I gave out tips for a living for six years, and the one thing the game taught me is that every tipster’s column reads like a winning one. The results, mysteriously, never get the same word count. So this is the ledger nobody in the tipping trade wants: every big-name tipster we track starts with a 10-unit bankroll, one unit goes on every published tip at the odds they quoted (SP where they didn’t), and when the bank hits zero, coverage stops. No resets, no “marginal week”, no quiet Monday relaunch.
Friday 7 August was day one. Three of our four tracked names published tips; one winner was found between them.
| Tipster (Publication) | Bank Yesterday | Tips (1u each) | Winners | Current Bank (units) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Templegate (The Sun) | 10.0 | 3 | 1 (33%) | 11.0 | Alive – top of the table |
| Paul Kealy (Racing Post) | 10.0 | 1 | 0 (0%) | 9.0 | Alive |
| Oddschecker (oddschecker.com) | 10.0 | 2 | 0 (0%) | 8.0 | Alive – bottom of the table |
| Andrew Asquith (Sporting Life) | – | 0 | – | 10.0 (unstarted) | No Friday tips published – starts when he does |
The Big Hits
Credit where it’s due, and on Friday it’s due in exactly one place. Templegate (The Sun’s Steve Mullen) put up Master Vintner at 3/1 as his next best in the 4.10 at Thirsk, a Class 3 handicap over a mile and a half, and Edward Greatrex delivered for Ralph Beckett while the 2/1 favourite Sudu trailed home last of six. That’s +3.0 units, and it single-handedly turned Templegate’s day from a familiar story into a profitable one.
Because the rest of his headline card – the bit The Sun actually shouts about – went nowhere. The NAP, Tokyo Joe, went off 9/4 favourite in the 8.38 at Haydock and beat three horses home. The treble leg, Faith In Florence, was sent off 6/5 favourite in Musselburgh’s 2.20 novice and weakened into third of five. One winner from three, but the winner was the biggest price. Day one bank: 11.0 units. I’ve opened plenty of ledgers in my time; I never once opened one in front.
The Eliminations & Misses
Nobody is eliminated on day one – that takes a special kind of talent – but the bottom half of the table earned its position.
Oddschecker’s flagship Friday column (the priced-up tips on their horse racing tips hub) gave us two bets and two hard-luck stories. Falcon Nine, 11/4 in the 1.50 at Musselburgh, led over two furlongs out and was caught inside the final furlong by Samra Star – second of seven, no cigar. Then U S S Charleston, advised each-way at 6/1 in Brighton’s 4.00, ran a race that will have had their subscribers throwing cushions: fourth of ten in a handicap that pays three places. One place short on the place half, two units gone, bank down to 8.0. Bottom of the table by dint of having had the most opinions.
Paul Kealy, the Racing Post’s most decorated tipster, put up the very same horse. His free play of the day – the premium three-tip column sits behind the Racing Post paywall, and this ledger only settles what the public can actually read – was U S S Charleston in the Brighton Bullet, no odds quoted, so he’s settled at the 4/1 SP. Fourth. The logic was sound: a downhill six furlongs was exactly what the horse wanted after his 50-1 second at Goodwood. The finishing position was not. Bank: 9.0 units.
Andrew Asquith (Sporting Life) published nothing for Friday’s racing – his Value Bet column that evening was for Saturday – so he keeps his 10 units in his pocket and starts the day he next goes public. Sitting one out is, statistically, the best result any tipster managed on Friday. Make of that what you will. Saturday’s card is packed enough that horse racing odds will be shifting all morning before the Shergar Cup even gets underway.
Today’s Outlook
Saturday is Shergar Cup day, which means Ascot, silly team names, and tipsters everywhere convincing themselves they can price up jockeys they’ve never seen ride. Our own Ascot Shergar Cup preview has the full card and teams. Templegate defends his lead with the usual spread of naps and next bests; Kealy has four Saturday picks for Ascot in the Post; Oddschecker’s Saturday columns are already live; and Asquith finally enters the fray with his Value Bet selections at Newmarket and Ascot – his 10 units go on the line for the first time.
There’s racing at Haydock and Newmarket too, previewed race by race by Richard Gore. Sunday’s review will tell you who actually read them. The table doesn’t lie, even when the tipsters do.
