather allows most if not all games to take place on Saturday and I have 7 bets. Fairly brief preview this week because of time. Maidenhead v Boreham Wood Nearly got paid out on Boreham Wood on Saturday and they travel to a Maidenhead side who are struggling at the moment. This should be 3 points for the away side and any odds against looks a good price. Halifax v Woking Bit of a drift on Halifax although hard to see why. I opposed Woking in their last away game at Notts County and they got their first away point in 6 games. Since then they have picked up 4 points at home, but their win against Maidenhead last week was their first in 5 games and I am not sure that says a lot. Halifax's loss at Torquay is their only league defeat in 9 games. Farsely v Hereford Quite simply if Hereford can repeat their performance in their 4-1 win at York on Tuesday they will win this. That is no guarantee but at the price I am happy to pay to find out. Maidstone v Welling Maidstone have lost 4 on the bounce now and look badly out of form. They lost 5-1 at Weymouth last weekend and Welling, who have won 5 of their last 7 look more than capable of winning this. Oxford City v Chippenham Chippenham's only loss in 5 games came against Welling and they have won the other 4. I mentioned that Mike Cook would be more than capable of getting them out of trouble and make them hard to beat as he did at Gloucester last season. They have only lost 2 of their last 9 and they look value to win at an inconsistent Oxford. Basford v Buxton Taking a flyer here as Buxton are much improved since the change of manager and although they go to 2nd in the table Basford have only won once in their last 4. With Buxton unbeaten in 6 they are worth taking a chance at a big price. Walton Casuals v Hendon It is just 2 points in their last 10 games for the home side and after losing a couple Hendon were back to form with a 3-3 draw against Taunton. They look a good price at odds against. Boreham Wood 2pts @ 5/4 with William Hill and Betway Halifax 1pt @ 7/5 with Bet365 Hereford 1pt @ 5/2 with BetVictor Welling 2pts @ 2/1 with BetVictor and Betway Chippenham 1pt @ 9/4 with BetVictor Buxton 1pt @ 6/1 with BetVictor Hendon 2.5pts @ 23/20 with BetVictor

Shantou Sisu WON 11/4 Ask Heather WON 15/2 Curvation WON 2/1

It has been decided to suspend the TC Competition until further notice The fixture has been hit badly this week and i'm guessing it will only get worse in the weeks to come. The football league, Spanish League and Italian League have already been postponed this week and i'm sure others will follow. Hopefully we can pick it up where we left off next month, I will try and keep you all informed. BH

I'm not involved in this competition - know nothing about horses - but I do play the football tipster competition. It's sad that players of any of these free games that are kindly put up by @Punters lounge and run by the likes of @BillyHills go against the spirit in which they were clearly intended - which is to play every week for example in the case of the football tipster competition and then let the chips fall where they may in terms of winning or not. If players did that then there would be no need for extra rules like strike rate etc. I can honestly say I play the football tipster competition every week unless I forget for some reason and I've never sought to protect any winning position I might have been in previously by not playing. It's human nature I suppose to try to take advantage but it's a shame that we can't all as players of these games self-regulate.

Day 4 Final Leaderboard First of all many thanks for supporting another exciting competition, 120 players is a top effort Mully's 50/1 winner turned out to be the key despite Vangovin's late flourish. Gray306 completes the podium and the prizes are as follows: £60: Mully + PL Merchandise👏 £25: Vangovin + PL Merchandise £15: Gray306 + PL Merchandise Send Name & Address , PL name, Prize being claimed to; team@punterslounge.com Table: Any probs let me know ASAP.

@BillyHills is Mr Punters Lounge, he's more important than me and I own it! Total legend with all the updates. Nicely done mate.

