Jump Into Profit

A word to the wise - and of course I include all our readers in that category - and that word is Signposts. What I am suggesting is that the daily feature in the Racing Post which goes under that name and which has been appearing there for several months now is of enormous interest and assistance to anyone engaged in trying to make a profit by backing horses; and isn't that all of us? It truly is a wonderful collection of up to the minute statistics – some reasonably familiar and available from other sources - but others less so, and to the best of my knowledge, not to be found elsewhere. To find them all together, condensed in a couple of pages, is really helpful to all systems enthusiasts. Let's have a look at some Signposts.

Hot trainers and hot jockeys is self-explanatory, but is a signpost that can certainly point you in the right direction. It provides you with those trainers and jockeys who have the best win/run % over the past 14 days and should be heeded at all times. Conversely, cold trainers and cold jockeys should make you think twice about backing their horses. Then there is the section which gives trainer-jockey combinations with the best % of wins at the course, with at least three course wins. There are systems based on this single fact, and I would suggest taking a close look at combinations with a win ratio of 35% or over. Incidentally, just at random, I'm looking at Signposts for the 29th of July, and a trainer-jockey combination of 35% or more has indicated a nice 13/2 winner.

There is much, much more in Signposts, all of it I can recall cropping up in systems over the years. For example, it lists horses dropping to seller class for the first time, horses wearing blinkers or visor for the first time, horses who ran in the same race in previous seasons and horses who are out again within seven days of a win. Each of these groups is worth close scrutiny by itself. But there's more! We're given horses that are racing off a lower official handicap rating than they have won off last year, the Topspeed horses that are most points clear in handicaps, the Postmark horses that are most points clear in handicaps, the horses that have travelled furthest to contest today's race, and a particular favourite of mine, the information that I am now checking for the 7th of August that has given 120 winners from 270 selections - a strike rate of over 44% with a profit of more than £2,360 to a level £100 stake. Not a bad return for looking out something that will take you less than ten seconds each day to discover. The secret? It's the Most Popular Nap selection of the day, all worked out for you in Signposts. But even that is not the best of Signposts in my opinion. However, we've had so much to think about already this time that I'll leave till next month the system selections it gives which from this random choice of Racing Post for 29th July included winners at 6/1, 11/1, 5/1, and 13/2. Obviously that doesn't happen every day, but once you know which Signpost to look for you'll find your way to some good winners every day. That's for next month then.

A little more on horses' names. I saw one the other day called Seven Shirt, and when I looked a bit closer I saw why it was so named. It was owned by Mrs Jean Keegan, wife of the legendary wearer of that shirt. And still on the footballing theme, new England soccer star Wayne Rooney tried to get two names registered for his horses, but they were turned down. I think we can see why. The first was Hoof Hearted, and the naming authorities saw it, not as some kind of anatomical description of a horse, but rather as a question as to who was causing the bubbles in the team bath! The second was Norfolk Enchants. Now, I'm sure these same naming bods are aware that parts of East Anglia are very beautiful, but they were not to be taken in. They could recognise the opinion that the opposing team hadn't a hope of winning! In France, it seems, they are not so particular. Trainer Ellie Lalouche has just registered a horse with the name Big Tits. I'm sure at some point it will come in for massive support.

The system this month is around a quarter of a century old (it had a badly done hand-written presentation), but it is pretty effective I can assure you. I have seen old results for it, but they are not to hand at the moment. However, as I recall, they showed considerable profit, as the system name suggests. Finally, the system says it is to be used between November and March, so that makes it a timely choice for this month.

Jump Into Profit

This system should be operated only during the National Hunt Season proper - i.e. the period between November and March when there is no Flat racing. The operating rules are as follows: -

1. Novice races only - hurdles and chases, including novice handicaps and novice sellers.

2. In these selected races only, check the forecast favourite, and it must satisfy the following conditions. (A) Placed second or third last time out, current season. (B) Beaten favourite on its last outing. (C) Form rated in the top two (e.g. Daily Mail Formcast, Mirror Spotform, Express W Factor, etc). (D) It must be running again within 21 days of its last outing. Providing all the above conditions are satisfied and in the specific type of race stated, the horse will be a 'Jump Into Profit' selection. There is no restriction on the number of runners.

This system should continue to do well on a level stake basis, but because of the very high win ratio and the consequent winning runs, profits can be boosted by the application of the 10% staking plan.