The Duke and Fortunatus make Yorkshire proud

The Duke of The Yorkshire Post headed the October Napchecker table with an eye-catching 23.3-point yield. The Sheffield Star’s Fortunatus made it a memorable month for the White Rose County with second place and a 17.3-point yield, while Garry Owen of the Daily Record claimed third spot with a 14.0-point gain.

The Duke secured top position with seven winners and a 23% strike-rate. A strike-rate in the low twenties is no guarantee of a profitable return: you need to have winners with SPs of 5/1 and above. And this is where The Duke flourished with three handsomely priced winning naps. Major Jumbo scored at York on 13 October at 12/1, Confessional bettered that when triumphing at Haydock six days later at a stunning 18/1, while 7/1 Sharp Response, successful at Carlisle on 25 October, helped to swell the coffers, as well.

Although having to accept second best in the October listings, it was still a momentous month for Fortunatus, who leap-frogged The Sun’s Templegate and now leads the overall 2018 Napchecker Challenge with an eleven-month yield of 28.6 points. Templegate has 25.6-points with Farringdon of the Morning Star third with 10-points.

October’s tally of 17.3 points posting was built around the victories of Full Intention (12/1 Chelmsford City, 25 October) and Low Sun (10/1, Newmarket, 13 October). There were a further six successful naps, adding up to an impressive 29% strike-rate.

Low Sun (10/1, see above) was also napped by Garry Owen, one of nine successful October naps (30% strike-rate). The Daily Record’s napster also advised two 5/1 winners, Plucky Dip (Catterick, 1 October) and Secret Investor (Chepstow, 14 October).

There was clearly a good deal of certainty amongst the napsters that Low Sun was the pick of Willie Mullins’ seven runner invasion party in the Cesarewitch as, along with Fortunatus and Garry Owen, Newsboy also championed the five-year-old gelding’s chances. Low Sun’s success steered the Daily Mirror’s napster to a small October profit; he was the only representative of the national papers who could make this boast.

The differences between best odds and starting prices have been mentioned previously. They continue to astonish. Take the example of the Racing Post’s Postdata who posted a 142-point October loss to starting prices. Ouch. But when best odds are taken into account, that loss undergoes a Cinderella-style transformation and becomes a 94.5-point profit. But, like Cinderella, there’s a time-related catch. It’s often difficult to get on at best odds prices and it requires can try the patience of job. But Napchecker is there to help, showing the odds from a clutch of bookies allowing you to find the most attractive offers. And it’s well worth the effort as two examples from Postdata’s October return will testify. Garo De Juilley won at 25/1 at Chepstow on 13 October, but odds of 50/1 had been available. The 28 October Galway winner Western Victory was on offer at 33s early doors, but was eventually returned at just 20/1.

Whilst the variations are no so great with naps, its still worth the effort of finding the best price. The Duke’s 23.3-points to SP are upped to 41.9 points with best odds and Fortunatus’ return is similarly enhanced with best odds.

Date Published: 06/11/2018