Archive for the ‘Systems and Strategy’ Category

If you are new to horse racing but want to have a bet on the 2010 Aintree Grand National, you have come to the right place!

Betting on the Grand National can be a simple process, especially if you place your bet online.

Follow our Grand National tips below and you’ll be off and running before you know it!

Step 1 – Select your horse from the list of runners below. The number on the right is the current best price on your selection and which bookmaker those odds are with.

Step 2 – Click the bookmaker logo to take you to their site.

Step 3 – Find the join, register or open an account link.

Step 4 – Complete the registration process – it’s fairly quick and easy and very secure.

Step 5 – Follow the instructions on screen to make a deposit.

Step 6 – Click the horse racing link or there is likely a direct link to the Grand National runners.

Step 7 – Click on your horse, enter your stake and choose a win or each way bet. An each way bet means if your horse finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th you will still get a payout. Keep in mind an each way bet will cost you double. For example, £5 each way costs £10 (£5 to win and £5 to place).

Step 8 – Confirm your bet and get ready for the excitement of the 2010 Grand National!

Read our article ‘Should I place a Win or Each Way Grand National Bet?’ for more a detailed explanation of win and each bets on the Grand National (link below)

Should I place a Win or Each Way Grand National Bet?

If you are looking for 2010 Grand National Tips you can visit our horse racing tips homepage and our horse racing forum. Both areas of the site will provide you with our fancies for the 2010 Aintree Grand National.

Good luck!

Grand National betting terminology can be a little confusing for people placing bets for the first time or those who just like to have a flutter once a year on Aintree Grand National day. When placing your Grand National bet, you have the choice to bet your horse to win or each way.

Grand National Win Bet

A win Grand National bet is fairly obvious; your horse must win for you to get a payout from the bet.

Grand National Each Way Bet

An each way Grand National bet means your horse can finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th and you get a return. The amount you get back depends on your horse’s finishing position.

If your runner wins the Grand National you are paid twice, once for the win part of the bet and once for the place part.

If your runner is placed 2nd, 3rd or 4th, you will get paid on the place part of the bet.

Remember your each way bet will cost double your unit stake. For example, if you place £5 each way the total cost of your bet will be £10. If you place £10 each way, the total cost will be £20, and so on.

Which Grand National bet should you place?

I’d recommend betting each way if the odds on your 2010 Aintree Grand National selection are 20/1 or bigger. At that sort of price, the amount you get back if your horse places 2nd, 3rd or 4th is still quite a good return on your investment. You get paid out at ¼ the odds on the Grand National so a 20/1 place is equivalent to a 5/1 winner.

In the end, it might come down to the type of person you are. If you like to throw caution to the wind and land the big money then back your selection to win. If you’re more cautious with money and like to protect your investment, go with an each way Grand National wager.

2010 Grand National Tips

If you need some help with your Grand National selections, visit out horse racing forum for 2010 Grand National tips or to ask questions and advice on this year’s Aintree Grand National.

The Scoop 6 rolled over for the 2nd week in succession last Saturday which means the win fund starts the day off at £149,295. The bonus fund currently stands at £63,984.

The races for this Saturday are;

2.10 Haydock
2.25 Newmarket
2.40 Haydock
3.15 Haydock
3.35 Newmarket
3.45 Redcar

Visit our horse racing forum for tips and advice on this Saturday’s Scoop 6. You can also use our Scoop 6 Guide to help you in your quest for the Scoop 6 jackpot.

BlueSq often give concessions on the Scoop 6 bet and offer new clients a £100 free bet.

Click here to visit Blue Square and claim your Scoop 6 free bet.

The less said about last week’s attempt the better with only one winner and a non runner. There were no winners of last Saturday’s Scoop 6 but 390 people managed to land the place money, each receiving £139.40. The bonus fund was also won so now stands at £40,803.

Here are our thoughts on this week’s Scoop 6 races. It’s a slimmed down version this week which some of you may think is a good thing!

Haydock 1.55 – A huge field go to post for this grade 3 hurdle. Howard Johnson’s Caravel looks interesting now he goes handicapping having won 3 novice hurdles on the bounce. Right at the bottom of the weights, Hot Diamond could go well at a big price.

Lingfield 2.10 – This race looks as though it could be quite straightforward for the Walter Swinburn trained Laudatory. He won well last time and 83 doesn’t seem like a harsh mark to follow up from. At bigger odds, course and distance winner Kaabari makes some appeal.