An hour after the Foxhunter we have a hunter chase at Fakenham where we have two horses at the head of the betting are making their hunter chase debuts for pro trainers. Ozzy Thomas is trained by Henry Oliver who went close to having a Cheltenham winner in the Kim Muir on Thursday. His brother is taking the ride which is interesting because he hasn't ridden in a race since 2011. From 2005 until 2011 he had 280 rides in points for 27 wins and had 15 rides in hunter chases without success. The horse had been entered for the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown last week, but with that race abandoned he is lining up here instead. He had two good hurdle runs at Cheltenham in November and Wetherby on Boxing Day when finishing 2nd twice and that for me the best recent form in the race. The Tourard Man is 14 now and is being ridden by Max Browne who is an amateur who works at Alan King's yard and I suspect he is running in hunter chases to give him experience as it isn't a sphere the trainer dabbles in all that often. He hasn't been seen since July 2018 and had finished 2nd off 143 in a good race at Cartmel on his penultimate start. He was placed in two Pertemps Hurdle Finals as well in 2015 and 2017. On back class he is the best horse in the race, but you can only guess at how much ability he has at 14 after 614 days off the track. If Shantou Flyer does win at Cheltenham it will be a bit of a form boost for Full Irish who was pulled up at the last behind him here last month. Either side of that he has run in points. First of all he looked as if he would come on for the run when 3rd at Ampton and then 8 days after Fakenham he ran out a nice winner at Charing. He jumped well and always looked the winner. It wasn't the strongest race in the world, but it was a step up on the run here and he does have the best rider in the race on top. If Buck Dancing was coming here on the back of the Alnwick win then I would be putting him up, but he has run really badly at Taunton and Musselburgh since then. They had wanted to run him at Cheltenham, but he got balloted out so comes here instead. 10/1 might look a big price if he does return to form, but I could forgive one bad run, but two is much harder to do. Ozzy Thomas might well win, but it is hard to think he is value at the current price. Who knows what The Tourard Man is going to be capable off, but I am always happy to oppose a 14yo coming off the back of such a long lay off. Even at 10/1 I find it hard to want to back Buck Dancing on the back of his last two runs, so I will take a chance on Full Irish. He was pretty useful himself under Rules before and the run here was clearly a blip based on what he did at Charing 8 days later. At 9/2 he looks the best bet in the race. Full Irish 1pt @ 9/2 with Bet365

Final Table Kenisbusy's big winner settled this a long way from home but we had some great totals in behind. Well done to Mr Jol, Daisychain and Luckypants on filling the frame. Honourable mentions to Joales, Stanners and Grand Danois on promising first efforts while Ubet had the most winners. 33 players qualify for the KO Cup Prizes (top 3 receive PL Merchandise. £80 : Kenisbusy £40 : Mr Jol £20 : Daisychain £10: Luckypants £30 : Corky ( Cup) Can all winners send me their PayPal details, name and prize being claimed (address if claiming Merch.) to: team@punterslounge.com

Jetz/Zero Ten, double 15/1

Its a virus not a zombie apocalypse ,lets not get too carried away Ive had to suffer twig hopping and several months of 'Cheltenham ' waffle I need my flat racing

I think the new proposals should keep all types of player happy enough The punter who goes for the long shot will still scoop the top prize (if successful) The punter who likes to pick shorter priced winners can aim for Cup qualification and the amount of winners prize Those who just miss out still have 2nd, 3rd and 4th money to play for. Those having a weak month will still have the top 25 to aim for, for a place in the Cup. Those on the borderline of Cup qualification will need to play until later in the month which stops the negativity that sometimes creeps in. Those that just miss out on the Cup will get a prize for finishing runners up. This thread has been viewed over 300 times and I guess those who wanted to say something has said something. Thanks for your feedback. I propose to introduce the new format at the beginning of April, which means the qualification for the Cup will be as normal in March. From April 1st Winner : £60 Second : £30 Third : £20 Fourth: £10 Highest Amount of Winners with min £10 Profit : £20 (if level, most profit will win, then S/R) Cup Winner: £30 Cup Runners Up: £10 Top 25 only to qualify for Cup.

