Proposal for next comp dates

So we are thinking that with this comp covering the holiday season we should include a major part of August as non betting days something like this:

Start Saturday 15th June - in time for Royal Ascot the next week

Have a mid comp holiday break from Monday 5th to Monday 26th August inclusive
(that's an 22 day suspension which does NOT use up spare days)

Restart form Tuesday 27th August through to a close on Saturday 5th October

This excluding the August break gives us the standard 91 day period for the 61 required bets

Final day meet up would therefore be either at Ascot or Fontwell

How does this sound?  Sort of picked the middle ground between an early start in May and a delayed start as late as July.

Puchestown Crew

On the way to the final day at Punchestown - Just can't keep Pete out of these shots can we :-)

(Thanks for taking the shot Jo)

27apr13 great final day

Super exciting last day after Ian Carpenter picked a 12-1 winner in the opener at Punchestown to take the lead and then only to see Mark Sharman come off of his odds on tactic to pick a 7-2 winner to end up winning by £3.00 - brilliant stuff and well done guys.  Colin Warmington also spiced it up by picking a 5-1 winner but it was not quite enough to trouble the leaders.  Other final day winners were Gareth Chapman evens to move to 8th and cash and Celeste Beaty 15-8 to move to a final position of 15th.

The plate remained the same as no-one collected a point.

Many thanks to Ken Jones for a great tip for us all over in Punchestown 33-1 that finished 3rd and we all finished on a high.

Great comp - will be putting up further info about awarding the cup later in May and when we all think the next comp should start & of course, a good few photos of the trip over here

Final Day Main Leader Board Selections

Mark - Glens Melody PUN 4.25
Colin - Two for Two RIP 2.20
Bert - Eagles Peak SAN 3.15
Ian - Sizing Australia PUN 2.30
Maurice - Galaxy Rock SAN 3.50
Jimmy - Grandads Horse SAN 2.05
Lee - There Abouts LEI 3.30
Paul B - On Trend SAN 3.50
Ken - Mr Watson SAN 2.05
Kevin W - Duke of Lucca SAN 3.50
Gareth -Diakali PUN 5.00
Barry -
Annette - Sanctuaire SAN 2.40
Jon - Balnaslow PUN 5.35
Vince - Casey Top PUN 5.35
Paul C - Same Difference SAN 3.50

26apr13 one big winner

Ken Jones moved onto the leader board ready for the last day with a 12-1 winner and Annette also did her chance of cash a lot of good with a 3-1 winner

Final positions before the last day are as over

Bet must be in a race timed to start before last proper race at Punchestown i.e on or before 6.10pm

25apr13 today's leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark -
Colin - Aaim To Prosper CHE 6.25
Bert - NO BET
Ian - NO BET

Plate top 5

Vince - Moscow Mannon  PUN 6.40
Kevin - Panther Claw PUN 4.55
Justin -
Barry -
Maurice - NO BET

25apr13 news from Punchestown

We are all here with Kevin Dighton taking the first night SNG poker tourney, only 3 winners yesterday Colin Warmington got best of the day 11-4 to move up to 2nd £1.23 ahead of Bert Peart in 3rd.  Annette Berg 5-2 & Barry Pemble 6-4 (no rule 4 in this comp!).

Plate is pretty much all over now and the top 4 are now certain to be in the cash I can't catch Barry Pemble after his winner and so finish on the bubble for the 2nd year in a row :-(  

25apr13 today's leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark -
Bert - Ortac Rock LIN 7.00
Colin - Seebright PER 4.35
Ian - NO BET

Plate top 5

Vince - Harpsy Chord PUN 4.15
Kevin - Benefficient PUN 6.40
Justin - Elijah Pepper WOL 5.00
Barry - Quevega PUN 5.30
Maurice - Bailey Green PUN 6.40

24apr13 headline conflict!

