LATE CHARGE SECURES OCTOBER GLORY FOR POSTDATA

The Racing Post’s Postdata topped October’s naps table with a handsome 20.4-point profit, overhauling The Duke (Yorkshire Post), who led for much of the month, before fading late on. Fortunatus and Marlborough finished third and fourth, while The Guardian and Scout also finished the month in credit.

Postdata began the month brightly with three winning naps from six, including 6/1 Shandy Star (Pontefract, 3 October) and 7/1 Elladora (Ayr, 6 October). A dismal run of ten successive losers followed, leaving them almost 17 points adrift of the Duke (17 October). But from that point on, there was no stopping Postdata: fourteen naps threw up eight winners including Deputy who prevailed at Doncaster (22 October) at 13/2, and October ended with a rousing four-winners-from-five sequence from 27 October.

During the same period, the Duke managed just two winners, dropping more than eight points of profit in the process. Rewind to the evening of 4 October, however, and the Duke was riding high. The 20/1 opening day success of Escobar in a big Ascot handicap was followed by Good Impression (4/1, Uttoxeter, 2 October) and Just Fine (100/30, Leicester, 4 October).

Inevitably, then came the fall. A losing run of eleven cut heavily into the profits, but nerves were eased by back-to-back winners on 16 and 17 October. For all the later travails, the Duke’s final profit was still a decent 11.4 points.

Fortunatus followed September’s 10.5-point return with another double-figure yield. Flint Hill (6/1, Pontefract, 3 October), Substantial (7/1, York, 7 October), Dancinginthewoods (7/1, Kempton, 12 October) and Going Underground (11/2, Newcastle, 24 October) were the architects of a 10.3-point return. After Going Underground’s success, Fortunatus was less than a point behind the leader, but the challenge petered out with just one further win from seven.

Marlborough, on the other hand, transformed a small loss into a healthy October profit with a run of five winning naps out of eight from 24 October including 6/1 Tarhib (Nottingham, 26 October) and 13/2 Phantasy Mac (Kempton Park, 31 October).

The Guardian performed an even more sensational Houdini act: 12.7 points DOWN for the period up to 22 October, but 14.8 points UP for the last nine days of the month. Honor Grey, a 9/1 winner at Aintree’s opening meeting of the season (23 October) started the revival which continued with Our Power (11/2, Ascot, 29 October). Good Risk At All (2/1, Carlisle, 30 October) and Princess T (100/30, Carlisle, 31 October). The end result was a 2.2-point yield, the Guardian’s first positive return of 2022.

The Scout makes a habit of pinching a tiny profit from the month, and October was no exception as the Express pundit ended with a 0.5-point yield.

Despite posting the month’s best strike-rate – 38% – West Tip (Western Morning News) could only break even, while Templegate (the Sun) missed out on a profit by a tiny fraction, having struggled in the second half of the month.

Racing Post’s Ratings posted a 2.7-point profit (and a 27% strike-rate) on all-tips during October. Winners included 40/1 Three Comets (Thurles, 6 October) and 22/1 Gavi Di Gavi (Wolverhampton, 3 October). The Guardian also advised two winners above the 20/1 threshold: 33/1 Belle Fourche (15 October) and 25/1 Strong Power (20 October), both at Wolverhampton; the profit with such selections was 32 points. The overall figure was a loss of more than 18 points.

Date Published: 03/11/2022