Yalwen

Admin step in please…… Couldn’t agree more. There is a lot of honest, hard work and dedication goes into the posts on here and it’s always an interesting read. We don’t need this nonsense clogging up the forum. I know we don’t have to read it but it’s an irritating aside that I’m sure the majority can do without.

Mark me down as ‘not interested’.

Maria's a bit like Van Der Wheil. You either believe it or you don't believe it. Personally I don't believe that either were as successful as they would like us to believe. I never saw any before the race predictions from either although they were both very wise after an event. Plenty of people have spent an awful lot of time and research on the 'Flying Dutchman' so they must think it's all worth the effort. I prefer more simple strategies which are also less time consuming. At the end of the day if you can consistently win above the average minimum wage at this game you are doing well. The pleasure is in the action and the joy is when you are proved right. Infrequently for me, unfortunately but I do better now that I can read the research of some of the sages on this forum. Thanks, guys and gals.

I think it's fair to say that our suspicions have been confirmed. Laying long term is the hardest game in gambling.

Nigel Taylor (FORMCAST) has gone and now Sam Turner (Robin Goodfellow) has departed from the racing pages of the Daily Mail. Has anybody any idea who might be taking over from Sam, if anybody, or are they just going to share the job amongst the tea boys and cut and paste artists that they currently employ. FORMCAST has not been replaced and you need super powered specs to read the minuscule print words on the ever diminishing racing pages. This used to be my number one resource but is now just a shadow of what it used to be. Such a shame.

Thanks and well done to all who took part. How you find and name some of those winners is beyond me! And, of course, thanks to MCLARKE whose meticulous record keeping makes it all so easy to follow.

'+32.4 units profit now (using BSP net of 2% commission)' then three losers Friday and three losers Tuesday I reckon brings the 'profit' to less than 29 units. Can you confirm that we're no longer backing to win £30 but that we're backing 1 pt level stakes and, on that basis the system is currently 26 points up or are my calculations out? I'm confused. Anyway, thanks for the postings and good luck with your selections.

You post some amazing stats Mc. Thanks for that. I find them all fascinating and wish I had access to a database such as yours. As a matter of interest, which forecast do you use to gather the favourite information? I’m also following your Cheltenham stats with great interest. Thank you for all the information and for all the hard work that you put in. I hope it yields some good profits for you.

Those were the days. Smoky atmosphere, exciting commentaries, days before tax and the infernal machines. A mix of ‘interesting’ characters, Sporting Chronicle, ‘real’ Sporting Life on the walls for us to read. Happy days, indeed. Gone forever. Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be, for sure.

Brilliant Ebor, Brig. Fantastic insight and a terrific profit. Thanks for your hard work and well done! Whatever the outcomes you always give us an interesting read and I always look forward to your analysis.

‘i will be stunned if Alpinista gets beat in this’. Superb analysis and your confidence assured my bet. I hope you got the 9/4. Thanks and well done Zilzalian. Yalwen

£1.30 for Saturday edition. £1.90 for Sunday’s paper. The rule of diminishing returns. The end is nigh for paper editions of newspapers, sadly. I don’t wonder at those prices. Most of the information that we used to rely on is now available on line for free.

‘I think your meticulous record keeping is a excellent example for many on this site’. I could not agree more. Keep going, ralphie and thanks for all the hard work. It is appreciated.

Thank you both so much. Greatly appreciated, and the Dunces cap has now been removed from my head. It’s how we learn.

This is an interesting and fascinating post. I have been using the RaceAdvisor site for some time and believe that when combined with At The Races it’s the best free online information there is. I am puzzled, though. You obviously do extensive research and I try to do that too, what with spreadsheets and other daily betting chores but I am wondering how you calculate the ‘price differential’ to such precision as 267%. Would you be prepared to show us how as I don’t think I have come across it before. Anyway, MCCLARKE good luck with your odds on venture and thanks for your post which I always find balanced and interesting. Yalwen

Ha, ha! You’re a very funny person. You make me smile, anyway. Good luck with your selections. May they all be winners.

If you're sharp enough the value can be had with the bookmakers. The trouble then is with keeping your Accounts. These guys are constantly looking for anyone who may be a shrewd backer and if you take the value you'll soon be banned. Their sophisticated software flags up winners and even losers who constantly take value. Look at the profits made by the leading bookmakers - that tells its own story. They only want and encourage losers. Unfortunately they have made it impossible for clever backers to hold on to regular accounts so, it's obvious, the exchanges, who only want your commission, is the way we are all being forced to go.

Harry, Clive Holt's staking plan is extremely logical. I've used it for years and the sense is apparent.

I've been involved in gambling, on and off course, for even longer than McLarke and I would wholeheartedly agree with him. The problem that the originator is facing is not his profit - he is already making a level stake profit of +16 points, which is good - it is his expectations. His strike rate is ok, but could be better and he needs to focus on the number of losers that he backs. and the stakes that they carry. If he can do that, and I can, then he will see that level stakes or considered stakes is the only way to go. Money management is crucial and you only get grey hairs and problems with most, probably all, forms of staking plans especially those that depend on any form of retrieval. Of course, it goes without saying, that a solid and realistic bank roll is required and your betting pattern should never put the bank under severe pressure.

I couldn’t agree more with your views Quartu. Watching any of the sports presenters on any of the TV programmes is like being addressed by unqualified Social working geography teachers. Comparisons with these people and the real ‘experts’ of recent years is impossible. The great voices and knowledge of people such as O’Sullivan, Francome, Lord Oaksey, McCririck were voices of wisdom, information and authority. Todays so called ‘presenters’ comprise box-tickers and loud mouthed buffoons with, of course, the important inclusivity agenda regardless of the ability of those ‘included’. I’ve taken to recording the races, fast forwarding through the drivel and, apart from the actual commentary, the mute button is pressed.

I'll do that VT, but I used to enjoy sitting down with a coffee and a pen and going through the runners and riders, marking the paper and making notes before I made a selection. Can't do that on T'internet. Plus, of course, at his peak Nigel Taylor was the very best. Some of his ratings, especially in the lower grade non handicaps were almost a licence to print money. So, this is what we call progress, I suppose.

That's a terrific post, Harry. I don't think that you are asking for anything that is too onerous and it would certainly show much greater clarity. Let's hope that the response is positive.

I have similar results on my spreadsheet. The 'staking plan' is ridiculous.

On Saturday the Daily Mail announced, in a very low key manner, that Nigel Taylor’s FORMCAST would be ending after 43 years. Now, I know that there have been many systems and methods based around the Top Rated 78 horse and also that some of them were quite successful, particularly in the non-handicap races. So, this morning I opened the paper to see what the replacement ‘private handicap ratings’ would be like. Unbelievably, in this day and age, there was no replacement. Just a list of runners for each race together with the usual betting forecast and they haven’t even printed the number of declarations per race. What a shambles! What used to be one of the country’s leading formcards now becomes a shadow of its former self. Talk about back to the drawing board. A very disappointing start to the week and my subscription to the rag will cease at the end of the month.