Do I go with Vince Paige securing victory in the plate or the outstanding 25-1 winner for Pete Long to follow up his 16-1 yesterday - you choose, really I wanted to gloat at Barca! - Bayern should finally do this and win it at last

Difficult day at Punchestown today which doesn't bode well for the travelling team tomorrow, so just 3 winners Pete's and Barry Pemble and Gareth Chapman on Sir Des Champs (what a race) at 2-1 so all those three on the main leader board over - well especially as I extended it by one to show Pete Pete :-)

Vince's victory came despite him having a late non-runner and a forced loser as Justin failed to find the required 10 point winner.  Just shows how difficult it is to get to 300 points in the plate, we will be looking out for a suitable 'plate' in Ireland this week to have as a trophy.

Final excel update after today's result was sent earlier

today's leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark - NO BET
Bert - Artic Admiral EPS 3.40
Colin - Lady Loch EPS 3.55
Ian - NO BET

Plate top 5

Vince - Briar Hill PUN 6.05
Kevin - The Crafty Butcher PUN 3.40
Justin - Grey Area PER 5.05
Barry - Sir Des Champs PUN 5.30
Maurice - Brockwell EPS 2.50

23apr13 Super Sprinter

Well not quite in the performance but definitely in the record, 3 Group 1 wins in 6 weeks - brilliant

Two big winners for us among the 9 we managed in total today, best was Pete Long 16-1 but he is still a long way off in 41st, actually also a bit unlucky as it was 33-1 in the morning!  Of more significance was Jimmy McGarrity 14-1 to move up to a 6th place cash spot and +£7.38.  Mark Sharman the leader played the right tactic and picked Sprinter at 1-9 to make sure Bert Peart, in 2nd, has to find at least a  5-1 winner to catch him.  Other winners that affected the main leader board were Gareth Chapman 11-4 to move 11th and Tom Elliston also 11-4 to move 14th.

In the plate Justin managed to prolong the agony for Vince by doing just what he needed to and slamming in a 10 point winner while Vince missed out by being distracted by the main leader board.   Just has to happen 4 more times :-) to emulate the finish in 1973 in the National between Crisp & Red Rum.

This is the 1,000th blog I have posted

23apr13 today's leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark - Sprinter Sacre PUN 5.30
Bert - NO BET
Colin - Back in Focus PUN 6.40
Ian - Samingarry NAB 2.00

Plate top 5

Vince - Citizenship PUN 4.55
Kevin - Tristram Shandy PUN 4.55
Justin - Moyle Park PUN 6.05
Barry - Boston Bob PUN 6.40
Maurice - Boston Bob PUN 6.40

22apr13 oh no another year

I was hoping not to have to put up with another year of Sir Alex but there you go!

A solitary winner today Annette Berg moves into the top 20 on -£7.96 after her 7-4 winner not far behind Paul now :-)

No winners in the plate but Vince Paige's 5 point 2nd takes him 45 points clear with just 5 bets remaining so the first day he scores 5 more points or Justin Sercombe in 2nd fails to score 10 points gives him the title - looks like Sprinter for Vince tomorrow then!

22apr13 today's leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark - NO BET
Bert - NO BET
Colin - Al's Memory PON 3.10
Ian - Stag Hill Kempton 5.20

Plate top 5

Vince - Douglas Philps COR 7.10
Kevin - Cara Court HEX 3.30
Justin - Cara Court HEX 3.30
Barry - Darwins Fox COR 5.10
Maurice - Byroness KEM 4.20

21apr13 nice one Seb

5 winners today leader at 3-10 was one nice consolidating tactic making us all go for the longer priced winners - nice play.  Colin Warmington duly obliged with a 7-4 winner in 3rd to close to only 53p behind  Bert Peart in 2nd.  Others on the same 7-4 winner were Dave Kingsbury now in 18th on -£8.25 & Alan Mabb also in touch in 17th on -£7.50.  The best of the day was reserved for a new name on the leader board in this comp Stuart Bentham (a previous plate winner) his 11-4 winner, the 3rd in 6 days, took him to 12th.

All the top 4 in the plate picked the same horse which ended up a non-runner so a good day for Vince Paige as two of them had forced losers and I hang on to 4th for another day as I sat out.