A cracking Saturday with 4 winners including Buxton at a massive price. Going to be fairly brief again here as busy with Cheltenham as always this week and I have 3 bets. Just going to add one thing though and that is I have stopped putting up Marathon's prices. I have found it harder and harder to get on with them and last week it reached a new level that meant it was pointless me getting on with them anymore. To be fair I have had a very good run with them and took them for a near 5 figure sum on the final day of last season. I'm not sure how many readers were using them anyway and although they were often top price it wasn't by as much as it sometimes used to be. Not all the bookies I put up I can get on with to be fair and my BetVictor account was closed down long ago, but my guess is that people are more likely to have an account with them so I am happier to put them up if they are top price. Dagenham & Redbridge v AFC Fylde (National League) Fylde are now 10 points from safety and they have a tough game here as Dagenham are trying to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone although it is thought only 3 teams will be going down anyway.As I mentioned the other week Dagenham are much improved under Daryl McMahon which isn't a big surprise given he was taking over from Peter Taylor. They had a good away win on Saturday against an Aldershot side who had been doing pretty well of late especially at home. Dagenham's loss at Barrow the previous Saturday is there only loss in 8 league games and I think they can put another nail in Fylde's coffin on Tuesday night. Kettering v Hereford (National League North) Hereford won for us on Saturday and I think they are a big price to win against Kettering. The hosts have had a lot of games called off and their match against Gloucester on Saturday was their first in a while. They probably should have won, but it was two poor teams playing each other and Kettering are struggling a little with injuries at the moment. Hereford are clearly on the improve and are over priced to win a 3rd away game on the bounce. Biggleswade v Barwell (BetVictor Southern Premier Central) I like the away team here who were very good in beating Bromsgrove Sporting 4-1 on Saturday. They have only lost one of their last nine games now and are in much better form than their hosts who have lost 7 of their last 10. Barwell still have a chance of 6th place as well (along with plenty of others) so still have something to play for whereas Biggleswade have nothing to play for now. Dagenham 2pts @ 13/10 with William Hill Hereford 1pt @ 21/10 with Bet365 Barwell 1pt @ 13/8 with BetVictor and Bet365

Nice doing business

Prizes All winners need to send me their PayPal addy, PL name and prize being claimed. Anyone winning Merchandise needs to send me their home address. send details to: team@punterslounge.com @1945harry @LEE-GRAYS @Fader @Paperclip @LIKE2FISH @Steve75 @dimaum1001 @Advisor @Peter York @ian309 @Redno2009 @Craig bluenose @bobsyerunkle @Tiffy @Alastair @Zidane123 @Spajermuffin101 @Like A Roughie @Gazza's United @Sterphyle @tonythepaint Overall Top Scorers -Top 5 win PL Merchandise Many thanks

Thy problem with that was we had two or three people just picking 1/6 shots everyday, do we really want that, does it really add anything to the pot?? I think its a great achievement to pick a 25/1 winner never mind have it as your number 1 bet of the day. Fair play to them. We could look at changing the prize structure, i'll have a think guys..we could have a prize that involves Profit and performance for sure.

Oceane Dodin (+4.0 Games) to beat Sofia Kenin at 1.91 with betfair Dodin is a great indoor player. She has her best record on this surface (W/L record: 131-58) and she has won 11 matches this year. The last week she won in Macon and she reached the QFs in St Petersburg where she won against Gracheva, Ferro, Kuzmova and Konta without dropping a single set. She finally lost against Rybakina but she took a set from her. She has played a lot of matches in the last days but the retirement of Teichmann will give her an extra day for recovering. Kenin won her first match since the AO against Diatchenko. She has never achieved good results on indoors (7-6). The best result she has achieved on this surface was in Quebec (2016) where she reached the SFs, losing against Pegula. Today she could have lost against Jaqueline (the rumanian was serving for the match in the second set but she finally choked).

