The ATR Interviews (12) ~ CC75

[BillyHills]

Ok guys, enough of them Mods, time to hear from Charlie, better known to the ATR as CC75. He joined up at this time in 2007, just in time for Royal Ascot, a true competition supporter and in fact his first post was in the old naps competition on a horse called Moon Star, and it won! Charlie is a regular in the BBOTD, LOTD and the DHRC and has won an award in each of them. If you have a look at the link here you will see that he was/is a very talented guy in the Athletics field and is also heavily involved in coaching nowdays. Also if you want to know anything about Greyhound ownership, Charlie will tell you more about his involvement with his syndicate at Newcastle. A real success story is this, someone who admits to having very little knowledge on Racing when he arrived, joins a public forum, asks questions, takes advice, becomes a valued member and enjoys his sport with guys he has never met! Thats what the PL is all about. Hope you enjoy are little chat and i'm sure Charlie will answer any questions I didnt ask. BH ________________________________________________ Previous Issues in case you missed them;

• Bowles10
• Ralphie7
• Fintron
• RussP
• Billy The Punter
• Chris34
• Mowgli77
• Spooner
• Stewartd14
• Gingertipster
• Mileni4uk

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[BillyHills]

Re: The ATR Interviews (12) ~ CC75 1. You joined the PL in June 2007, how did you come across the site in the first place? I was just starting to get interested in horse racing properly (had visited Kelso a few times) and found a couple of forums that I tracked/lurked on for a while. The other forum (can’t remember the name now) was all about tips… you know the kind “my mate’s, neighbour’s, girlfriend’s workmate knows someone who knows the traveling lad for such and such a trainer”… so on and so forth – always a load of rubbbish. However the results from the tipsters on ATR were incredible in comparison to the clowns on the other forum who paraded as being “in the know”, so I quickly realized this was the place to be and what a great decision! 2. Can you explain your choice of avatar? Haha. Not too sure there is much of an explanation behind it, except it’s one of the funniest scenes from any movie I’ve ever watched and Goonies is quality Sunday afternoon viewing no matter how many times you’ve seen it IMO. No matter how many times I see Chunk performing the Truffle Shuffle I still end up in stitches ;-) 3. Do you think the PL differs or offers anything more than the many other betting forums out there? As mentioned in question 1, the level of tipping back when I first joined was unbelievable and the quality of tipping and analysis on here has continued to be second to none. The greatest thing about it - it’s opinions from guys who love and really understand the sport inside out and for that reason you would be a fool not to take note of their opinions before making your selections. Also, definitely one of the friendliest forum’s I have been a part of. A credit to all members and especially the Mods 4. You started a couple of systems in the Glory Hunters section, anymore planned? Pretty damn unsuccessful they were too lol. I definitely have the intention of trying my hand at my own thread, however I want to start it up in the ATR forum rather than Glory Hunters as it was too easy to post a selection without reasoning in that forum which ultimately led to laziness, therefore when I start my own thread, I don’t want to chop/change, stop/start threads all the time – I want to paper test results first before starting to post my selections. However it may not be until Autumn now, due to work commitments and lack of form study time – don’t want to go into it half-cocked 5. Is there anything that annoys you on the PL or improvements that you would make? No man, love it. Nothing annoying at all – great folk with knowledge that is second to none and ultra friendly. Lucky to be a part of it. 6. Do you think the role of a moderator is appreciated by the members? They better bloody appreciate the mods. It’s down to you guys that this place exists and is the quality forum it is. The amount of work that must go on behind the scenes can only be imagined, so as far as I’m concerned if any mud gets slung the way of the mods, I for one would go off my nut and I’m sure there would be a few hundred queuing up behind me in support! 7. You join in all of the competitions, do you think these are an important part of the ATR? Yes, very important. You can see how important it is to win these comps – come the last few days you still tell yourself you could find that elusive 25/1 shot that would win you the title! Probably not the most glamourous way to win it… waltzing in with longshot on the last day to rob someone who has a 60%+ strike rate for the month but that’s the beauty of the comps – you haven’t won until the last bet of the last day! Also, love the lay of the day comp – proper little group of warriors in there! Great fun 8. Do you think there are enough 'discussion' threads on the ATR or is it all about tips and individual threads? Tough question for me this. I am learning about horse racing all the time and do find myself spending quite a bit of time reading the discussion threads without feeling I have anything like the knowledge to contribute intelligently to them. However, If you read through everyone’s different approaches to horse racing, staking, identifying value, producing your own 100% books (Ginge) you undoubtedly learn an incredible amount that ultimately will make you a better punter – for that reason I think they are very important to PL. The individual threads are likewise very important as I think you need your own space to post your thoughts and selections and feel this would channel the way you bet (as per Bowles Betting Diary thread) – also loved the BH and BTP novice hurdle threads. Hope that answer makes sense. Ideal mix of discussion, individual selection threads and competitions here IMO 9. Some accuse the