21apr13 todays leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark - Sire De Grugy STR 4.00
Bert - NO BET
Colin - Full Speed NEW 4.20
Ian - Imjokeing NEW 3.50

Plate top 5

Vince - Lower Hope Dandy WIN 3.40
Kevin -Lower Hope Dandy WIN 3.40
Justin -Lower Hope Dandy WIN 3.40
Barry - Lower Hope Dandy WIN 3.40
Maurice - NO BET

20apr13 poor old QPR

Just 3 winners today they were best of the day 4-1 for Jimmy McGarrity to move 14th only £5.62 down and so now within striking distance of cash after this winner brought up a double, I managed a 7-2 winner to open a bit of a gap to those below me but there were no changes in position at all on the main leader board.  The other winner was Annette Berg 11-8 her 5th winner in 9 days she now sits on -£8.71 in 18th.

A bit more action in the plate where Justin Sercombe's 5 point 2nd took him 2nd 2 points above Kevin Wood with a game in hand and my 5 point winner pushed me into 4th but as Barry Pemble sits only 2 points behind with 2 bets in hand that looks like a pretty temporary move.

Just 7 days left!

20apr13 todays leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark - Sydney Paget AYR 5.00
Bert - Model Pupil NEW 1.50
Colin - Rosdhu Queen NEW 2.55
Ian - Educate NEW 2.25

Plate top 5

Vince - Monsieur Cadeau Ayr 3.50
Kevin - Rival D'Estruval AYR 3.50
Justin - Kyllachy Rise NEW 4.05
Barry - The Druids Nephew AYR 5.00
Maurice - Maureen NEW 2.55

19apr13 new plate record

9 winners today on a nice days racing from both codes.  I suppose I need to start with Vince Paige's 10 point winner that just about sews up the plate and also gives him the new world record points total for the plate beating Barry Pemble's 256 points in this comp last year - a fine effort.  We just have to endure it at Punchestown :-).

Best winner of the day was for Colin Warmington & Kevin Hall at 5-1 that moved Colin into 3rd spot - looks like the winner will now come from the top 4.  Paul Creed 9-2 scraped onto the foot of the table in 10th.  Mark Sharman the leader opened up a useful gap at the top after securing a 3-1 winner.

CORRECTION - Kevin Dighton also had a winner that I missed at 5-1

Sprinter Runs

Sprinter Sacre confirmed runner for next Tuesday at Punchestown currently 1-10 - that's my Tuesday nap sorted then :-)

19apr13 today's leader board selections

Main Comp top 4

Mark - Seymour Eric AYR 2.10
Bert - Rebel Rebellion AYR 3.15
Ian - Beau Nash BTH 5.30
Colin - Ballybogey AYR 1.55

Plate top 5

Vince - Not For You WEX 4.40
Kevin - Zhiggys Stardust BTH 5.30
Justin - Not For You WEX 4.40
Barry - Pure Science AYR 4.55
Maurice - Night Force SOU 5.20

18apr13 come on City you can do it :-)

7 winners today generating a bit of action on the leader board, not least a new leader.  Mark Sharman takes back over after a nice little 9-4 winner he leads by just 44p and so with 1 bet more to have than Bert Peart in 2nd that is pretty tough to call, if you do the sum Mark Sharman has averaged a collect of 46p for each bet!!

Other winners were best of the day 13-2 for Daniel Billingham but that still leaves him 24th, 3 of us picked a 5-1 winner at Cheltenham for 10 points as well . The three were me, obviously, Kevin Wood & Celeste Beaty, while Celeste remains in the bottom half despite that winner the 5-1 moved me up a couple of places to 5th and did the same for Kevin Wood moving him up to 7th.  Ian Carpenter and Stuart Bentham had the 6-4 dead heat 'winner' so that brought Ian a bit closer to the leading two in 3rd just £3.84 behind 2nd and lifted Stuart to 15th on -£5.56 so pretty close to cash as well.

In the plate Vince Paige remains clear but lost a little bit of ground again to Kevin Wood today after he scored a single point again.  For Vince that's just 2 points in total from his last 3 bets if he repeats that again over the next 6 days and the rest of us bang in a few 10 pointers Punchestown will be very interesting!