The above brought back memories and made me chuckle. (its on a similar principle as below) Last year the lads from the pub went on a trip to Chester and my sons mate came along and the only thing he knows about horses is they have 4 legs. On the way he asked me the best chances he had of winning as he had brought 140 (20 per race), I said as he didnt have a clue what to look for his best 2 options were a) Pick the shortest price fav over even money and lump the lot on giving him around 47% (11/10) chance of profit b) Or the better option put 20 on the horse nearest to but not under 7/1 in every race giving him around 60% (4/6) chance of profit (27% better chance of ending up in profit than going for 1 fav).But stop after hitting 1 winner for max profit He went for b) Lo and behold Sods Law pops up .... his first ever bet in the first race the horse comes in @ 7/1 bang job done & spends the rest of the day drinking with an extra 140 in his pocket. On the coach back home he was the only one on the day with any worthwhile profit , I'd had 3 bets, two 2nds and a third so done my dough,my mate had had 1 winner but still well down and same for my lad. (should have listened to my own advice ) So there's a lot to be said about just applying the basic math principles to reach your goal. You couldnt make it up Just thought Id add this update for todays racing (uk only...price taken just before the off as if at the meeting) Wincanton 7 races , closest to 7/1 but not lower 2nd race BUCKHORN GEORGE wins 10/1 .......9pts profit Southwell 7 races , closest to 7/1 but not lower 2nd race SHOOT TO WIN wins 7/1 ..........6pts profit Carlisle 7 races , closest to 7/1 but not lower 1st race ECHO EXPRESS wins 8/1 .....8pts profit Newcastle 8 races , closest to 8/1 but not lower 6th race PERUVIAN SUMMER wins 9/1 ...3pts profit due to PEARL SPECTRE also being a bet @ 9/1 So a full house of uk meetings on the day

**The next Last Man Standing Competition will start on the weekend March 7th/8th** **CASH Prize of £250 to the winner *** All players welcome and the first selection thread will be put up in plenty of time. We have 10 weeks of the season left so hopefully we will get it finished, anyone left in the comp at the end of the Premier League season will share the prize. Meanwhile the current consolation competition will carry on as normal next week. Many thanks, BH.

Dell Arca 16/1 e/w 1.30 Newbury Gino Trail 12/1 e/w 2.35 Doncaster Both on very low marks. Dell Arca ran encouragingly in its last race and placed at 33/1 after drifting out to 50s. He’s been dropped 1Ibs for that run.

Many thanks for continuing. I too will be putting something up , need to support the best site in our field , (typically I would have qualified this month too lol ) anyway sorted a new pin so bring it on lol

It's not the government's job to bail out football clubs like some seem to think it is, their job is to look after the people and jobs and sure that covers a lot of football too, but let's dig into this more. First of all, FIFA, UEFA, The FA, EFL, & especially The Premier League should NEVER let any club go out of business in this scenario because it's just not their fault. Let's break this down though: So the EFL to their credit has promised £50m as far as I last read and rightly so, but if it's not enough then they need to put more in. These football authorities have huge cash reserves, not least because they love handing out fines. The Premier League - I dread to think how much cash is in their bank account and they need to back up the EFL and the whole of the Non League Football Divisions too, because in reality it wouldn't cost that much and they've got a ton of money to do it. As for FIFA and UEFA, but especially FIFA - these guys are a total joke at the minute. FIFA has all the money in the world as they're corrupt as hell with all the bribes they get, not to mention the revenue and same applies to UEFA. They again are a total disgrace at the minute, as they should be backing up all football authorities with cash if the that authority can't financially stop every club going to the wall and what have they done so far? "Fifa also announced it had donated $10m (£8.5m) to the World Health Organisation's Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund." Well, whoopee fcukin aye FIFA - are you taking the piss with that? 🙄 It's staggering the arrogance they've got and Gianni Infantino is instead on youtube telling everyone how to wash their hands - is he on crack? I'm speechless at FIFA's lack of input and more importantly cash.

