Time for a change of Scenery…

Ayr's Western meeting from the old stand

Another mixed bag post today, as I outline a few things that are happening in the near future.

Firstly, I’m off on a sort of working holiday, for three weeks from tomorrow. I’m renting a little place in Pau, down in the south west of France, and I’ll be trying to relax as well as keep the show on the road in terms of geegeez and the various other websites in the portfolio.

I’ll also be working more deeply into The Challenge, a free internet business training course provided by Ed Dale and his team. I’m blogging my experiences of that over at mattbisogno.com, and you can sign up here to receive my updates. [I’ve completed the pre-training, and am now moving into week one proper, where the fun really starts!]

As well as that, I’m working on my placepot product, which is distracting me quite a bit at the moment, mainly because I’m having so much blooming fun betting placepots! They really are a great angle to betting, as not only do you have to pick the right horses but you also have to find the ones that other players are not on. It’s not as hard – or as easy – as it might sound… if that makes any sense at all!

In any case, I’ll have more news of that when I’ve written the manual, which will form just one part of the overall offering. There’s a fair chance I’ll need some testers too, so if you’re into tote betting keep an eye on the blog.

Now then, enough about me. It may have caught your attention that there’s a big race meeting up at Ayr this weekend. It started yesterday, and I’ve done a bit more trainer research for it, and come up with another group of guys with whom it should pay to side. In fact yesterday, these chaps had winners at 12/1, 11/2 and 11/4; and seconds at 7/1, 6/1, 10/3 and 11/4.

So who, and when? OK, here are the rules of this little Ayr Western Meeting trainer system:

1. Michael Dods, Tim Easterby, Mick Easterby, Richard  Fahey and Bryan Smart only

2. 2yo to 6yo only

3. 40/1 or shorter

That’s it.

In the last five years, they’ve accrued almost 180 points profit at SP! And it was more like 240 points if you bet each way.

Now, it does need to be said that they have a fair few runners, but when they win at 12/1 and more, that’s ok. I had some fun backing most of them this afternoon, but actually missed the 12/1 winner in the last. Doh!

I can tell you that there are around nineteen qualifiers tomorrow… spread across the seven races. But a quick look at last year’s winners reveals that Michael Dods won the first with a 9/1 shot; Richard Fahey won the second with an evens chance; Tim Easterby won the third with a 10/3 shot; Fahey scored again in the fifth with an 8/1 poke; they had no runners in the sixth; and, Fahey won the last as well, with a 15/2 priced horse!

Obviously, it’s asking a heck of a lot for a repeat of that sort of domination, but the point I’m making is that these guys load their guns for the Western meeting, and they choose the pick of their respective piles to try to do the business. You have been warned. 🙂

In other Ayr news, what about the draw? The first sprint of the week came in the second race of the week, yesterday, and the winner was the lone runner on the far side, a 28/1 shot. He was drawn 4, and beat two that raced in the middle (second home was actually drawn 1, third 8) and one which raced on the near side (drawn 14), suggesting that the course is riding fair enough.

The next three home were drawn 2, 16 and 18. Put another way, close to either rail.

However, the winner raced alone, and Richard Fahey – that man again – elected to house all of his Gold Cup runners in low stalls when the draw ballot was made for Saturday’s race. James Fanshawe also chose trap eight for his runner, citing the historical advantage boxes 7-9 have had when the ground has been on the soft side.

If there is to be an advantage for low drawn horses, I’d still not want to put all my punting, placepot, each way, or any other kind of eggs in that single basket. Rather, I might take two low, one middle and one high. When there’s 27 runners in the field, that’s a luxury one can afford in my opinion..!

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Also, don’t forget to check back later for Andy’s Saturday TV trends which should be here from tonight.

Right, I need to get my placepots (Newbury and Ayr for me today – Lingfield looks too tricky!) sorted… you’ll be able to read them here later (before racing starts).

And then I need to pack for three weeks at the foothills of the Pyrenees! 😀 😀 😀

I will have my trusty flipcam with me so will endeavour to bring a touch of Gallic colour to the blog from time to time, if the promised broadband at chez moi is up to the job.

Bon weekend, and bonne chance at Ayr!

Matt