ATR as being a bit 'cliquey', a reason why some lurkers maybe dont join up, is this how it appeared to you before joining? Not at all, I was a lurker back in 2007 and a absolute beginner punter (i;m still a mere novice). However I was made to feel very welcome and whenever I have noticed new members appearing in the various threads every effort has been made by the regulars to make them feel welcome. A big hello to all you lurkers out there, make yourselves known, you’ll be fine ;-) 10. Do you think being part of the ATR has made you look at things differently or do you do things pretty much the same as before? I look upon things totally differently. As I said before, absolute beginner punter when I started, and feel as though I’m just about to start my three year old campaign but still very green lol. Learning all the time and even now with TedTheWolf and my own challenge on the go, I am starting to watch his selection policies and can see that we have pretty similar approaches to certain races and I am definitely learning from it. Definitely have my own ideas now and starting to develop them more when I have the, all-elusive, required time. Also, could not get my head round flat racing when I first started out as I didn’t really understand it but the more posts I read from the regular flat guys on here the more I appreciate and understand it and now it’s a part of the sport I really love. Think I will always be a NH man at heart though given Kelso is my “local”. 11. Any chance we might see you at one of the famous PL meet ups in the near future? Defo. They sound legendary. Read the thread Mileni wrote after he came over and it sounded like a riot. Drink, gambling, horses, laughs and top company – you can’t beat it! As soon as it gets a bit closer to me, I’ll be there – Newcastle would be a good venue for a day at the races you know lads ;-) Horse Racing & Betting 1. What got you interested in Horse Racing? The thought of making easy money from the gambling aspect! Then by the time I realized that wasn’t what it was about and it wasn’t easy to make money from the sport it was too late as I was totally hooked! Just love the sport now. 2. What type of racing do you enjoy the most and why, flat, NH, Big races, sprints, classics, AW? Love National Hunt racing with Kelso being my home track but really getting into turf and AW flat racing in a big way (4yo+ class 3-6 handicaps up to 10f), and can see that this may be where I end up doing most of my selecting as there are definite similarities between the running I have been involved with for years with these kinds of horse races. 3. If you could change one thing in Racing or Betting overnight, what would that be? Not sure if it’s really something to be changed or not but a major bug bear of mine is non-runners in 8, 16 runner horse races. Unbelievable how many races start the day as 8 runner or 16 runner races only to have 1 horse withdrawn (usually self-cert!) Sure I;m not the only one and it’s a pretty unoriginal complaint. 4. Can you remember your first bet, how old were you and where did you put it on? Would be the annual family bets on Grand National day – used to read the little paragraph of notes about each horse in the Daily Mail before giving my dad my fiver (usually spread across 5 different animals!) to place my bets at the bookies. I can honestly say I never won once in the few years I did these family bets. 5. Can you reveal your biggest win to date, you dont have to be specific about the amount but what was it on? Don’t mind revealing the bet. As you have probably gathered by a lot of my selections I am an in-form stable kind of guy. I had a 20p e/w lucky 31 (£12.40 total) last January on horses from the form trainers at that time - Charlie Mann: Aqualung/Red Admiral (great to follow when amongst winners), Venetia Williams: Pretty Star, Henry Daly: Markila and Alan King: Delena (fell). Had been out all day and watched the replays when I got in – 4 out of 5 came in at odds (thanks to a couple of drifters and BOG) ranging from 9/1-14/1 for just over £5k. 5^th horse (9/1) fell too early to have known how it would have performed. I was ecstatic with the win as my daughter was only 7-months old at the time so every penny counted as it still does. Had a decent touch a couple of weeks back too worth a fair bit from a £10 trixie. However, over the years I’ve been gambling I’m probably not up that much to be honest and to land multiple bets such as these boils down to pure luck – I love multiple bets though ;-) 6. What was the last horse race meeting you attended? Haven’t managed to get to as many as I would have liked in recent times due to work, family, coaching commitments, however when my brother last visited (approx March) we took my daughter down to Kelso for the day – wife didn’t know I was referring to Kelso races when I said we were taking her to the town for the day, think she thought we were going for a walk round the town ;-) Making sure the wee one was introduced to the sport early 7. What aids do you use to follow form, sites, books, software? RP site mostly, although I am a cheapo free member – I get just about all I need from there also Bet365 racing archive of videos is invaluable. Intend to start reading more books about the sport just so I understand the sport from as many different angles as possible. 8. Do you bet online or still visit the high street? Which do you prefer? Online mostly as I am self-employed and work at a computer all day anyway. However I do enjoy going into the local laddies – not for the value I hasten to add – but just because it can be quite a sociable hour or so with regular guys in there I know from the town. Some of the funniest guys you meet are usually in bookies – although they’re not always intentionally funny. 