Monday, December 31, 2007

£19,764.44 .................

net profit in 2007 , well short of my £30,000 target , the first time i have missed my £30k target since i left the city rat race in june 2002 . This has been the first year of my blog but i feel the blog itself has been a help rather than a hinderance and that there is no connection between the poor year and the blog as i feel my discipline has improved somewhat and thats down to the online diary .



My gross profit is £23,759.44 take away my subscription fees of £3995 leaves £19,764.44 .



A brief analysis of the services i used in 2007 :


ISIRIS


The highlight of the year for me happened in november with the introduction of the more user friendly and selective service , no more days with 5 insiders , i had ceased backing the insiders as i struggled to get on and i have been brought up with being selective with my betting and having 5 bets in a day from one service was of no interest to me . I was and still am a great supporter of the new system and i look forward to a successful 2008 with isiris , having just 4/5 bets a week at most .
The introduction of the new system was soon followed by membership to isiris closing and no more advesrtising in the racing post , in effect a private members advisory service has been introduced .
I contacted kevin early in december and told him that i was intending to continue my blog in 2008 , i was aware of the closure of membership and ceasing the adverts and had an idea of what he was trying to create with the revamped isiris , i asked whether he had any objections to me mentioning isiris and the bets on a daily basis , he responded that he would prefer if i dropped the daily bets and p/l , i have no problem with this and instead in 2008 all i will mention is a weekly p/l from isiris .

MARK HOLDER

2007 not a vintage year for mh followers , frustration followed frustration , the year was brought to an apt close by cemgraft today finishing 4th but with a 33/1 shot bolting and being withdrawn the ew terms were reduced to the first three . i experienced my longest ever losing run with mark since i joined in 1998 BUT for all this we still ended comfortably in profit for the year so i still remain positive and have every confidence in mark going forward especially with no flat bets in 2008 .

OPTIMUM RACING

A definite positive in 2007 was optimum racing , i admit i was not saying this earlier on in the year as the service struggled , and yes i did cut my stakes but i just felt i had to do some firefighting so to speak , part of the early struggle i feel was andrew starting up his own service as previously he was with mark holder , and he had to combine the pressure of advising and running a business . But wow did he turn around the p/l in the second half of the year , andrew concentrates on chases and also runs syndicates under the optimum banner with city affair being the flagbearer so far improving and wining 3 races on the trot in august and has been raised 25lb since coming under the care of tim vaughan , a trainer to note in 2008 .
I am looking forward to the future with optimum in 2008 .

CONCLUSION

This time last year if i was told that my profit would be a little more than £19,000 in 2007 i would have been most disappointed but after finding myself over £7500 in deficit during february im not too downhearted .
I have not enjoyed the last year as much as previous years , with the bottom line not progressing to levels i had previously experienced this is not surprising but the main reason has been the difficulty in getting on , no longer can i place the bets via the internet from home i now trawl the shops in london , overall i have not experienced too many problems but i now work in some pretty shappy parts of north london and my line of work means i have to carry some lumpy sums of cash on me and i have had a few scary moments and i have to remain vigilent at all times .
I will be continuing with all 3 services in 2008 and all that is left is to wish all a most happy and prosperous new year .

DIRK DIGGLER .

that just about sums up 2007 with mark holder ...........

advises a 16/1 shot ew in a 16 runner hcap , finishes 4th ............. happy days you would have thought ................. only problem was that a 33/1 shot bolted at the start unshipping the jockey was withdrawn quite correctly but we lose the 4th place payout !!!! im sure mark and his followers will be pleased to see the back of 2007 from a gambling perspective , as it has been an uphill struggle all the way and we have just not had the rub of the green , im not looking for sympathy and im not moaning , in this game you have to take these reverses in your stride , if you get wound up and go over these things in your head , it will do you in !!! get over it and march on there is no point churning it over , is my philosophy .
i am not someone who harps on about the past or has regrets , i prefer to have a positive attitude and look forward to the future and thats what im doing ................. roll on 2008 !!!!

