The Racing Post’s own headline promised that Harry Wilson had “fired in 16-1 and 8-1 winners in his last column”, which is exactly the sort of thing tipping desks say the week before the wheels come off. I speak from experience; my wheels are still somewhere on the A1. So it brings me no pleasure to report that on his first day in this ledger, Wilson tipped every race on the Shergar Cup card and walked away the biggest one-day winner the series has seen. For anyone checking the Harry Wilson tips record after Saturday: ten bets, two winners, +6.5 units, top of the table on 16.5.
| Tipster (Publication) | Bank Yesterday | Tips (1u each) | Winners | Current Bank (units) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Wilson (Racing Post) | 10.0 (new) | 10 | 2 (20%) | 16.5 | Alive – top of the table |
| Pricewise (Racing Post) | – | 0 | – | 10.0 (unstarted) | No Saturday column from Tom Segal – starts when he writes one |
| Newsboy (Daily Mirror) | 10.0 (new) | 1 | 0 (0%) | 9.0 | Alive |
| Robin Goodfellow (Daily Mail) | 10.0 (new) | 1 | 0 (0%) | 9.0 | Alive |
| Rob Wright (The Times) | 10.0 (new) | 1 | 0 (0%) | 9.0 | Alive |
| Andrew Asquith (Sporting Life) | 10.0 (new) | 2 (1 void) | 0 (0%) | 9.0 | Alive |
| Templegate (The Sun) | 11.0 | 3 | 0 (0%) | 8.0 | Alive – lead surrendered |
| Paul Kealy (Racing Post) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 (0%) | 8.0 | Alive |
| Oddschecker (oddschecker.com) | 8.0 | 4 | 1 (25%) | 7.5 | Alive |
| Alex Hammond (Sky Sports) | 10.0 (new) | 6 | 0 (0%) | 4.0 | Alive – elimination watch |
The Big Hits
The bet of the day – arguably of the young series – was Archers Bay in the Shergar Cup Classic. Wilson had advised him at 8/1 earlier in the week and stood by the call in Saturday’s column; by post time the market had followed him all the way down to 5/2. Ryan Moore sent him on over a furlong out and won readily, with 13/8 favourite Hoseki – banker material elsewhere on this roster – back in fourth. The ledger settles at the price the tipster gave, because that is the entire point of an advised price: +8.0 units for the bank, while anyone taking SP collected less than a third of it. That gap between 8/1 and 5/2 is what tipping skill actually looks like. Not the winner – the price about the winner.
Calendar Girl was the quieter one. No price was quoted – “at the prices” was as far as the column committed – so she settles at her 13/2 SP, and she won the Dick Hern at Haydock with 12/1 shot Pacific Mission second and the 11/8 favourite Fallen Angel only third. Two winners from ten bets is a 20% strike rate, which sounds modest right up until you notice both arrived at prices that pay for a lot of misses.
The Eliminations & Misses
Now the other eight, because this column does not do selective memory. Nuit D’Eclair, advised at 7/2, was beaten half a length in the Sweet Solera at 6/4. Mountain Road was third in the Stayers at 10/1. Thunder Call was second in the Sprint at 2/1, beaten by the horse he shared favouritism with, Red Spells Danger. The two-pronged raid on the Shergar Cup Mile – Ozat at 10/1 and Two Tribes at 20/1 – produced third and fifth behind 10/1 winner Crown Board. All Ways Glamorous finished fourth as 100/30 favourite in the Dash, Convergent was last of the four who stood their ground behind the 1/2 shot Sallaal, and Night Breeze – who was also Templegate’s NAP, a horse doing damage right across this table – managed fifth in the Challenge. Eight losers, four of them in the frame. On win terms, the frame is decoration.
Which is precisely why the +6.5 matters. Most tipping days are decided by one price. Wilson’s was decided by the two he got right at 8/1 and 13/2 rather than the eight he got wrong at shorter, and there are established names in the bottom half of this table who could study that arithmetic with profit.
Today’s Outlook
The obvious question is whether he can do it two days running, and the honest answer is that nobody does – regression is the only tipster who never has a bad day. What Saturday bought him is room: a 16.5-unit cushion absorbs a blank week without drama, which is more than can be said for Alex Hammond on 4.0 or Oddschecker on 7.5. Sunday’s stage is Phoenix Stakes day at the Curragh, with Deauville’s Prix Maurice de Gheest across the water. Whatever Wilson puts up next settles here at the price he gives, same as everyone. The first entry in the Harry Wilson tips record reads 16.5 units. I built a career on a streak like that once. Ask me how it ended.