A week ago we were all thinking about who was going to win on the final day of Cheltenham and I was sorting out my final update for the Foxhunter preview (I will get round to reviewing that race by the way). Things have obviously moved fast since then and I am going to turn my attention to racing in Australia of which there is plenty of top class action not just this weekend, but in the upcoming weeks as well (as long as they can carry on racing behind closed doors) A year ago I was in Australia and I took in a visit to Moonee Valley for their William Reid Stakes card which is the finale to the night racing season at the track. Last year's renewal had an odds on favourite in Sunlight and she duly ran out a comfortable winner of what was a pretty weak renewal. This year's contest (off at 9.30am UK time) looks much stronger and the market is headed by the Godolphin owned Bivouac. He ran out a very impressive winner of the Newmarket at Flemington last time out where he quickened away in great style to beat Loving Gaby, Gytrash and Zoutori who all re-oppose here. That win makes him the one they all have to beat here, but he has drawn the inside barrier just as he did in the G1 Manikato Stakes over course and distance in October. That night he got no luck in running at all and if you had backed him you would have been tearing your hair out in frustration as Kerrin McEvoy had no chance of finding a run. Hugh Bowman takes the ride here and he will be fully aware that he needs to avoid a repeat. At Flemington he really pinged the lids and if that happens again here you would hope that Bowman is able to go forward and sit in behind likely front runner Pippie who is likely to come across from stall 10 and make the running. If he gets the ideal run he is likely to be hard to beat. Speaking of Pippie she landed the G1 Oakleigh Plate over 1100m at Caulfield last month and Bivouac was back in 6th, but granted luck in running Bivouac should reverse the form. That was his first run of the season and was clearly being used as a prep for the Newmarket and although Pippie has won over 1200m twice she was in desperate need for the line that day and I can't help thinking at least one horse is going to finish too strongly for her. Loving Gaby is so consistent and is almost sure to run her race, but she was probably fortunate to win the Manikato and on the Newmarket form she can't beat Bivouac. She is 2/2 at the track though. Exceedance as poor in the Newmarket finishing just 6th, but he won the Coolmore Stud at the Melbourne Cup Carinval and he beat Bivouac that day by 0.4L so if he can bounce back from the Newmarket run, which was his first run since the Coolmore win, then he has to be a player. The other one at a price who catches my eye is Vital Silver who ran a good race to finish 2nd in the Manikato. He had to come from a long way back and travel wide round the home bend so it was a good run in the circumstances. He has drawn stall 9 here which will might well mean he has to do the same here, but at least we know he runs this track well. After that he finished 2nd in the G1 Winterbottom at Ascot in Perth. He is 1st up here, but his first up record is good (2 wins and 2 places in 5 starts) so that might not be too much of a concern and he is a 20/1 shot. I do think Bivouac is the most likely winner and hopefully he breaks well and Hugh can get him in a nice handy position early so he pounce in the short straight. If Exceedance can bounce back from his 1st up run in the Newmarket then he might turn out to be the biggest danger. Loving Gaby is almost certain to run her race and it is hard to see her out of the first 4, whilst Vital Silver appeals e/w at a big price. 1. Bivouac (15/8) Paddy Power 2. Exceedance 3. Loving Gaby 4. Vital Silver The following race is the Group 2 Sunline Stakes (10am) and last year's 2nd Spanish Reef (went off favourite) has her chances, but the one I like is Princess Jenni who won the Alexandra Stakes on this card 12 months ago. It was a hell of a performance as she had to come 6 wide round the home bend and she finished off the race really strongly to win. She won her next two stats including the Schweppes Oaks at Morphetville. First up this season she ran a very eye-catching race over 1400m at Flemington 2 weeks ago. She was a long way back and then finished off the race very strongly to finish 3rd and Ben Melham wasn't overly hard on her to do so. She is 2/2 at the track and 3/3 2nd up and I think she has a really strong chance of making those 3/3 and 4/4. Princess Jenni (15/8) Hills

The situation in the UK took a more restrictive turn yesterday with the announcement of people being urged to avoid social contact and essential travel. Not really had much impact up here in Ystrad Mynach but my parents are now in self-isolation and that means my child care options have taken a big hit with local nurseries and child minders refusing to take on any more children. I'll continue to work around the clock to ensure games that are being played around the world are covered. In the meantime, a lot of us are going to be locked down or isolated so for the duration of this period of uncertainty I encourage all of you to keep posting here. This is a cracking community and if we help each other with some form of social interaction it will ease the whole process. I'm not just saying posting on these football sections but anywhere on the forum. I mean it when I say we're more than just a betting forum. I've met a load of people from this forum and have time for all of them. If any of you have any questions about anything betting related or not then I'm at the end of a PM. I hope all of you and your families stay healthy.

good days work ! 4 winning trebles total return 294.00, profit 274.00, bank 1057.39 Typical ..... the shortest price one lost !

Well done to you guys in the money and unlucky Rainbow who just missed out but had winners every day. Also thanks to BH for running another great comp.

