One account bet for us today, a close one.
Club Oceanic, 4pt win @ 7/4 (B.O.G. returned 9/4) was a strong fancy after wintering particularly well.
Connections were pleased with his handicap weight and he was fancied to run a big race.
Lots of money just before the off for Indian Jack saw our bet go off a 9/4 chance.
There was little early pace and our selection pulled slightly in behins on the rails but travelled nicely enough.
He didn't pick up instantly when asked the question but picked up well inside the final 100 yards to finish 3rd, beaten 2 short heads in a 3 way photo finish.
No excuses. He ran well, just not quite well enough.
Aintree's Grand National meeting starts tomorrow.
Great racing bit its unlikely we will be having a bet tomorrow. The first 3 races all feature odds on favourites and the remainder of the card looks very trappy.
We may have an interest at Ripon but will know more in the morning.
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
www.simplebet.net
One bet on Saturday and one bet today for us.
Saturday's bet was Penitent, 3pt win @ 9/4
This horse landed a real nice touch for us this time last year when landing a decent gamble to win the Lincoln.
He was entered in the Lincoln as well as a race in France but connections opted for this race. It was felt that if he stayed he probably would win.
A huge gamble on the day, he started an 11/8 chance.
(At some point we need to write a gamble to cover what is a gamble and what isn't. Many punters believe a horse being punted from 33/1 into 14/1 at Wolverhampton on a Thursday night is a huge punt but 9/4 into 11/8 at Kempton on a Saturday isn't...)
Anyway,
Penitent settled well enough tracking the leaders and looked set to pounce with a couple of furlongs to run.
When Frankie asked him to quicken he found very little and could only plug on at the same pace to finish 4th. Whether he didn't stay, wasn't fit enough or just wasn't good enough is hard to tell.
To make matters worse, William Haggas won the race with his second string, Shamali.
This one wasn't fancied at all. (Opened 12/1, went off 12/1)
In fact, the trainer told the Racing Post "I'll be staggered if Shamali wins, as he's sure to need the run. He was never really right this year and hasn't run since May. He's had leg problems, so running here on an even surface was preferable to most other options"
Now, the cynics will say that he said that to get a better price on his second string, blah blah blah, but the amount of money that was lost on Penitent tells the true story. There were a lot of gutted punters at Kempton!
On to Sunday which was much better.
We backed, King Of Eden, 1pt e/w @ 10/1
This horse did us some great favours last year and had really grown and strengthened over the winter. That and the fast ground made connections hopeful he would stay the extra furlong today and if so, was fancied to run a big race.
The ground wasn't great, with lots of grassless patches at Donny so we kept our stakes sensible.
Our selection went off a 10/1 chance as money poured on Ivory Silk. (13/2 into 9/2)
He was always in a handy position in around 6th place and made headway with around 2 furlongs to run. He hit the front with a furlong to run and stayed on very well to hold Ivory Silk by a head.
A nice and very welcome 10/1 winner after a pretty difficult week.
This week is all about Aintree and our Grand National ante post bet continues to shorten in price. He could still go off favourite.
Connections are still very confident that with a clear round he is the one to beat.
There will probably be a few bets between now and the start of Aintree on Thursday with a couple of interesting runners lined up from one of our favourite yards...
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
http://www.simplebet.net/
One account bet for us today.
One of our favourite stables sent out the quietly fancied Oscar Close, 3pt win @ 3/1
The selection was briefly available at 7/2 (for about a minute!) but the price disappeared as our message was being sent out.
We have a fantastic record with our George Baker bets when we are given the nod and expected this horse to be the subject of a big gamble and put in a big run.
He went off a well backed 9/4 chance and would have been much shorter but for the money for Beau Lake.
He was held up in 3rd place, tracking the front two and always looked to be travelling very smoothly. He traded slightly odds on coming to two out but didn't pick up well and could only manage 3rd to the also well backed Beau Lake.
Disappointing not to have backed the winner but the yard owe us nothing and have a couple lined up for the next week or two so we are very confident this will be 3 points just lent.
Elsewhere we released 2 ante post bets for Cheltenham and a bet for the Grand National to full members today.
With Cheltenham just over 2 weeks away and Aintree just over a month away things are getting very exciting now. If you are thinking of joining, don't delay as we are getting very busy with lots of interest in our service in the last few months in particular.
February is now at a close and we finished the month 22.4 points in profit although that does include the 10 points we have just placed on our ante post bets.
We have now shown a profit in the last 4 months and 9 of the last 10 months although a few of these months were very marginal!
The next few days look fairly quiet although we are hopeful of an account bet tomorrow all being well.
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
http://www.simplebet.net/
One account bet for us today.
Hitchens, 3pt win @ 3/1 has always been well liked by the stable and is working nicely at home after finishing last season in fine form.
He was backed down to 5/2 at the off and broke well to be settled in around 4th place.
He had to travel pretty wide around the bend but was still in a decent position and we were hoping he would kick on and put the race to bed from there.
He didn't pick up as well as expected though and could only manage 5th, beaten around a length in a bunched finish.
We will probably be releasing two Cheltenham ante post bets tomorrow as well as a Grand National bet to members.
Anyone interested in backing ante post at Cheltenham will be interested to know that Bet365 have now gone non runner no bet on all Festival races.
Its unlikely there will be a bet tomorrow but we will know more in the morning.
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
http://www.simplebet.net/
Another decent day today but again it could have been much much better.
Two account bets.
First up was Qalinas, 4pt win @ 2/1 (B.O.G. paid 5/2)
This horse was thought to be well weighted in his first time handicap and with a clear round was expected to take all the beating.
We were on course where there were many whispers for Rajamand as the race approached resulting in this horse being very well supported.
Qalinas touched 7/2 on course but was backed back in to 5/2 at the off.
He raced freely in the front pair and was always travelling smoothly. He took a clear lead with 3 to jump and was already trading well odds on.
He seemed to hit a soft spot of ground on landing after jumping 2 out and although he started to hang slightly he traded at 1.03. Still a length or so jumping the last but he tired in the last 100 yards to be nailed in the run in by Kadouchski.
Very frustrating to have another account bet trade so short and look all over the winner again but you have to take the rough with the smooth.
Our second bet was better.
Far View, 3pt win @ 3/1 is one of George Baker's who was fancied to show a lot more today.
Not an easy horse, he was fitted with cheekpieces in a bid to liven him up somewhat.
Another one of George's to be well supported he went off a very well backed 15/8 favourite.
He broke well from his poor draw and was pushed into an early lead.
He was kicked on into a clear lead with just over a furlong to go and although Loyal Royal close on him on the run in he never looked likely to be caught, running out a winner by just under a length.
The info from the Baker stable rarely lets us down and one member emailed in to say that it is worth the subscription fee alone!
So, another decent day where the info was spot on and really close to a nice double.
Of our 15 bets in February, 5 have won with 5 finishing second.
Three of these seconds (Kingsmere 1.04, Ackertac 1.18, Qalinas 1.03) have all traded very short without winning.
No point moaning about that though as luck does tend to come and go and if we are over 30 points in profit for February and still classing it as an unlucky month it says something.
We are hopeful of a bet tomorrow but with lots of rain forecast its not certain.
We are looking at a couple of ante post bets for Cheltenham and a possible Grand National bet which we may release on Sunday. Again, not certain but probable.
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
http://www.simplebet.net/