monday

MARK HOLDER

1.10 war CEMGRAFT £150 ew @ 16/1 unpld 4th -£300
1.10 war LES BAUX BELLE £75 ew @ 12/1 £75 ew @ 10/1 unpld -£300

Saturday, December 29, 2007

what a marvellous day ................

spurs win a 6-4 thriller and isiris advise a 10/1 main account winner , to get me out of jail on the week , happy days !!

saturday
ISIRIS
MAIN ACCOUNT
HORSE A £350 ew @ 3/1 2nd -£140
HORSE B £100 ew @ 10/1 £100 ew @ 8/1 £50 ew @ 7/1 WON +£2580

MARK HOLDER

3.15 bang MY MATILDA £150 ew @ 14/1 -£300

OPTIMUM RACING

3.10 newb ITS CRUCIAL £300 @ 5/1 unpld -£300

PERSONAL TRADING

i played in one race , place laying two in the 3.10 newbury , they finished 1st & 3rd so i sadly could not build on the isiris profits losing £288.97 in the process , this was a little more than i wanted to risk but i was at spurs and using the betfair mobile and by the time i had tried to cancel an old order it had been filled !!!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

6th consecutive losing day ................

talk about a strong finish to the year ................... NOT !!! optimum gave out a selection in the coral welsh grand national runs well to finish 5th just about sums up my gambling at the moment and for the year , when i took the isiris message i was in a ladbrokes shop who were quoting the selection @ 5/2 against a top price 7/2 and general 3/1 so i decided looking at the make up of the race and strength of the fav to back it @ s/p , my thinking was vindicated as he was returned @ 4/1 .

thursday
ISIRIS
super insider
HORSE A £150 ew @ 4/1 2nd level

OPTIMUM RACING

2.05 chep GEEVEEM £150 ew @ 16/1 unpld -£300

no late christmas present for me ..................

only a £588 loss , thankfully it was not a really busy day as i was travelling to relatives , i even had to give my spurs season ticket away .................. they go and win 5-1 to record their biggest win of the season and im not watching , sods law !!!
i was at a hills shop when i took the isiris message so i was a little limited in prices i could take .

boxing day

ISIRIS
MAIN ACCOUNT
HORSE A £300 ew @ 10/1 unpld -£600
SUPER INSIDER
HORSE A sp @ 2/1 3RD HORSE B 3/1 WON +£312
£100 ew both £50 ew double

OPTIMUM RACING

2.35 weth VICTOR DALY £150 @ 11/4 £150 @ s/p unpld -£300

Monday, December 24, 2007

weekending 22nd dec ....................

no denying this week was a poor one and last weeks profits were erased with interest , a loss of just short of £2000 on the week ................... just what you want before christmas !!! a tiny profit from isiris thanks to the super insider on thursday which was paid at the sp of 15/8 rather than the advised price of 13/8 , losses on the week from optimum 6 points and mark holder 5 points and myself £350 all added up to a deficit of £1934.33 .

so with 6 days racing left in 2008 my total stands at £23,696.41 and im must be trading at 1000 to reach the £30k ...............

the end of an awful week .................

so looking forward to three blank days if honest , the only bright spot today was england and the weather saving the 3rd test thereby producing my only profit on the day .

saturday

ISIRIS
super insider
HORSE A £100 ew @ 4/1 unpld -£200

MARK HOLDER

1.20 ascot LYES GREEN £75 ew @ 48/7.4 unpld -£150

OPTIMUM RACING

3.05 hay NIKOLA £450 @ 2.92 2nd -£450

PERSONAL TRADING

nothing on the horses but i had a winning test match , trading the match i had an all green book with the draw my biggest winner of £175 the other two results both producing a £25 profit , so a profit of £167.47

Saturday, December 22, 2007

not much to report ..............

a loss of £130 from myself , nothing from the services i subscribe to .

friday

PERSONAL TRADING

i opposed two in the 1.05 ascot to small amounts on the place market , they finished 1st & 3rd ! my only saving grace was that i didnt get too heavily involved and i lost only £130 on the race .

