Hello, troops. Nothing for me today but can I ask the membership in all seriousness what they think, from a punting perspective, re the week ahead???
My own take, on this week, is that it’s the most riskiest of the entire campaign. This is because on the Flat (especially at the 'John Craven meet' at HQ) you have countless numbers of animals out for a ‘prep’ for something else, who aren’t fully fit, running for experience, or looking to gently, and I do mean gently, achieve a handicap perch. And in the NH sphere (particularly relevant given the big Cheltenham meeting later in the week) you have huge swathes of the runners who, for want of a better expression, will be over the top and will have had enough for the campaign – characteristics that not even their trainers will be aware of until after the race.
For these reasons I think this week is potentially very dangerous and my own recommendation is that you really should only be wagering when YOU perceive decent and enhanced odds are available – i.e. because of these ‘seasonal pitfalls’ only take odds above what you would normally be looking for – build in these associated dangers when forecasting odds.
In saying all of the above though this is an exciting time of the year, changing of the seasons and all that (Lieutenant Henderson will formally handover the baton to old boy Gosden, tomorrow, watched on by a sneering Minor Royal), and I’m most looking forward to watching and possibly punting on the action at Newmarket and Cheltenham. Albeit fully aware of the risks that these fixtures present.
