Foxform System

Royal Ascot is with us again, and here are a few things from previous Royal Ascots that I don't think we'll see this time around. First, and I can remember this as I'm sure many of you will, the opening race of the meeting, the Queen Anne Stakes in 1974. Controversially, the first three home in the race that day were all disqualified, leaving the fourth the winner, Brook at 12/1. And no, I wasn't on it.

Something I can't quite remember happened during the Royal meeting in 1832. A pensioner from the navy called Collins, for some reason known only to himself, decided to hurl a lump of rock at the then King, William IV. It missed, but Collins was nonetheless arrested and ordered to be hanged, beheaded and quartered (just to be sure, I suppose, in case he might do it again), but some kind of justice eventually prevailed and instead he was deported.

Slightly less dramatic, but more recent, were the events on Gold Cup day in 1971 and ‘72. The Gold Cup goes back to 1807, but what happened in 1971 and ‘72, I don't think ever took place in consecutive years before. The horse involved was Rock Roi and in both years he was first past the post, but in both years he was disqualified. I wonder what odds you'd have got against that happening.

And finally, with all the current plans for re-building at Ascot and moving meanwhile to York, it is perhaps worth remembering how it all started there. In 1711 at the personal orders of Queen Anne, the building of Ascot racecourse was begun. And the initial cost? A mere £558. Just about the price of lunch for two, I'd say in 2004. With champagne, of course!

A few months ago I pointed out the wealth of information to be found in the Racing Post in the Signposts section; and it certainly does cover all kinds of different approaches. There is one heading called Surviving The Cut which lists all horses that have been gelded since their last run. The only trouble is, I'm not sure whether we're intended to back them, avoid them or simply feel sorry for them!

I was telling you last time about being in the pub The Last Drop, and why it was so named, and at the time I was reminded of a true story concerning a friend of mine which has a linked idea, as you'll see. There was no space to tell it then, so here it is now. My friend is a paramedic, and near our town, or city as it now is, there is a very high bridge over a stretch of water which has become a favoured site for suicide jumpers. (The last drop).

This particular night my friend was on duty when they were called out by police to the bridge where someone had just jumped. Normally, you can be as sure that the jumper will be successful as that Fallon will win in a photo finish. But on this occasion Kieren lost out. The police told the paramedics that the jumper had very fortunately landed in a shallow part of the firth with soft mud underneath. This had cushioned his landing so that he was out in the firth, stuck in the mud, quite badly injured but not dead. My paramedic friend had to make his way out to him in the dark to free him and save his life, at some obvious risk to his own.

This he eventually did with much effort and had him back in the ambulance, injured but still alive. The first priority, as he told me later, was to get a line into the man's arm for the necessary drugs, and so he cut up the sleeve of the jumper's jacket to get the line in as quickly as possible. As he was slicing it up, the would-be suicide turned on him angrily, complaining that he was ruining his expensive new jacket.

My friend, naturally exasperated, gave him the perfect reply when he said, "You weren't thinking too much of your bloody jacket when you jumped off the bridge!"

My information doesn't reveal if the jumper had just suffered a bad losing run on the horses, and I only hope that following this month's system won't lead to any such drastic action. It is called The Foxform System, and once more I like it because it takes a slightly different approach to some others. It uses the Sporting Life Naps table, but as I said recently we have the exact replacement in the Racing Post. I've checked the column numbers referred to in the Sporting Life and they are exactly the same as in the Post today, so no problems there. Everything else is quite straightforward.

I'm looking at the original advert which shows Flat profits of 61 and 58 points for the previous two seasons. So, let the hunt begin. Tally-ho for Foxform!

Foxform System

The basic aim of the Foxform System is to use professional tipsters, but only when they are doing well and only in certain races. You will require a copy of the Sporting Life daily. Now turn to the Naps Table. The object is to find the top TWO tipsters from the top six in the Naps Table by the following method. Add the tipsters' present sequence of losses (7th column from left) to the tipsters' losses (2nd column from left), then divide this

total into the level stake profit (last column). The highest figure and the second highest figure are the two tipsters we use. If both tipsters give different horses in the same race we use the first. Write down the names of the horses given by the two tipsters and the forecast starting price, then the type of race they are running in, e.g. Non-handicap, seller, handicap (0-75), (0-90) etc, maiden. Now we eliminate the following.

Flat racing.

No odds-on.

No maiden races.

No selling races.

No 3 year-olds in (0-75) and below handicaps.

No National Hunt races for Flat racing.

Not when a tipster has given 9 consecutive losers or more (column 7).

National Hunt

All races qualify, but horses with more than two runs in present season do not qualify. No odds-on, or if a tipster has given 9 or more consecutive losers. Starting and Finishing Times Flat Racing. Start - last Monday in April. End - first Monday in October. N.H. Racing. Start - 2nd Monday of National Hunt Table (November). End - Start of Flat racing (March).

So that's it, simple but effective. You may find the use of a pocket calculator of help in finding the top two tipsters, but with practice it's quite easy.