Newmarket

I hope some of you included Shipmaster in your bets for the Sagaro on Wednesday, just a shame the race was only six runners as I would’ve liked to seen a more competitive renewal.
The money came for Distinction, but with favourites having a bad record, it turned out a tricky decision in the end. The one thing that became clear after the race and the mini-preview I did, was that a profit can be made even by backing three horses in a race like that. OK, that may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and some of you may be thinking hang on, how can you back three in a six-runner race, but the key issue is trying to make a profit rather than handing over your cash which is never easy.

The main point is not just sticking to one horse in a race, but to cover some of the others that make a short-list - it’s just a case of getting the staking right and then hoping the trends work out right!
As I’ve said before, I don’t get it right every time – I’m not the Wizard of Oz at the other side of the screen – but I’ve been frustrated many times missing a winner from the short-list. I remember back in the nineties reading an interview with Mel Collier about his approach when using trends and he used to sit down and study the race first without trends, and then look at the trends after to see if his fancies fitted the profile. This can help if you strongly fancy a horse and it misses out in one category but the remainder of its profile fits, as you don’t always get the ‘perfect’ trends horse which passes every filter.

The bottom line is finding a way which suits you, but including more than one horse is a favourite of mine and that could come in handy at Newmarket over the weekend with a host of chunky fields in store. Of all the races at HQ from the book, the six-furlong sprint handicap is the toughest and clues are limited, although I did get lucky with Mutamared two years ago when he was in his prime.
That was also the same year my wife picked Dandy Man in the paddock and liked the name but I shrewdly steered her away as a no-hoper only for it to oblige at 25/1! I mentioned during the week that I’ll be attending on Saturday with my wife and in-laws so the pressure will be on in the tipping stakes…and that’s just advising them what food stall to eat at!

Anyway, good luck to all punting at the weekend, and I’ll be around early next week with Newmarket’s performance ratings along with a Chester preview.