And today's results at Cheltenham and Newmarket do nothing at all to advertise my credentials as a tipster either but it remains true that in the couple of years or so that I've been doing my business with Paddy Power, he has paid me overall. And he is one of the few bookies one can say that about.
Meetings like Cheltenham and other classy affairs are too tempting sometimes. The horses that one knows best seem to suggest themselves so persuasively that one can't help think it is pay day and all you have to do is get on.
Several favourite trainers are in form- Charlie Longsdon and Rebecca Curtis as well as Paul Nicholls- and so they look irresistable but one still needs to know which ones. It is rare for any trainer to maintain a 100% record over more than 2 or 3 races.
It occurs to me that we could go with an old-fashioned punt on Ericht tomorrow in the handicap chase because landing an 8/1 winner now would leave us looking very pretty but that would be contrary to doctrine. The choice in the re-match between Ainsi Fideles and Splash of Ginge would be impossible to get right. Calipto (Cheltenham 3.10) has to be the tip. It might help if I put a picture of him here. I've just availed myself of the 11/8, with Paddy claiming to have already laid 13/8 and 6/4.