As my long term regular readers will be aware in the dim and distant past I used to operate a staking plan when it came to wagering on the old Cheltenham Festival. This was not only so as to generate an interest in the meet throughout the Autumn and Winter months but also to ensure, through its regimented approach, that over-staking did not occur and there was a disciplined approach to betting on the meeting – both before and during it. It can also be operated from almost any budget with it totally up to each and every individual, who operates it, what you want to make 1 point the financial equivalent of (for those poor at maths if you make 1 point equal to £1 the total stake using the plan is £50, if 1 point is equal to £10 then the total stake money is £500, etc, etc.). I had, I must confess, totally forgotten about this until I recently found some old scribblings on the subject. I discontinued the thing due to (i) the introduction of the ‘new’ races turning the meeting into, in the main, mere guesswork, from an ante-post perspective, re what horse would go where and also (ii) because of the strength of the market on the morning (note I say morning and not afternoon or SP) of each Festival raceday – many instances can be cited that a horses’ biggest price, at any point in the 6 months leading up to ‘tapes up’, is at this point. Anyway, enough waffling, the question must now be asked. Is it time to bring the staking plan back, I say back??? This roughly speaking would be what it looked like, from this point on, with a view to the 2019 Cheltenham Festival (had I operated it earlier it perhaps would also have included timeslots immediately after the 2018 Festival, Aintree, a mid-summer one and an end of summer date). w/c 1/10 1 pt w/c 14/10 1 pt w/c 28/10 2 pts w/c 12/11 1 pt w/c 26/11 2 pts w/c 10/12 1 pt w/c 24/12 1 pt w/c 31/12 2 pts w/c 14/01 1 pt w/c 28/01 2 pts w/c 11/02 1 pt w/c 25/02 2 pts 4/03 1 pt 7/03 2 pts 10/03 2 pts 11/03 7 pts 12/03 7 pts 13/03 7 pts 14/03 7 pts My initial response would be a resounding ‘no’ to reintroducing it largely due to what I outlined in paragraph 2. But what do we think, team?!? Does it still have legs in modern day Austerity / Brexit / Broken / Lawless Britain (delete as appropriate) or is it time to put the dear old Cheltenham Festival staking plan out of its misery – reach for the old revolver and all that?!? Thoughts, please. A word of caution though, pilgrims. Even the best staking plan in the world (and this one once made the top 5) can’t pick the winners for you. YOU, and YOU alone, still have to do that! What, what, what, what, what, what, what?!? After finding my earlier notes I thought I would share them with you and feel free to operate / amend / totally discard (delete as appropriate) as you jolly well wish.
Personally speaking, I always used to like a small ante-post tickle here and there "early doors" in the season as it does add interest throughout the winter. If you happen to land a "right touch" at lovely ante post odds it is a great feeling. But these are few and far between - in fact my 20/1 voucher on Thistlecrack for the World Hurdle (struck before his seasonal debut) is probably the only saucy one I have managed to land. I did get 33/1 about Don Cossack for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but that was in the season before he won it and the idiots sent him to the Ryanair (where I also backed him and he came 3rd - can anyone else claim to have lost on a horse in 2 different races at the festival?). As I no longer avail myself of online wagers I will only be striking bets on the day of the races IF I happen to be in sunny old England. Given all the rumours about what will no longer be possible in the post-Brexit world one wonders whether I will even be let back into the country. As Homer Simpson would say - "DOH"
In the last 3 seasons (it may actually be 4 I’m not totally, totally certain) I’ve placed a grand total of 1 ante-post bet prior to the commencement of the Cheltenham Festival. Really think the Executive ruined it, from an ante-post perspective, with the addition of all these ‘new’ races. Would love to have a real crack at it ante-post again but no longer think it viable I’m afraid.
Agreed. Any early fancies for the race formerly known as The Henessy Cognac Gold Cup? I think we might see an exceptionally strong Irish Challenge this time around with the like of Rathvinden, Al Boum Photo and maybe even Shattered Love coming across?
I really like Shattered Love and Presenting Percy for this term but have no idea what sort of perch either would be on for this heat. Nicky ‘Endo has won it 3 times since 2005 and perhaps Rather Be could be his one for this year. Would represent a step up in trip for him but as he proved at the Cheltenham Festival in March he’s a rapidly improving type who could do some damage to a mark of 149 this season. And, of course, he couldn’t be in better hands or ‘magic hands’ to be more accurate. Meanwhile, I see Yanworth is quoted at 33’s for the race. He’s 13 lbs lower over fences than hurdles and it everything fell (no pun intended) right he’d have a major chance if he ran off his current mark of 148. Will be fascinating to see how he’s campaigned in 2018/19. Or how Alan King is ordered to campaign him is perhaps more accurate.
