Keep a lookout for my selections on Twitter

Blog writing is a time-consuming exercise and, for me, it is a double-edged sword as I want to provide the reader with a reason to visit this blog and to come away from it having learned something to their advantage. Hence, I don't like posting just a bit of guff.

Take yesterday. It was a busy day for me with a meeting in both the morning and afternoon to attend, plus half a dozen other things to sort out at the office. As such, no time to donate to the blog. Even so, I managed to find 20 mins to nip out to the local bookies and peruse the day's runners. As I wrote on my previous blog page, I've been looking at sprinters this summer on the flat, and it's worked out well for me. My betting shop appraisals start with a look at what the trainers stats are per course. I note down those who have a 20% or better strike-rate (3yo's-plus) and pay attention to those with just 1 or 2 runners. If they've travelled a long way, that's a further enticement. At Hamilton, I quickly noticed Karl Burke's strike-rate and that he had only the one runner there: BARON RUN.  A look at the form showed that Baron Run was a multiple course & distance winner - he just loves Hamilton. The odds at the time were 8/1 and that looked value in what was - I considered - a fairly open race with no other strong candidates. The only horse I was concerned with was Layla's Hero who was in-form but, since they last met, Baron Run had a huge pull in the weights - and he beat Layla's Hero on that previous meeting!

I posted that selection up on twitter @wayward_lad and combined it with another that I'd had a punt on a couple of weeks ago: JACOB BLACK. What I didn't know was that the saddle slipped when Jacob Black ran previously and so he didn't show his true form.  This race looked very weak on paper and, with Jacob Black proven at the trip and on the ground, early odds of 7/2 looked very generous.

Sure enough, both these confirmed front-runners led from the break and made-all to win their respective races! It doesn't always work out like that, but I don't issue selections willy-nilly on twitter. My money was down yesterday.