18apr13 today's selections plate top 5

Vince - CHE 5.25 FABRIKA
Kevin - CHE 4.20 BIG EASY
Justin - CHE 5.25 FAIRYTALE THEATRE
Barry - CHE 6.00 VELATOR
Maurice - CHE 420 BIG EASY

17apr13 blank

Nice easy update no-one had a winner at all! That was from 51 bets

17apr13 today's selections plate top 5

Vince - Italian Master 4.30 CHE
Kevin -Bourne 3.20 CHE
Justin -Regal Prescence 4.30 CHE
Barry -Puffin Billy 2.10 CHE
Maurice -Sky Lantern 4.05 NEW

16apr13 early update

Just 4 winners today and they made a difference, especially for Gareth Chapman after his 9-1 winner took him to 5p up and 11th place, nice consolidating winner for Colin Warmington at 11-4 in 4th place and challenging for 3rd.  Others were Jon Curtis who brought up a double with a even money winner to go joint 6th and finally another who brought up a double Jed Parramore a long way back so 5-4 was not really enough.

In the plate the top 4's pick got turned over and as I thought, opening the way back up for me, but despite the leader falling at the last and leaving my selection 4 lengths clear in first place it still got caught on the run in so I had to settle for just 5 points :-(

16apr13 today's selections plate top 5

WHAT A LAUGH

Vince - Shooters Wood KEM 1.50
Kevin - Shooters Wood KEM 1.50
Justin - Shooters Wood KEM 1.50
Barry - Shooters Wood KEM 1.50
Maurice - Rafi De Triana FAI 5.25

15apr13 bad stuff in US

Sorry for the delay tonight got side tracked by the news of the above.

We managed just 4 winners today best was Stuart Bentham 13-2, that takes him 21st just £5.31 from the leader board 2nd best was Jed Parramore at 7-2 and the others were the two dormy guys in the plate with Justin Sercombe 3-1 and Barry Pemble 4-7.

In the plate with Vince Paige sitting out the other caught up a little but looks like all too little too late!

14apr13 Mastersfull

6 winners today and for the first time this comp the best of the day was Pete Long 5-1 zoomed him up to 53rd place :-) The other 5 were Steve Walton 3-1, Vince Paige & me 8-13, Annette Berg 7-2, 3 winner in 4 days so now only £6 away from the leader board and Rod Brown 3-1.

In the plate we must be very close to regarding Vince as the winner as he secures another winner while the challengers can only must 2 points each.

A fair few people gone dormy this weekend especially with all the non-runners today, so check you situation carefully on the excel which is on its way.

14apr13 today's selections plate top 5

Vince - Suerte al Salto WIN 1.40

Kevin - NO BET

Justin - Endeavour MAR 2.30

Barry - Bullet Street MAR 3.00

Maurice - Battle of Marengo LEO 4.15

13apr13 CTFC in playoffs

After beating the leaders CTFC have secured a playoff spot for the second year in a row.

We managed 9 winners between us on a busy day.  All of the top of the plate had winners and all sneaked onto the bottom of the main leader board as a result (well except Justin).  Best of the day was Alan Mabb with a nice 12-1 winner to move to just -2.25 and 14th so back in the running, the other of note was Mark Sharman 5-2 in 2nd to close right up again on Bert Peart, the leader.

13apr13 today's selections plate top 5

Vince - Fiery Oscar TRA 4.30
Kevin - Beaumonts Party DON 4.05
Justin - Court Knee TRA 4.00
Barry - Fiery Oscar TRA 4.30
Maurice - Solar Deity KEM 3.50

12apr13 unlucky Spurs nice try

6 winners today two in the top 12 Ian Carpenter 2-5 consolidating in 3rd and Barry Pemble 2-1 sneaking back onto the foot of the leader board.  The other 4 winners were Ken Jones 15-8, Michael Brook 11-4, Annette Berg 4-5, & Adam Slater 5-2.

Barry Pemble's 5 pointer in the plate was the only winner as the top three all picked the same horse and missed out as it finished 10th - I suppose a good day again for Vince Paige another day when no-one gained on him in top spot.