Friday, December 21, 2007

overall another disappointing and losing day ..............

as i ended up with a deficit of £487.50 but i felt relieved to be honest to keep the loss under a monkey , i had a bonus as well , as i will expain .
mh played in the 1.20 exeter 2pts ew , i managed to get on @ 13/2 so i was well chuffed as the selection opened @ 5/1 i was even more happy as the race progressed as he was travelling well enough and looked to my eyes to be assured of finishing in the first four as they raced into the mist ................ coming out of the gloom though he was knowhere to be seen , on the missing list so to speak finishing 15th out of 16 .
my little bonus came in the isiris race , i had £300 @ 6/4 on the selection , but he drifted like the contiki ,on the shows he touched 2/1 before returning the 15/8 second fav , with the fav capsizing someway out it was an easy bloodless victory , but my win was tempered by taking 6/4 for a horse that returned 15/8 a difference of £112.50 ........... so i was well pleased to be paid out @ 15/8 as the bookie was best odds guaranteed on exeter races !!

thursday

ISIRIS
super insider
HORSE A £300 @ 15/8 WON +£562.50

MARK HOLDER

1.20 exeter MANHATTAN BOY £300 ew @ 13/2 unpld -£600

OPTIMUM RACING

1.40 lud WALSINGHAM £300 @ 4/1 3rd -£300
2.40 lud PRESENT ORIENTATED £75 ew @ 20/1 unpld -£150

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

a uninspiring couple of days at diggler towers ..........

a small profit on tuesday followed by a larger loss today , all of my own making so to speak with nothing from my services , although i did today call the isiris bet correctly , not the horse but the race ! i was not taken in by the time of the call , i positioned myself in the shop where i felt i could get on rather than a tote shop that had the best terms (1/4 odds) and as it happens best price , but i was accomodated to the full sum requested no questions asked so happy enough .

tuesday & wednesday

PERSONAL TRADING

i ended the day with a profit of £141.40 , mh gave a good word for watch my back at catterick and optimum gave a good word for polar gale at the same venue , i had a £50 double @ 7/4 & 6/4 with sid james , bingo on the first leg and drifting to a sp of 5/2 so happy days as they pay out guaranteed odds , unfortunately some sloppy jumping cost me on the second leg as came a close 2nd , but i layed polar gale i/r £200 @ 2.02 , hence my profit of £141.40 .
today was a case of me going for a small touch , i had the value but at the end of the day a £400 loss , i dont get much information and to be honest most of it in 2007 has been disappointing , today turned out to be no change on that front ............. but i got a strong message from a usually reliable source , only get messages from this chap 3-4 times a year but we talk on a regular basis , the horse was jardin de vienne in the newbury 12.30 i was told to take an early price as there would be money for this one , i invested £200 ew @ 5/1 , then mh gave a favourable mention to the horse so i was happy , money duly arrived i did think of laying half the bet off but resisted . the horse travelled ok but found very little when asked and could only stay on at the one rather slow pace to finish a well beaten 5th , a loss of £400 today , so over the 2 days a negative balance of £258.60 .

Monday, December 17, 2007

ive had better start to weeks ..................

personally and work wise , after a blank sunday , today i finished the day with a deficit of £425.70 , with the days ticking the £30k is looking a longshot especially with 3 days off before christmas but being honest my head wasnt right today as i had to cope with some personal difficulties , i do usually find that on days like today its best to clear your head and take some time out but i decided to kick on , the losing day though had nothing to do with the problems that surfaced today and i would have lost today regardless of my personal troubles .

monday
ISIRIS
insider
HORSE A £150 ew @ 3/1 r4 15p unpld -£300

summed up my day beaten a shd for 3rd ............

