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Newsboy still ahead - despite August setback

August was a grim month for the chief protagonists in the 2021 Napchecker Naps table. Both Newsboy and Templegate posted heavy losses, but of the two, Newsboy fared marginally better. In posting a 9.8-point loss, the Mirror’s pundit actually extended his lead over Templegate, as the Sun’s tipping ace suffered a 12.9-point loss.

At the end of July, Newsboy was 9 points ahead of his rival. That lead is now up to 13.2 points.

This would suggest that August was a testing month, but that wasn’t the case for the Scotsman’s Glendale, who posted a 9.3-point gain and was only denied top spot by The Irish Sun, whose one nap selection, Stormy Jenn, was a 16/1 winner at Gowran Park on 11 August.

Glendale secured six August winners, at a modest 21% strike-rate, but prices were generous with Madame Ambassador (10/1, Nottingham, 3 August), Bond Power (13/2, Beverley, 29 August), Howzer Black (6/1, Ripon, 30 August) and Harrogate (5/1, Ripon, 23 August) leading the way. The latter three winners turned a losing month into a profitable one, and also pushed Glendale into the black for the year. With a 6.7-point yield for the January to August period, Glendale sits in fifth place in the naps table, behind Newsboy (35.0 points), Templegate (22.8 points), Irish Sun (16.0 points), Fortunatus (10.4 points).

Robin Goodfellow, who posted a 1.5-point profit, began August brightly with three winners in as many days. There was also the success of the Tim Easterby-trained Winter Power in the Nunthorpe at York (9/1, 20 August) but the month’s profit was only secured with the victory of 3/1 Primos Comet at Musselburgh (25 August).

The Sheffield Star’s Fortunatus earnt a modest profit of 0.2 after a month of ups and downs. Gift Of Raaj (17/2, Redcar, 5 August) was the best of three winners from seven in the opening week of the month. This was followed by a long losing run of 15 which was finally ended by the Newmarket success of Razzle Dazzle (10/11, 27 August). Another winner, Flotus (6/1, Ripon, 30 August), ensured the month ended with a profitable return.

Several tipsters missed out on August profits by miniscule margins. Racing Post’s Spotlight were 0.2 points down (despite a 31% strike-rate); Marlborough (Daily Telegraph) ended the month with a 1.5-point loss while Scout (Express) finished 2.3-points down.

As well as stealing the August naps title, the Irish Sun showed a healthy profit with all tips (Irish-racing only). The return was a 16.2-point profit with plenty of decently priced winners including: 22/1 Court of Appeal (Leopardstown, 5 August), 16/1 Stormy Jenn (Gowran Park, 11 August), 16/1 Tai Sing Yeh (Roscommon 30 August) and 10/1 Whyzzat (Roscommon, 3 August).

Best of the home-based tipsters was the Guardian, who recorded a 47.4-point loss. The Guardian also bagged the highest August strike-rate: 28%.

Date Published: 04/09/2021