Well done all the winners. Thanks @BillyHills for running the competition - appreciate your hard work (as usual) It does illustrate how difficult it is to turn a profit when taking SP when you consider a level £1 stake means £28 staked across all 4 days ...

Be interesting to see what happens from here. Don't think there's much chance we will actually get back underway in April. China's league is still shutdown and their main outbreak was in January. They are saying the peak is 12-14 weeks away in the UK, so could be months before anything starts up again. If I was a Liverpool fan i'd be seriously concerned that this season might be voided. As a spurs fan, that outcome would be fine for me! I hope lower league clubs are able to survive without any gate income for the next few weeks. Be a real shame if one or more go out of business over this. Guess this place is going to be pretty quiet for a few weeks so hope everyone stays fit and well and hopefully we'll be back soon.

Day 3 Mully takes the honours with a 50/1 winner Good luck on the last day🤞

Day 1 Ratings

A ridiculous decision, but there we are, left with two Challengers for the week 😵. Edit: Just for the record, I think it's ridiculous mainly because 1) all the big American sports are still going ahead in packed arenas 2) they could've played without spectators if they were afraid of that 3) canceling it so close to the event after essentially everyone has already traveled there?.

The competiton, as is, is excellent. I would continue to play if the rules did not change. I am thinking "what is there not to like?"; Forum, I can choose my horses with any objective, I bump into others who want to have fun, and this fella @BillyHills does all the hard work in administering, monitoring, reporting. And no subscription and for the skillful few prizes! 😃 Proposed changes: All good. looking at ways to reward the more consistent players and also ways to keep up the interest to the end of the month... Proposals as from April 1st ............ Highest S/R with min £10 Profit : £20 ............ Cup Runners Up: £10 These are all welcome. I particularly like the transferrence of league money to the 2 extra prizes. Top 25 only to qualify for Cup. Is this top 25 even if not in profit? Other: I am more than impressed by the stalwarts of the forum. The dozen or so punters who posted over 340 predictions over 2019, a lot of whom stayed in profit for the year. Now that is consistent in every which way.

Win or lose, thank you as always for your time and effort. It doesn't really matter about putting leagues, all the predictions and insights are already there so it doesn't hurt to actually search for the teams are in which league. I usually just search without a problem and takes less than two minutes but thanks to @Mindfulness for being thoughtful putting them down under which leagues too. 😁😁 Good luck all.

I have 3 bets for tonight although given we have had late call offs from all 3 venues of late there is no guarantee they will be on even though 2 have passed inspections already. Concord v Royston Not going to repeat myself from Saturday although sadly, but not surprisingly, the price is shorter than it was. Royston still the value play for me. Both sides will surely be dreaming of Wembley as well given they will be playing Halesowen in the semi-final. AFC Fylde v Notts County I put Notts County up for this game a couple of weeks ago when it got called off late. I am happy to play County again here. They had an easy afternoon in the FA Trophy against Aveley where they won 5-0. Meanwhile Fylde ended up having to go to extra time when losing 3-2 to Harrogate. The arguments used when the original game still stand and County look a big price. Barnet v Boreham Wood Barnet's home form has been strong in the league having lost just 3 games, but the players will need to be mentally strong to bounce back from losing to Halesown on Saturday. Barnet were poor and it could be that they thought they only had to turn up to beat a Step 4 side whereas tonight they are playing 4th in the league. Even so I think Boreham Wood are over priced here. They are having an incredible season and they are a side full of goals with Tshimanga and Marsh having scored 16 and 13 respectively. Matt Rhead was a cracking addition as well to the front line. They have only lost once since October and they have a chance better than the odds suggest, Royson 2pts @ 13/5 with Betfair and Paddy Power Notts County 1pt @ 23/10 with Bet365 Boreham Wood 1pt @ 21/10 with Bet365