PERSONAL TRADING

mh had a few ideas he was negative at the prices on daltaban in the plumpton opener , i was considering going against my laying philosophy and lay this one in the win market but i resisted , with harry hindsight i should have considered a place lay .............. he was also keen on pocket aces in the 1.20 i had £75 ew @ 8/1 , and i left an order to lay my win bet back @ 3.00 i/r this was matched as he came from off the pace looking for all the world the winnner , trading long odds on but he just did not quicken but i still collected £191.77 on the race , the remainder of the day went rapidly downhill although i was pleased with my position when the tapes went up for the 2.25 as i had layed both ironside and kiltimoney for £140 each @ 2.12 & 2.14 respectively in the place market , although ironside was always front rank kiltimoney was being rousted along early doors , to the horse and jockeys credit they kept on well , so that cost me £317.47 giving me a loss of £125.70 on the day .
have been trading the 3rd test between sri lanka & england and at present i have £50 @ 2.74 on the draw which is currently priced @ 1.51/1.52 .

Sunday, December 16, 2007

weekending sat 15th dec ..................

a profit of £1351.90 on the week , p/l level from mh , i lost £200 from my own acount , optimum erased the previous weeks loss with interest with a profit of £990 and a decent week from isiris , although a loss of £200 on the insiders i made just over £750 on the main account , last sunday i couldn,t get my bet on to full stakes this was a faller and worked in my favour but then on thursday with me travelling to cheltenham i was unable to take full advantage of the advice given as i restricted to minimal amounts .

THE30KCHALLENGE ........................... +£25,630.74

thats why i use these advisory services ............

after my selection today afsoun finished out of the money , before i left for cheltenham i invested £100 ew @ 9/2 , 6/1 was freely available on track although he was supported into a final sp of 9/2 losing his position 3 out he stayed on well but 2m these days are on the short side for him , paddy brennan rode a superb tacttical front running performance on osana reminiscent of the early martin pipe years but sadly the race was marred by the loss of macs joy .
another superb days racing at the home of the winter sport , again mrs d ended the day in front with 3 placed efforts and a win in the opening via harper valley .......... yes perhaps im paying the wrong people , roll on mrs digglers advisory line !!!

saturday

ISIRIS
insider

HORSE A £100 ew @ 11/1 unpld -£200

OPTIMUM RACING

1.20 ling MAGOT DE GRUCY £150 ew @ 5/1 WON +£900
2.40 chelt IL DUCE £150 ew @ 15/2 unpld -£300

PERSONAL TRADING

just the one bet for me £100 ew @ 9/2 on afsoun , a loss on my personal account of £200 .

close but no real cigar ...................

felt more like 10 damp bensons !!! another crossbar hit today by mh in the form of roman villa as the well handicapped jack the giant stayed on much the better to deny us , should not have expected anything else , i dont want want to become dirk the parrot but this really has been a year of near misses from mh im still well in front on the year but it has been a frustrating year .
had a lovely day at cheltenham although i do wish id packed my thermal socks ! mrs d was a star picking out joe lively and calgary bay, so finishing the day with a healthy profit and insisting on picking up the tab for dinner at a very nice thai restaurant , happy days !

noticed that you had to study the boards to check out the place terms , no longer are the terms uniform with quite a few quoting 1/5 odds first 4 and even 1/6 odds first 3 , a situation that does not show the bookmaking fraternity in a good light .

i do not wish to go into too much detail on yesterdays isiris account bet , kevin spoke a lot of sense on todays message although i would say that from all bar one of the isiris clients that contacted me had there bets referred with one lucky guy getting £100 ew , one £37.50 ew and the rest a pony ew , thesedays most bets to take out £500 are ptl (referred-permission to lay) by the high street bookmakers .

friday

MARK HOLDER

2.30 chelt ROMAN VILLA £300 ew @ 7/1 2nd +£120

Thursday, December 13, 2007

mixed emotions again ............