9. Do you think the exchanges have made a difference to the way people bet since they were introduced? I would say yes to this as it offers the shrewd and knowledgeable punter who can read horse form and early price value the opportunity of making profit on races by trading out at the right time. I don’t bet nearly high enough stakes or have anything like the required knowledge for this to work for me, however I can understand how regular profit could be possible for the more knowledgeable punter with a big bankroll behind them 10. Do you think Horse Racing is 'clean' at the moment and does this effect the way you bet? It is so similar to the Games running I am involved in, as whilst there are races with a handicap system and betting involved there will always be someone, somewhere trying to beat the handicapper! I don’t have any kind of issue with this - you just accept it and get on with it and hope that the day you think they are primed for the big run, your money’s down! It’s just part and parcel of the sport. The major corruption that I can’t handle is jockey fixing of races but once again where money’s involved, corruption is sure to follow so just has to be accepted as part of the sport I suppose 11. Do you have many Ante Post bets and do you look to trade them? Not a big ante-post gambler truth be told – however I think it was Ginge who put up Big Bucks ante-post for this year’s World Hurdle at 9/4 explaining the value behind the bet in his post which unintentionally talked me into a bit of a wager on it which thankfully turned out to be sound advice (thank you Ginge). I wouldn’t be tempted to trade out though – tend to stick to my guns whether right or wrong in doing so (all or nothing kind of guy 12. Have you ever had a bet on a speciality market like BB or XFactor? Yeah, tend to find it numbs the pain of watching them a little if I have a betting interest - the wife’s a fan of them all, which means that they tend to be on our telly a fair bit! 13. Do you bet on other sports as well as Racing, if so which do you think brings you the most profit? Occasional football accies, also love football correct score betting, 2-1 bets brought about a bit of decent success for me in the last half of the season. 14: AP McCoy or Ruby Walsh? AP = legend. Will always be a McCoy man, he’s an animal and appears to ride horses for all the right reasons. I like Ruby too but would rather have my money on McCoy every day of the week 15. Ryan Moore, Kieron Fallon or Frankie Dettori? Ryan Moore. Not a massive fan of the other two to be honest. 16. I know you used to be involved in Greyhound ownership, is this still the case? If so whats the dog called? Sadly one of our pups had to be put down about 4 weeks ago (broke hock then shattered leg in running). He had only turned out to be an A3 winner but had bags of early, just couldn’t see out 480m, his name was Dunion Tommy (was sired by Razldazl Billy). We have a bitch called Dunion Maxie and another bitch called Dotland Green (both pretty useless to be honest – A6/7) and a dog called Wattie’s Pal (will be an A1 dog at best). We are currently looking to get hold of another couple of well-bred dogs, in the eternal quest of every greyhound owner, to find the Derby winner so watch this space. 17. Which tracks do you go to see the Greyhounds? Visit Newcastle with mates about once a month (all our dogs run there) but as it’s an hour or so drive from us a monthly outing is all we can manage. Used to go up to Shawfield in Glasgow too but lost my bulletproof vest so gonna dodge that venue for a while till I replace it (only joking to all the Glasgow punters out there Quick Questions 1. What is your homepage at the moment? Apple Store – Mac fanatic 2. Name a site on your favourites that may surprise us?Babycentre.co.uk – soft lad I know but baby number two is due in December so just want to keep track of the wee one’s progress! 3. Favourite Music, song, band? I’m old school, like Stone Roses/Oasis/Charlatans, also a bit of a Jamiroquai fan too. Best song ever, I am the Resurrection by the Stone Roses. 4. Favourite TV show, not sport related? Too many comedies to mention but a few like: Alan Partridge, Extras, The Office, Only Fools & Horses and a pretty huge Bo Selecta and Celebrity Juice fan. I like something that makes me laugh – makes you feel good! 5. What was the last book you read? Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks. Quite an entertaining little read. 6. What do you do for a living? Self employed Advertising Consultant in the Tourism Industry – I basically co-ordinate suppliers and collate advertising material for accommodation brochures to make sure they are printed accurately. 7. What Car do you drive or would like to own one day? Currently we have a Vauxhall Astra and a Vauxhall Antara 4x4 (live in the sticks). Not too sure I aspire to own any particular car really, however if pushed I would happily ponce about in a Range Rover Sport as long as someone else paid my fuel bills! 8. Do you have any hobbies away from sport? Loads of sporting hobbies, however away from sport i enjoy working with computers, web/database design etc (kind of part of my everyday work but really enjoy it) and I’ve kind of got into gardening a wee bit which probably shows that I’m starting to get old!! 9. What Football team do you support? Liverpool all the way baby 10. What was the last live sporting event you attended outside of Horse Racing? An under 15/17 National Athletics championships where a couple of athletes I help train were competing. On a larger scale went to Anfield a couple of times last season. 11. What gadgets do you own, Ipod, Mobile, Xbox, etc. iPhone is the main one, also have a retro Xbox but hardly get time to play it now. 12. Biggest personal achievement so far? Having an incredible happy healthy daughter and a beautiful wife 13. Ambitions for the future? Any other comments? Family? To have another happy healthy son or daughter come December. Final comment from me: Thanks for interviewing me Graham and I hope it gives some of the PL members and lurkers (get yourselves signed up!) an insight into the views of a member who doesn’t possess anything like the knowledge of so many on here but still loves the sport and loves being part of the PL setup. Cheers