12apr13 today's selections - plate top 5

Vince - Ben Cee Pee WET 4.00
Justin - Ben Cee Pee WET 4.00
Kevin - Ben Cee Pee WET 4.00
Barry - Araldur CHE 5.00
Maurice - NO BET

11apr13 back to Bert

Yep they have swapped back again today at the top with Bert collecting a nice 7-2 winner in a late race at Kempton tonight.  Overall 6 winners today other winners on the leader board today were Paul Creed again putting together a nice run with a 4-5 winner, Vince Paige with a 4-11 winner both remained unmoved though in 10th & 11th respectively. Others were Ken Jones & Alan Mabb both with the same best of the day 5-1 winner and Annette Berg 4-6.

Vince prospered in the plate again and gained at least three points on the rest of the leader board as the best Justin Sercombe or Kevin Wood could do was 2 points for a 3rd.  Barry Pemble had a forced loser and my 8-15 shot finished 5th!

11apr13 today's selections - plate top 5

1. Vince - Mickie LUD 2.40
2. Kevin - Be All Man WIN 2.30
3. Justin - Be All Man WIN 2.30
4. Barry - LOSER
5. Maurice - Silver Lightening LIM 5.40

10apr13 Spring is Sprung

Here it comes! A new leader as the top two flip flop, Mark Sharman sits out but still takes over by 19p as Bert Peart records a loser.  Overall today 5 winners best was Gary Dighton 13-2 but still sits a long way down.  A couple of more significant moves were Colin Warmington 6-1 to move nicely into 5th and Paul Creed hitting a bit of a purple patch and his 11-4 winner sent him onto the leader board in 10th, the last cash spot.  The two others were Daniel Billingham 9-2 and Michael Brook 5-4.

In the plate another good day for Vince Paige as time is running out to catch him, both Kevin Wood and Barry Pemble missed again and only managed 2 points.  So with both Barry Pemble & Justin Sercombe just gone dormy it's even tougher.

09apr13 farewell

9 winners today Paul Creed was best 11-2 and 2nd best was Kevin Wood 3-1 all the other 7 were short prices and too numerous to go through.  Bert Peart was one of them and he took over at the top of the pile again and Kevin Woods moved him onto the leader board for the first time for for a while.

In the plate top three all got winners so as Kevin Wood's was a 10 pointer he made up 5 points and moved 2nd

08apr13 go on City

4 winners today best was 7-2 Rod Brown but most significant was Bert Peart's 7-4 to move 2nd and only 57p behind the leader.  The other 2 winners were Barry Pemble 4-7 & Jed Parramore 13-8. So very tight at the top with just 99p between them Bert Peart has had 1 more bet than the other two.


In the plate for once Vince Paige missed out so Barry Pemble gained 5 points with his winner and Justin Sercombe 2 for his second.

07apr13 only one

Yep only Mark Sharman managed a winner today and that only 4-9 but it was enough to take him into the lead 99p ahead of Ian Carpenter who strangely came off his short priced tactic to go for a dodgy 15-2 shot that lost!

In the plate another good day for Vince Paige, the leader, as he sat out and no-one found a winner below him.

Excel on its way

06apr13 day3 Liverpool

As you can see no-one hit the National, best we did was Steve Walton & Ian Carpenter 3rd.  Overall 6 winners today, stand out best was Paul Creed at 10-1 that lifts into 21st and on -£5.00 so not far off the leader board and cash.  Others were Kevin Wood 5-1 to move him up to 13th and one off the leader board on -£0.92, Jed Parramore 7-2,  Michael Wood 9-4, Vince Paige 13-8 and me with another odds on shot this time 2-5!

In the plate it is looking like a one horse race unless he starts mucking about trying to climb the main leader board as Vince Paige now sits 40 points clear, and while some behind him have bets in hand it is going to be a tough ask after his two 10 pointers in the last two days.  Kevin Wood pick up 10 points to stay in with an outside chance and my 5 point winner temporarily takes me above Barry Pemble.