frustration mainly , stayed with friends overnight enroute to cheltenham so i had to rely on the internet accounts for "getting on" ............. or not as was the case !!! im too old in the tooth to get too wound up by todays events , yes its frustrating but not much you can do . i received a few emails from folk who experienced similar problems and were less than pleased that the bookies would not allow them £200 ew @ 40/1 & 25/1 .................. get real folk !!!!

anyway lets move on , have a good few days , updating next on monday as will be without lap top till then .

thursday

main account bet

HORSE A £11.70 ew @ 40/1 £22.50 ew @ 25/1 3rd +£171.90

after the 25/1 next show was 16/1 after being advised @ 40/1 i wasnt gonna take 16/1 , betfair were trading around 16 on the win market and 3 in the place so that avenue didnt offer any value .

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

a day of mixed emotions .............

yes p/l wise a decent one but most of my day was spent on the phone to various call centres as i had my wallet nicked this afternoon on the way home from wood green , no money just cards and various forms of id , so im well up for a bit of identity fraud over the coming months ........... deep joy ......... NOT !!!!
at least a decent winner from optimum cheered me up , off to cheltenham with the mrs tomorrow afternoon for a few days racing staying up at cleeve hill , a lovely part of the world and really looking fwd to it especially after todays episode .

wednesday

MARK HOLDER

1.10 leices arthurs dream £150 ew @ 11/1 3rd +£180

OPTIMUM RACING

2.40 leices mibleu £150 ew @ 11/2 WON +£990

PERSONAL TRADING

nothing today basically due to the situation outlined earlier but i did have a bet on saturdays international hurdle at cheltenham , im really sweet on the chances of afsoun , the way i see it my selection is fit and well , sublimity if the trainer is to be believed wont be 100% and will need the race , katchit needs to prove he has trained on this year ,to my eyes he lacks scope and i have a feeling we may have seen the best of him , straw bear bled last time out in the champion , jazz messenger would be a worry but looks like navan is his destination ........ that in my book leaves macs joy who i believe is a danger , not sure if he is the same horse from 2 seasons ago but even still a decent seasonal reappearance on ground that would not have suited , and he must be expected to come on from that run , macs joy is respected but i have invested £100 ew @ 9/2 on afsoun .

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

3/1 isiris main account winner ................

gets me out of jail , overall a small loss on the day . i had to choose my shop correctly today as i knew the race would be flagged up as a ptl bonanza by the high street bookies with anything over £99 ew being referred . i managed to get most of my bet on @ the 3/1 but i may struggle next time as i heard dissenting murmurs from the cashiers after the win .............. fickle lot these bookies !!!
mh continues to be out of form BUT he was correct in alot of his analysis of the fancied runners in the 12.40 fontwell but as has been the case recently the analysis has not reaped the dividends , quite the reverse in fact but as i know from personal experience these losses can quickly be erased as was the case earlier this year .
optimum were unfortunate in that present m'lord may a horlicks of a fence early on and thereafter was always fighting a valiant but losing battle , all credit to dayrl jacob for his ride though , then the optimum owned president park was pulled up which must be a huge worry to the owners but hopefully he will return at some stage but the bet did come with a warning and sadly this was the case .

tuesday

ISIRIS
main account

HORSE A £150 ew @ 3/1 £100 ew @ 5/2 WON +£840

MARK HOLDER

12.40 font madam vouvray £150 ew @ 14/1 unpld -£300

OPTIMUM RACING

2.10 font present m'lord £300 @ 11/4 3rd -£300
3.10 font president park £150 ew @ 14/1 unpld -£300

Monday, December 10, 2007

a brucey bonus !!!!

so to speak , as i went into my vcbet account this morning and noticed a promo cash balance of £80 after yesterdays bet £40 ew on the faller advised by isiris , well a quiet day all round with ntg from any of my services but i have had a small word for room at the top in the bumper north of the border , i utilise half my promo cash with a score ew @ 6/1 , a decent run for my money eventually finishing 3rd , and im the recipient of £4 into my vcbet account !!! unfortuntely the stake is lost but a nice concession and makes up for the unfair manner in which the bets with them are accepted as was my experience yesterday .

