One selection on a far quieter day of racing, which felt quite nice to filter through in comparison to recent days. There has been no shortage of racing, which can make it a tough task in itself. Two losses and a non-runner yesterday, with Divine Libra a big disappointment — I’d been waiting on this run for a while. Southern Boulevard, the debutant, overraced completely.
Always behind
Handicaps continue to deceive me, but I can’t lose faith and I’ve fancied an opportunity for Iain Jardine’s OURO PRETO since running a big race for a long way last time out at Carlisle, where he cruised through into the latter stages before the tank emptied on him up in trip. A new addition to Jardine’s yard on the Scottish borders, recruited out of France where he won three and placed in a further four from thirteen starts. By the nature of French racing, his form is almost exclusively on soft ground — but his action suggests he is more than comfortable on a sounder surface and he has likely won in spite of soft ground rather than because of it. An attractive mark of 72 looks appealing based on his French form and against a short-priced favourite who has been beaten three times in seven starts, he ranks a solid each-way bet back down in trip.
Just A Gambler (10/1, Southwell 14:02), Tropical Storm (8/1, Southwell 16:15) and Club Class (9/4, Southwell 17:25).
Good luck to all getting involved. Be Lucky!
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Get your Ledger£5/month launch price · 14-day free trialWhy no advised bet some days?
Because there isn't one. The cards don't always offer value, and the worst thing a tipster can do is force a selection just to fill a slot.
A "No Bet" day is the system working — it's the same discipline that produces the winners on the days the bets are right. Better to sit out a card cleanly than to bleed the bank on filler. The best days are usually the ones I've been patient before.
What do the stake points mean?
Stakes are sized in points, not pounds — that way the same plan works on any size of bankroll.
The Daily Dial uses a simple scale: 1pt is the minimum bet (or 0.5pt each-way), 2pt is a standard bet (or 1pt each-way), and 5pt is the maximum on the strongest fancies (or 2.5pt each-way). The whole thing runs off a 100pt bankroll, so a £100 bank means a point is £1 and a 2pt bet is £2; a £1,000 bank means a point is £10 and a 2pt bet is £20. Scale to whatever feels comfortable.
What's a sensible bankroll?
Whatever you can genuinely afford to lose, full stop. Don't play with rent money. Don't chase last week.
For new starters, a sensible starting point is a £100 bank at £1 per point. From there, scale the unit up by 0.5pt for every 50% the bankroll grows — £150 bank → £1.50/pt, £200 → £2/pt, £250 → £2.50/pt, and so on. The inverse — cutting the unit when the bank drops — is good practice but personal preference; I don't do it myself but it's sound advice for most.
What does "each-way" mean?
An each-way bet is two bets in one — a Win bet and a Place bet, each for the same stake. So 1pt each-way means 1pt to win plus 1pt to place: 2pt total out of the bank.
The Place part pays out at a fraction of the win odds (usually 1/4 or 1/5) if the horse finishes in the places — typically the first 3 or 4 depending on the race. Each-way is the right call when the price is generous enough that the place return alone covers the stake. Full guide here.
New to this? Read up on: Handicap Races · Betting Odds · Going Descriptions
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