Ascot 2.15 – It look like a more impossible Scoop 6 than normal with the 3rd leg, the Victoria Cup, having 29 runners. Prescription under Seb Sanders warrants respect but this filly is too short in the market for my liking on what she has achieved thus far. Mr Macattack gets in here on a nice weight and won in very impressive fashion last time albeit in a weak race. Fishforcompliments should go well under his talented apprentice after finishing 2nd to Mr Hardy last time. That horse has franked the form by winning again this week.

Nottingham 2.25 – I’m not a fan of these longer distance handicaps really. Sri Kuantan won last time but has been a bit inconsistent in previous starts and is probably worth taking on again. Silk Hall should go well even under top weight but at a bigger price, Four Miracles can bounce back to form now dropped in grade.

Haydock 3.05 – Outsider of the field Sammy The Snake was quite well supported on his first run for sometime at Kempton recently. Although he finished last of 5, he did show that he still retains a decent level of ability and is a big price for me at 20/1. Top weight Appalachian Trail won this race last year and although he has disappointed since, he’s worth chancing off this mark.

Lingfield 3.45 – A decent fillies stakes to finish this weeks Scoop 6 with £65,000 in prize money on offer. I’m very keen on the chances of the William Haggas runner Damaniyat Girl. She put up a great performance chasing home Fantasia at Newmarket last time and the Haggas stable had a decent winner at Chester on Friday.

Blue Square usually offer 10% cashback on the Scoop 6 and also give new clients a £100 free bet.

Click here to visit Blue Square and claim your £100 free bet

You can get Scoop 6 tips, analysis and strategy from our horse racing forum as well as using our Scoop 6 Guide.

We managed to find a couple of winners last week with Noble Alan winning at 17/2 and Lahaleeb at 6/1. There were no winners of the Scoop 6 this past Saturday which means the win fund now stands at £679,514 and the bonus fund is now £291,220. Last week’s place dividend paid a huge £2,965.80.

Here are our thoughts on this week’s Scoop 6 races.

Sandown 2.05 – An interesting handicap hurdle to kick off proceedings. Nicky Henderson and David Pipe both need to be respected in this race and I think the Pipe runner Seven Is My Number holds strong claims. He’s been disappointing since finishing 2nd here behind the Henderson trained Dave’s Dream. The horse was given far too much to do on that occasion and on reflection, ran a superb race to finish 2nd. Back at Sandown, I think he’ll run a big race. At the top of the handicap, French Opera would also have strong claims with his pilot claiming the 5lb. His performance back over hurdles at Aintree last time was very good and I can see this horse staying on well up the tough Sandown run in.

Ripon 2.20 – I’m not a fan of three year old handicaps and this race is no different. Coleorton Choice is a course and distance winner, has a run under his belt this season and seems to act on any going. Excellent Show is probably the most interesting horse in the field. They felt he was good enough to contest the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Ascot last season and although the he disappointed he did have a poor draw and could turn out to be a bit better than these rivals.

Sandown 2.35 – As impressed as I have been by Kalahari King this season, I think he’ll find it tough against Twist Magic at the track he loves. At the tissue prices of 5/4 Kalahari King and 3/1 Twist Magic, I’d be seriously considering a single bet on the Nicholls runner. He looked like he was going to make a race of it against Master Minded in the Tingle Creek here in December before falling 2 out. Being prone to the odd error is a worry but I’d still go with Twist Magic to notch up his 2nd victory at Sandown.

Ripon 2.55 – Another poor race that has the makings of a Scoop 6 buster. Top weight Mr Wolf looks the most likely winner but I’ll be very surprised if there isn’t one lurking at the bottom of the handicap that is well in. It wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world to see Fantasy Believer pop up at a big price but I’m not sure his handicap mark is going down as quickly as his ability. I will go with consistent gelding Strathmore who should go well with only 8-6 on his back. He’s another who’s vunlnerable to a better handicapped horse but at least he’s likely to give us a run for our money something that is hard to be confident about most of these doing.

Sandown 3.10 – The Bet365 Gold Cup sees a quality field go to post but the worry I would have with a number of these runners is the amount of racing they have seen this season. The two that interest me most here are Carl Llewellyn’s Hennessy and the Phillip Hobbs trained Lacdoudal. McCoy is a very interesting booking on Llewellyn’s runner and he won the only time he rode the horse previously. Lacdoudal won this race in 2006 off a 12lbs higher mark and has to be respected.

Ripon 3.30 – A decent handicap to finish where likely favourite Wells Lyrical should prove hard to be. He looked to be going very much the right way last season and the step up in trip can offset his 6lb rise in the weights. Dunaskin is a course winner and might have the fitness edge over some of these rivals after his pipe opener 17 days ago. He is a solid alternative.