escaped relatively lightly today .................

in respect of the isiris main account bet faller , i was at home at and required by the missus to run a few errands nothing exciting a couple of loads taken to the local tip , get a christmas tree , decorate the bloody thing etc etc all this before i leave for spurs , so i decided to rely on my non too accomodating internet accounts , i had them all lined up ............... £90 ew @ 11/1 got £48 ew , £80 ew @ 11/1 got £37 ew and then the fun n games with vcbet asked for £80 ew @ 8/1 this was referred as per usual , came back price changed now 10/1 ! happy days take the price , bet referred again .................. came back price changed now 8/1 !!!! you couldn,t make it up i accepted the bet once again and it came back £40 ew allowed ............. thats why i prefer the shops !!! so i had half my stakes on , the price was now 7/1 , and i decided to draw stumps on this one , as 8/1 was the floor price i was prepared to accept . in the race we were travelling well enough no question really asked and we came a cropper , this was my only action on the day .

sunday
ISIRIS
main account bet
HORSE A £75 ew @ 11/1 £40 ew @ 8/1 fell -£250

weekending 8th december ..............

after my last weekly round up i got a few emails commenting that they thought i would make the £30k , to be honest i didnt share the optimism , yes i have been chugging along nicely recently but this game p/l wise is never a straight line !!! choppy waters are expected and often delivered , this week has been one of those dips .
a loss of over £1700 on the week , the deficit arising from a poor week with mh by his own admission he is struggling at present but i have every confidence that he will turn this ship around and you can rest assured he will be burning the midnight oil to erase the recent losses , a loss of 4 points on the week from optimum which is nothing bearing in mind a profit in excess of 40 points over the last 4/5 weeks , a negligble loss from isiris and a small profit from my own trading , the precise loss on the week was £1700.25 .

THE30KCHALLENGE ................... +£24,278.84

a blank day on friday .............

but saturday was fairly busy from a mh perspective with 3 account bets , i was travelling across london on the underground , waiting 20 mins for the first tube , understandably when it arrived it was the stuffed in like sardines scenario , not pleasant but no alternative as was late , mid journey i had to break up my travelling to take the mh & optimum messages .
i had a touch as i was at kings cross and there is a better shop in the area and they were best odds guaranteed on all sandown races , and although they ptl all my bets , they are yet to refuse or cut me down ............. always a first time though !!!

saturday

ISIRIS
insider
HORSE A £200 @ 7/2 unpld -£200

MARK HOLDER

12.55 san edgeover £150 ew @ 10/1 unpld -£300
1.30 san arafan £150 ew @ 16/1 2nd +£450
3.10 san wingspan £300 ew @ 13/2 dh 3rd -£206.26

PERSONAL TRADING

i was away from home so ntg from me for today , overall a small loss on the day , but felt we played with the odds in our favour and just one of the those days when it didnt count , but in the long run as i have experienced it will .

Thursday, December 06, 2007

pulled one back so to speak ..............

after 4 consecutive losing days this week thanks to the most impressive isiris insider winner , hope no subscribers missed the bet as i for one on other days may of cut short the message if i was snowed under , thankfully i wasn,t . the day didnt start too well, but on the back of a few comments from the mh line i was going into the last nearly a fiver up !!! thankfully i emerged after the race , well over a monkey up .