OK from today the 33-1 maximum odds restriction rule no longer applies so 100-1 winners count from now!

Grand National Selections

Not so many risking selections in the National but those that have are as follows:

Seabass - Alan Daniels
Imperial Commander - Alan Mabb, Kevin Dighton
Mr Moonshine - Celeste Beaty
Chicago Grey - Dave Barker, Rod Brown
Always Waining - Gary Cawsey
Balthazar King - Gary Dighton
Big Fella Thanks - Jo Hutson
Treacle - Ken Jones
Saint Are - Martin Sharman
Viking Blond - Mark Quinn
Soll - Pete Long
Harry The Viking - Pat Quinn Jnr
Teaforthree - Steve Walton, Ian Carpenter
Colbert Station - Wayne Morton

05apr13 Day2 Liverpool

4 winners from 43 today and three very nice ones top was Ken Jones 14-1 to move him to just -£5.25 and 20th place but of more significance was Colin Warmington 10-1 to move 6th and Paul Berg 9-1 to move 5th, the final winner was a super impressive Sprinter Sacre winner by me - ok only 1-3 but what a great run.

In the plate the only winner was me but with 3 points no real impact and so as Vince Paige sat out another good day for him as 2nd, 3rd & 4th only scraped 1 point between them!

1 more evening result to come but it's Friday and I'm not waiting for that so assumed to be a loser for the above update :-)

Note that we now have a negative total on the leader board I can't remember the last time that happened in the modern era although the comp has been won twice with negative totals but way back in the early days!

CORRECTION: Stuart Bentham picked At Fishers Cross a 11-8 winner sorry missed that

Each Way Betting for National

Bet Victor are offering 6 places for each way betting and are NR No Bet already for those having a bet and remarkably they are still competitive on the prices as well!

So Imperial Commander @ 14-1 is the bet for me - scenario is that he jumps really well and is up there all race but the risk is he won't find much on the run in and will get overtaken after the elbow but always a chance he could have won on his jumping by then so 7-2 to finish in the first 6 sounds like value for what was such a great horse.

04apr13 Day1 Liverpool

5 winners today where we saw some pretty good racing, which maybe highlighted how much time they may need to recover from Cheltenham!  5 winners in total today from a 51 players just 4 who didn't play today.  Mark Nutting won the best of the day honour 11-2 to move back onto the leader board in 8th place.  Adam Slater 7-2, Michael Brook 6-5, Vince Paige 11-8, Martin Long 9-4 were the others.

Perhaps the most significant winner today was Vince Paige's 10 pointer undoubtedly helped by 3 of the top 6 runners all falling about 2 out when all in contention but nonetheless a big boost to his run for the top. Probably now about 1-5f to win although three 10 pointers from Justin Sercombe when he uses up his 3 bets in hand would spice it up!

03apr13 dizzy heights

4 winners today - wow from 38 bets, best of the day was Rod Brown at 5-1 to move 16th and pretty much in contention for cash now after 2 winners in a row, also on the score sheet was Colin Warmington at 9-2 to return to the leader board in 10th.  Gary Pascoe 2-1 and Justin Sercombe evens were the other two.

In the plate Justin Sercombe was the only winner so he made some progress particularly after Vince and my 1-5 Aidan O'Brien 3yo got beaten :-(

02apr13 all lost it?

Another really low winner count only 3 again Jon Curtis surged back onto the leader board with the best of the day 12-1 winner, others Rod Brown 9-1 which moved him back into the top half and finally Steve Walton 11-4.

In the plate everyone had a bet and all we managed between us was 1 point for Barry Pemble - so as the bets remaining continue to fall that will have to go down as a good day for Vince Paige.

01apr13 no fools here

Well not many anyway!

Just 2 winners today Paul Creed 7-2 and Mark Sharman 11-4, so that moved Mark Sharman up 2 places into 2nd.  The top 4 have broken away from the rest of us but are pretty bunched up every winner counts.

In the plate Vince Paige, Justin Sercombe, & Barry Pemble all picked the same horse that finished 2nd for 5 points all the other 3 on the leader board missed out.