Blue Square usually offer 10% cashback on the Scoop 6 and also give new clients a £100 free bet.

Click here to visit Blue Square and claim your £100 free bet

You can get Scoop 6 tips, analysis and strategy from our horse racing forum as well as using our Scoop 6 Guide.

With the credit crunch showing no signs of disappearing anytime soon, I thought I would take a page from the book of money saving expert Martin Lewis and come up with ten ways you can save money when betting on horse racing.

1. Create a betting bank
Set yourself a limit each month and stick to it. All the little £5 and £10 bets here and there soon add up. If you set yourself a limit of £100 and once it’s gone you can’t have another bet until the following month, you’ll be amazed how much more selective you are and how many more winners you’ll find.

2. Be pricewise
You can make your money go further by shopping around for prices. Using sites such as Valuechecker you can see which bookmaker is offering the best price about your selection. Why would you back a horse at 3/1 that is available at 5/1? It makes no sense to me but there are a number of people that consistently do so for the convenience of using one Bookmaker.

3. Get cash back
If you play the Scoop 6 on a Saturday, both Blue Square and Skybet give 10% cash back on the bet. It might only be 20p on £2 but it’s better in your pocket than the bookmakers. If you are someone that likes to perm their Scoop 6 and you’re spending serious money on the bet, it’s a must.

4. Win for free
Times are tough and for some people, betting might be the first luxury to go. For anyone in this position and even for those who aren’t, the OLBG Tipster Competition could be the answer. There are some seriously good prizes on offer each month and you can bet on literally anything you like. Best of all it’s totally free to enter. There is more of the same on offer here at EBA with our Through The Card and Naps competitions. That’s another £150 up for grabs every month and again, completely free to enter.

5. Free Bets
99% of bookmakers give new clients a free bet of some sort. These free bet offers have really increased over the last few years and some bookmakers offer in excess of £200. Some of the promotions are exclusive to EBA so check them out and get some free betting cash.

6. Profitable tips
I mentioned the OLBG tipster competition earlier. This is far and away the biggest tipster comp around and attracts a number of very successful punters. The good news is all the results from the comp are freely available to anyone registered on the site. Registration is free and quick and you don’t get hit with a load of spam either. Once registered, you can see detailed records of which punters are consistently profitable and use their tips to your advantage.

7. Best odds guaranteed
Many bookmakers are now offering best odds guaranteed. What this means is, if you take the bookmaker’s early price and the returned starting price is bigger, they will pay out at the bigger odds. Bet365, Stan James and Paddy Power are among those running this promotion and other do for certain races and big meetings. You can couple this with tip number 2 and really hammer those bookmakers.

8. Multiples aren’t for mugs
Multiple bets are often considered mugs bets. Take a Luck 15 for example, you have one loser and more than half the bets you paid for are wiped out. Well, this is true but what is also worth remembering is the fact Betfred pay treble the odds if you only get one winner in a Lucky 15. This is one of the best concessions out there as far as I’m concerned and makes the Lucky 15 a very shrewd option.

9. Bet fair
I’m sure there aren’t many of you who haven’t heard of Betfair but I’m still surprised by the number of casual punters that don’t have an account with the betting exchange. I won’t start talking about the ins and outs of laying here but if you fancy an outsider in a horse race, Betfair is the place to go. It’s hard to beat the price of favourites these days by the time you pay commission but if you want to back a horse to win at big odds, you can sometimes get more than double the traditional bookmaker odds.

10. Be systematic
If you find it hard to be disciplined where your horse racing betting is concerned, try sticking to a system. There are a number of horse racing systems out there and following one or two for a time will teach you how to budget and be disciplined where your betting is concerned. Visit our horse racing forum and start following some profitable horse racing systems.

Tomorrow’s Scoop 6 covers action from Kempton, Haydock and Carlisle.

The Scoop 6 wasn’t won last Saturday and the win fund currently stands at £373,225 with the bonus fund at £159,953.

The races that make up this weekend’s Scoop 6 are;

2.05 Kempton – Find The Best Odds At Oddschecker.com Handicap
2.25 Haydock – Sports 360 Leaders In Sports Advertising ‘fixed Brush’ Handicap Hurdle
2.55 Haydock – Blue Square ‘fxed Brush’ Novices’ Hurdle Final Bonus Race
3.10 Kempton – Oddschecker.com Easter Stakes
3.25 Carlisle – Totescoop6 Handicap Chase
3.45 Kempton – Oddschecker.com Casino And Poker Room Handicap

Blue Square usually offer 10% cashback on the Scoop 6 and also give new clients a £100 free bet.