ISIRIS

HORSE A £250 @ 3.40 WON +£574.80

OPTIMUM RACING

2.00 leices l'oiseau £300 @ 3/1 unpld -£300

PERSONAL TRADING

made a profit of £304.84 on the day on the back of comments from mh , no account bet but still worth a listen , in the 1.30 leices he gave a negative to high seasons due to stamina doubts , i dont lay in the win market especially 7/1 shots but i layed £120 @ 2.74 in the place market after pulling early on he never looked like troubling the leaders . in the 2.40 winc mh at the prices he was keen to oppose the then (message @ noon) short priced fav prime contender , giving preferences to the ron hodges trained pair , master mahogany set the pace with compton star always travelling well i had £25 ew @ 12/1 & 7/1 respectively , this produced a profit of £190 on the race .
i dont get too involved in the betfair forums thesedays but the merits of mh have been discussed recently so i have offered my opinion , i admit as i have done many times during 2007 that it hasnt been a vintage year with him but we are in profit for the year . i do feel at times subscribers to these services has unrealistic ambitions with regard to the p/l from them , they dont have a magic wand it wont be winner after winner , there will be losing weeks , losing months . its a long term game , always remember that , dont try to run before you can walk , start off low on the stakes and build up gradually , set yourself targets once they are met move up a level viz a viz staking levels .

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

need to stop the rot ...........

this week , 4 - 0 im losing , this equates to a deficit of just over £2k . i never like losing but the timing couldnt be worse with the days running out as i come up to year end it looks like i will be short of the £30k , i need to be in profit by over £34k anyway as the £30k is net of my fees to the services i use .
had a couple of account bets from the services i use today , both had to be referred or ptl , i get the feeling that im a criminal when i ask for a bet , by the attitude of the cashiers !!!!

wednesday

ISIRIS
HORSE A £250 ew @ 7/2 2nd -£31.25

MARK HOLDER

12.50 catt goodnight dick £150 ew @ 20/1 unpld -£300

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

what a poxy day .............

sorry but it was , for me anyway . before racing started i had bad vibes on two fronts , firstly it was the current flavour of the month to afflict mh bets ..................... place your bet on a 8 runner or 16 runner hcap then within a short space of time a n/r appears to scupper any value you may of had , ok i admit today and last week our selections ran poorly and it wouldn,t have mattered if we were offered ew terms on the first six but if these non runners were announced 10/15 mins earlier then we wouldn,t have had the bets and saved ourselves a few quid , so none too pleased then at 12.30 my laptop asked me if i wanted to restart as there had been some security updates installed i replied no remind me later and the laptop acted like the mrs by totalling ignoring my command and shutting down .................. the day got worse !
my only saving grace is that my discipline held out , i was itching to lay never so blue and over the creek at hereford but i decided a few months ago that my laying days were over , my resolve was tested today but thankfully held out , good job as well as both could be called the winner some way from home and recorded bloodless victories .

tuesday
ISIRIS
HORSE A £250 @ 13/8 unpld -£250
HORSE B £50 @ 5/1 2nd -£50

MARK HOLDER

12.40 here the grey shark £225 ew @ 8/1 unpld -£450
12.40 here rhetoric £75 ew @ 28/1 unpld -£150

OPTIMUM

1.10 here tosula £150 ew @ 8/1 unpld -£300

Monday, December 03, 2007

nearly a huge slice of luck ................

for isiris followers today , with our selection second but the clear cut winner blundering at the last and for a split second the possibility of unseating the jockey that would have been a huge slice of fortune , what a poor race not a pretty sight , but the original and morning fav was well beaten and out of the frame so certainly vindicated in playing .

monday

ISIRIS
HORSE A £350 ew @ 9/4 2nd -£192.50

weekending sat 1st dec ..................

so i enter the last month of my year/challenge ......... i have been emailed recently asking whether this blog will continue in 2008 , well as ive intimated over the year i have found the blog both enjoyable and a help with my gambling especially the subject of disciplined gambling also from a personal level i have come into contact with many knowledgeable and friendly people that otherwise i would not have so i will start with a clean start on jan 1st .

leaving my p/l to one side for a sec the week will be remembered by many as the week when isiris closed their doors to new members , no more adverts , i really enjoy the new isiris format and am looking fwd to 2008 with them , although the last week has been unsuccessful with them the trading opportunities have been amazing and i hope to avail myself of these in months to come , alot of the times i have been in the wrong shop but this wont always be the case . im moving areas next week trying to stay away from wood green , the area is not the most desirable and sadly this is reflected by some of the occupants and staff in the shops , this game is hard enough and i dont need regular rows with rude punters or staff , i refuse to be intimidated or pushed around by either and some of the attitudes encountered this week are not something i want to be around , i try to treat people in a amicable manner this has not been recipricated this week so im moving areas !

so the week produced a small profit of £456.89 , decent profits from optimum and myself , a tiny loss from mh and isiris having a poor week that moves me a few quid shy of £26k .