This Catterick race was always one of the weakest hunter chases of the season, but the quality has picked up in recent years and this year it has attracted a horse who some thought could have won this year's Foxhunter. I put on Twitter when the entries came out that it was top trolling from Phil Rowley to put Wishing And Hoping in this and not the Foxhunter to those who had backed him for that. It is worth remembering that Hazel Hill ran in a hunter chase at Towcester the day before the Foxhunter in 2018 so he has previous in aiming for a lesser target with a horse who could be capable of running a big race at Cheltenham. This looks a very shrewd bit of placing and connections of the others must be very frustrated that such a good horse has ended up in this. Some people have been saying the yard's form is a worry, but given he has had 5 winners from his last 14 runners that quite frankly is garbage. He will go from the front so he will be keeping things simple and if he gets round safely I don't really see how he gets beat. Geordie and Craggaknock look unlikely to trouble for 2nd place. Light Flicker is half interesting as he was still going quite well at Cheltenham a couple of years ago when coming down at 4 out. Ironically he forced the unseat of a Rowley runner that night. He was a big price, but he was certainly out running his odds. He moved yards after that and the next season he won his maiden by 20L. There were only 3 runners and on the Cheltenham form he was always going to win that. That run was in November 2018 and he hasn't been seen since which has to be the concern. Also he tends to be up there and I can't see him being able to keep tabs on the favourite. Absainte looked progressive last season until getting beaten at 4/7 on quick ground. She then ran in the mares race at Cheltenham's hunter chase night and ran with credit to finish 3rd. She then went to Cartmel and finished 3rd again, but she never really got involved that day. Maybe it came soon enough after a tough race at Cheltenham or it was a sharp enough trip for her. she returned last month and was impressive in victory although the race wasn't overly strong she couldn't have done it any easier and connections have been targeting this race. Waterloo Warrior was certainly flattered by finishing so close to the winner at Leicester last month, but it did suggest that he need stepping up in trip as he was finishing strongly late on. He is clearly progressive as well and I would imagine connections had also ear marked this race as a likely target after that Leicester run. This should be an easy victory for Wishing And Hoping as there are no negatives. He beat a horse at Taunton who is going to run at Cheltenham and was beaten by one of the leading fancies for the race at Haydock. There is nothing near those here. I think Waterloo Warrior or Absainte will finish 2nd and there should be profit to be made by splitting stakes on both either one of those things happening. Wishing And Hoping to beat Waterloo Warrior 1pt f/c Wishing And Hoping to beat Absainte 1pt f/c

Viktoria Kuzmova to beat Tereza Martincova at 2.45 with Parions Sport A bet a little daring when we see the shape of the Slovak for some times but Im hopeful that she will regain her best level soon and why not starting here with 2 first opponents relatively below her potential level. We must not forget that she was at the gates of the top 40 not so long ago and if she manages to regain confidence in her serve she can go far in this tournament.

Hi everyone Here is my next selection. 300 Lingfield Renardeau 1pt win 13/8 Bog available. Expect a follow up to his to his C/D double in December. Fit and fancied. So far Start Bank 100 W3 L0 Bank 103.55 Beautifully timed run. Well that's four in a row. W4 L0 Bank now 105.17

Decent day today with a rare win in here, the two bggest priced ones won, both horses drifted, and my Nap of the Day won at good odds ! Hopefuly the start of a change of fortune ..... 👍 return 70.31, profit 50.31, bank 832.93

Hibernian v Them. I don't think it'll surprise anyone here that I've backed Hibs to win the Edinburgh derby tonight. If Hibs turn up and play anywhere near to what they're capable of then there's only one winner here. There's a fraction of value on Hibs also, coming into this game I was thinking anything around evens would be about right. Hibs @ 2.20 - 2 pts.

Viktoriya Tomova to beat Magdalena Freçh at 2.30 with Parions Sport I am counting on the current form of the Bulgarian, who has just won the trophy at Sunderland, to beat the Pole who had some difficulties to beat a young Yerolymos ranked almost 200 seats behind her.

Lara Arruabarrena to beat Yafan Wang at 2.50 with Parions Sport The Chinese has lost her last 5 games including an early elimination in straight sets in the 1st round for her title defense at Acapulco which should put pressure on her shoulders for her entry into this tournament. For her part, the Spaniard played well in the qualifications by beating Inglis and Dolehide without losing a set. I count on her good defensive play and her counter attacks to make the exchanges last and to push the Chinese in lack of confidence to make mistakes.

New Last Man Standing Comp starts this Saturday £250 Cash Prize

Are you a traffic warden or something in real life??