Mr consistency heads August list
The Irish Post’s Kevin Walsh topped August’s Napchecker naps table with a 16.9-point monthly haul. Walsh finished clear of the Racing Post’s Postdata (12.7 points), who led for much of the month before faltering close home. Garry Owen (7.0 points) and Rob Wright (The Times, 6 6 points) took the next two positions while Marlborough (Telegraph), Templegate (the Sun) and Spotlight (Racing Post) also registered August yields.
Eight of Kevin Walsh’s 28 naps were winners in August (29%) with Treacherous (7/1, Goodwood, 1 August), Soupy Soups (13/2, Perth, 30 August), The Boola Bee (6/1, Uttoxeter, 8 August) and Mr Orange (5/1, Pontefract, 14 August) leading the way. The winners came along at regular intervals with the longest losing sequence being five.
By contrast, Postdata’s winners came in a cluster. Six of the month’s first twelve selections prevailed, but, thereafter, just one of the last eighteen was successful. Nevertheless, such was the rich vein of form during the early part of August, there was still a handsome overall profit come the end of the month. Winners during those magical twelve days included 8/1 Pretty Lady (Wolverhampton, 7 August), 7/1 Parys Mountain (Catterick, 4 August), 5/1 Nirodha (Haydock, 11 August) and 5/1 Ginger Jam (Beverley, 12 August). At this point the month’s return on investment (ROI) was a staggering 268%.
Garry Owen also experienced a month of two halves: an eight-winner salvo between 1 and 18 August, then a long losing run of 12 before Bahrain Pride (4/1) popped up to win on the last day of the month at Ripon. Earlier, followers of the Daily Record’s napster would have relished the five-day winning sequence between 11 and 15 August, which included the Salisbury victory of Amazon Princess (13 August).
That final day winner for Garry Owen secured third place in the August listings with Rob Wright having to settle for fourth. Again, another fine effort spearheaded by the victory of 11/1 Dream House at Catterick on 4 August.
Once again Marlborough claimed an impressive strike-rate. His 31% win-ratio secured a 2.7-point yield. (For once, though, Marlborough lost out in the race for the best monthly strike-rate. That honour went to West Tip of the Western Morning News, who registered a 37% return. However, as prices tended to be low this didn’t translate into a profit, but a 3.1-point loss.)
Turning to the all tips section, as usual it was the Irish tipsters who fared best. Captain Keen of the Irish Independent leading the way with a 12.3-point loss. This, and all the figures quoted above relate to £1 level stakes settled to sp. Anyone fortunate enough to have backed all Captain Keen’s August selections at the best available price would be sitting on a small fortune, as the 12.3-point loss is miraculously transformed into a 129.5-point profit.
We continue to quote results to SP, as finding the best price can be a challenge – made much easier, thankfully, by Napchecker’s odds comparison facility.
Finally, this month, I hope you all heeded the advice to try and identify when winning trends are ending. This caveat followed the information that the Sun’s Templegate was more than 30 points up with selections trained by William Haggas in June and July. Well, August soon put paid to that little moneyspinner. The same tipster, the same trainer, but dramatically different results: a 15.3-point loss and a modest 14% strike-rate. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Date Published: 03/09/2020