Sheffield Star pundit steals November glory

With 13 winning naps, Fortunatus ran out a convincing winner of the November Napchecker naps challenge. A 16.1-point yield put the Sheffield Star’s pundit well ahead of Marlborough of The Telegraph, with West Tip (Western Morning News), The Guardian, Patrick Weaver (The Star), Spotlight (Racing Post) and Newsboy (The Mirror) all posting profits for the penultimate month of the year.

Racing Post Ratings, despite registering a small November loss, retain their lead at the head of the 2017 naps table.

Followers of Fortunatus where never far from a November winner. The longest losing run was just three. This was followed a few days later by a similar sequence of winners to balance things out. Ten of the 13 winning naps recorded starting prices of even money or better with Shoal Bay, triumphant at Taunton on 16 November, being returned at a pleasing 6/1.

Superior Command (8/1 Musselburgh, 8 November) and Medici Moon (6/1, Southwell, 13 November) were among seven winning naps for Marlborough during the opening 13 days of the month. Although this near 50% strike-rate was not maintained until the month’s end, a yield of 7.5 points was an excellent return for the broadsheet’s senior tipster.

Gowanbuster, a 10/1 winner on the all-weather at Newcastle on 22 November, headed West Tip’s November challenge which also featured three 4/1 winners. The overall profit for the month for the Western Morning News’s tipster was 5.9 points, just a tenth of a point ahead of The Guardian, who began strongly with 5/1 Diamond Fort obliging at Wetherby (4 November). A sequence of 5 winning naps out of six between 10 and 15 November helped to maintain The Guardian’s good showing and the month ended with a further string of three winning naps from six from 25 November.

The Star’s Patrick Weaver began November in unusually slow fashion, notching just two winners from his first 13 selections (15% strike-rate). However, it was different story for the rest of the month with nine of the 16 naps posted from 14 November triumphing – a thumping 56% strike-rate. This run included the success of 10/1 Elgin (Cheltenham, 19 November).

In contrast to Weaver, The Racing Post’s Spotlight made a sparkling start to the month with four winners out of six. Thereafter winners were harder to find, although 4/1 Maria’s Benefit (Sandown, 12 November) and 9/2 Attention Seeker (Ayr, 15 November) were two that obliged. An overall November profit of 4.1 points also helped Spotlight to enter profitable territory for 2017. This service now stands on 2.9 points, which means third position in the 2017 rankings behind stablemate Racing Post Ratings and Gary Nutting of the Sunday Mirror.

And talking of the Mirror, Newsboy also made the most of November, with the Charlie Hall Chase winner Bristol De Mai (6/1) a confident nap of 4 November. A further six winning naps all posted prices in the 2/1 to 9/2 range, helping to secure a 1.8-point yield.

Finally for now, a warm welcome to Chris Wright of the Liverpool Daily Post, who joined Napcheckers on the final day of November, and was immediately amongst the winners with the Josephine Gordon-ridden juvenile, Strange Society, obliging at Newcastle at 5/6.

Date Published: 07/12/2017