THE30KCHALLENGE .......................... +£25,979.09

if you feel this game is frustrating .........

then start supporting spurs as well .............not going to say anymore BUT there cannot be a more frustrating side in the land , the transfer window cant come soon enough bring back dave mackay , mike england , graham roberts , richard gough even paul miller would be an improvement to the current shambles of a defense !!



sunday


MARK HOLDER


1.20 don andorran £150 ew @ 7/1 unpld -£300

wow that was breathtaking ...............

i think it was the challow hurdle on new years day at cheltenham last year when the mighty denman beat thecoolguy by 21lengths that had mh eulogising over him , the sectionals were apparently remarkable and this was a horse to follow since that challow victory he has only been beaten once in a further 8 outings by nicanor a couple of months later at the festival in the rsa nov hurdle , i remember that defeat well as i was in egypt of all places yes for the festival its a long story .......... and secondly due to the fact i had for my standards a lumpy ante post bet on him , thankfully it was ew as was a £100 double on voy por ustedes successful in the previous days arkle @ 8/1 (put up by andrew who was working with mh) with denman , the one that got away !!!
today it was denmans day again , and what a joy to watch how easily did he travel , i will be praying for a wet early march as optimum advised denman for the gold cup @ 5/1 a month or so ago and i think on softish going he will have the beating of kauto star over a truly run gold cup trip .

saturday

ISIRIS
main account
HORSE A £250 ew @ 3/1 2nd -£100
insider
HORSE B £150 ew @ 15/2 unpld @ 7/2 -£300

MARK HOLDER

2.05 newb special envoy £300 ew @ 5/1 r4 2nd level
3.30 newc blythe knight £150 ew @ 5/1 unpld -£300
3.45 newb european dream £300 ew @ 9/1 3rd +£375

obvious i know but the hurdles as connections of special envoy know to their cost have to be jumped , today again the last hurdle nearly cost the ew backers of special envoy and from where i was watching the mistake by european dream 2 out cost his backers dearly , a clean jump and he would have won i feel , this game can be frustrating !!

top dressing another winner ................

for the bang in form service of optimum racing , flying at present i realise it cant continue forever in this vein but lets ride the wave !!! apoligies for not updating over the last couple of days , i do try to keep up to date and on a day to day basis but i have been all over the place last few days and its nice to be finally home .

friday

ISIRIS
insider

HORSE A £100 ew @ 5/1 unpld-£200

OPTIMUM RACING

2.55 muss top dressing £200 @ 5/2 £100 @ 4.10 WON +£796.67

PERSONAL TRADING

i was half expecting the race i played in today to be an "isiris" race , it was a 9 runner maiden hurdle but to my eyes there were only 4 at most who had a squeak the betting went 4/6 7/2 11/2 16/1 bar , the horse i was interested in was the david pipe trained the package , a stoutly bred son of kayf tara but he had enough speed to win a 2m bumper although it was at towcester, from the genius bloodstock agent that is tom costello in ireland he came with a pretty tall reputation, apparently on the gallops the trainer has been most impressed and is showing all the right credentials and is a horse to follow . my only reservation today was the trip as i felt 2m may be on the sharp side but brennan made plenty of use of him , riding him agressively from the start and from a long way out he could be called the winner , although a couple of mistakes when looking tired at the last 2 flights gave backers a slight scare , £75 ew @ 11/2 made a nice profit of £495