Click here to visit Blue Square and claim your £100 free bet.

You can get Scoop 6 tips, analysis and strategy from this week’s discussion thread on our horse racing forum as well as using our Scoop 6 Guide.

Tomorrow’s Scoop 6 covers action from Newcastle, Lingfield and Aintree.

The Scoop 6 wasn’t won last Saturday and the win fund currently stands at £290,885 with the bonus fund at £124,665.

The races that make up this weekend’s Scoop 6 are;

2.05 Newcastle – Bet365 Handicap
2.10 Lingfield – Freebets.co.uk Grand National Free Bets Handicap
2.45 Lingfield – Freebets.co.uk Grand National Betting Spring Handicap
3.05 Newcastle – Best Odds Guaranteed Every Race At Bet365.com Handicap
3.25 Aintree – John Smith’s Handicap Chase
4.15 Aintree – John Smith’s Grand National Chase

Blue Square usually offer 10% cashback on the Scoop 6 and also give new clients a £100 free bet.

Click here to visit Blue Square and claim your £100 free bet

You can get Scoop 6 tips, analysis and strategy from our horse racing forum as well as using our Scoop 6 Guide.

There are a number of different approaches punters take when trying to find the winners at the Cheltenham Festival. Whether it be trends, speed figures, handicap marks or something more scientific like names and colours, you can attack the Festival from many weird and wonderful angles.

VC Bet are offering new clients a £50 free bet on the Cheltenham Festival. Register now!

Something that I like to do that is simple but often effective is look at the trainers doing well in the weeks leading up to Cheltenham. You’ll find that many trainer’s horses will have been performing at a very average level throughout the national hunt season but will suddenly begin to sparkle at the end of February.

Here are the trainers that are in form at the right time and should prove profitable to follow during the 2009 Cheltenham Festival.

Tom George – Tom George is certainly the hottest jumps trainer at the moment, having saddled 7 winners from his last 12 runners giving a £27.75 level stake profit. He has three horses entered at the Festival, Tartak who is entered in both the Arkle and the Grand Annual, Othermix in the Champion Hurdle and Tank Top in the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup.

100/1 chance Othermix looks to be a bit out of it’s depth and it would be a major shock to see that runner even manage a place. Tartak is trading around the 14/1 mark for both his entered events and Tank Top is a 40/1 shot. Both horses look to have decent each way chances.

Jonjo O’Neill – Jonjo nearly always pulls something out the bag at Cheltenham and his form coming in couldn’t be much better with 7 winners from 29 runners in the last 14 days including 5 winners from his last 9 runners.

O’Neill has too many entries to mention here but the area where he normally excels at Cheltenham is in non handicap chases. He has a particularly good record in the National Hunt Chase for amateur riders, having won 4 of the last 10 renewals. This year he has 3 in the race, Wichita Lineman, Can’t Buy Time and Carnival Town. Although Carnival Town is a 66/1 shot, don’t let that put you off. A number of Jonjo’s winners in this race have been unfancied in the market.

Alan King – Alan King’s yard seem to get better year on year at Cheltenham and have a 12% strike rate over the last ten seasons. King’s yard are another coming into form at the right time with 13 winners from 14 runners in the last 14 days for a 26.5% strike rate.

Following the King yard at Cheltenham can be made a lot more profitable if you avoid their runners in handicaps where they have only managed 1 winner from 40 runners. In all other races, Alan King has managed to produce 9 winners from 43 runners, a 21% strike rate and a 29.5pt level stake profit. His runners in the Triumph hurdle are worth strong consideration.

Other trainers worth paying close attention to are Sue Smith, Nicky Henderson and Philip Hobbs.

I’ve seen this point brought up elsewhere in the past, I’m not tying to claim the rights to this strategy, but I can’t stress it’s importance enough..

When having a bet on the horses, always go back after the race and work out why the winning horse has been victorious.

Working out why horses win races is invaluable. You often understand why your selection was beaten and you can pinpoint horses that are likely to win again. It helps you with your future selection process no end.

Obviously, if it’s your runner that’s won, you don’t need to worry as much but it’s still worth doing a race review to see if it has won in the manner you expected and also to see if other horses in the race have under or over performed.

Most punters only watch their own horse during a race. It’s the natural thing to do, it’s the one your money is on and hopefully the horse you’re going to see cross the winning post first. The problem is, you’re missing other runners that are likely to win later in the season.

In horse racing, you do get some inexplicable results, but the majority of the time the horse that has won is entitled to do so.