5th June 2026

Start £314.00 (Betdaq £219.93/Matchbook £94.07)

P&L -£1.46 (Betdaq £3.01/Matchbook -£4.47)

End £312.53 (Betdaq £222.94/Matchbook £89.59)

Total P&L £194.53 (£999,805 remaining)

Daily Notes – two bets at Epsom on Oaks day today. Sallaal in the 3.15 at 4.0. A Group horse in a handicap and pissed home just as expected. Then A La Prochaine in the Oaks at 4.00. Gaaah, bit annoyed to finish 4^th there after she was yanked wide as the first two came straight down the track like normal human beings. Still, great value at 26.0 win and 4.7 place. And as she’s way the most inexperienced I’ll be backing her against anything in that field as the season progresses and be expecting to win; lovely looking filly. At Fairyhouse in the 4.55 there was a lovely example of a bet being there if you just think about it enough. I ended up backing the favourite Al Haarith at around 2.2 on the basis of his LTO (Last Time Out) Topspeed, which was way the best on show. But that was a weak bet, win lose or draw. The bet that I added to that was to lay the very well-backed Green Amoro in 4 places. It was on career debut, at a difficult track and up against fully 8 horses with between 2 and 5 runs apiece. That is a LOT of experience to fade. And he did really well, to be fair, in joint-leading most of the way before fading into fifth. So this £140k Dark Angel is clearly talented. But for a career debutant to fade all that experience is a very tough ask. And at around 2.7 it was a price I liked whether the bet won or lost. After that I was up and down and lacking a little focus so stopped.

6th June 2026

Start £312.53 (Betdaq £222.94/Matchbook £89.59)

P&L £51.97 (Betdaq £36.78/Matchbook £15.19)

End £364.50 (Betdaq £259.72/Matchbook £104.78)

Total P&L £246.50 (£999,754 remaining)

Daily Notes – Derby day today. No fancies in that. Grr….took Bay City Roller and Convergent in the Coronation Cup. But then got out of Bay City Roller for a three and a half point free bet just before the off. Most frustrating. But hey, right; a free bet is a free bet. Sir Peter O’Sullivan would have been happy….”no bet is a good bet until it’s a free bet’.

The 3.05 at Donny was a hot race for young stayers. Impressive from the winner Any Which Way, while I was happy to have laid the Godolphin favourite Study Of Words (who didn’t look like a stayer either on video form or breeding) and also backing Lopeo to be Top 2.

One thing I have to get better at is laying these short-priced favourites in the place as well as the win when I’ve got a clear reason in mind. There’s so much extra profit here and I’m definitely allowing slippage, mathematically speaking. Not to mention that I often Place bet for something I’ve backed in the Win. Which, again, is often incorrect.

On the dog front, it was small up in the morning session then I laid off completely in the afternoon. It was only Newcastle and I’m frequently flummoxed by it as it seems to allow all running styles/types/sizes/levels of experience. Which makes it hard to pin down and match skillsets….of which more in a separate post.

Was pleased with an exit I made in the 3.45 at Doncaster, where I laid the incredibly well bred Shipbourne. It just got stronger in the market nearer the off and it didn’t feel right so I redded out (lol…the opposite of ‘greening out’ where you have a guaranteed profit on every horse before the race starts. I had a guaranteed loss on every horse before the race starts and if you have a negative P&L locked in pre-race it shows up in red, hence ‘redded out’). And since I’m clearly a complete genius that was the perfect thing to do as the only horse that looked like a Group horse overcame stuffiness to get up close home. But he’s waaaaay better than his opponents, for sure.

7th June 2026

Start £364.50 (Betdaq £259.72/Matchbook £104.78)

P&L -£5.23 (Betdaq £11.28/Matchbook -£16.51)

End £359.27 (Betdaq £271.00/Matchbook £88.27)

Total P&L £241.27 (£999,759 remaining)

Daily Notes – multiple mare-shaped misjudgements today. Hermetic in the 4.10 at Goodwood. What was that? Does she need a big field perhaps? It’s not like the pace was slow. Then in the 3.35 at Goodwood, Rose Ghaiyyath. Big unit, looked lovely in last year’s May Hill and LTO (last time out) in the 1,000 Guineas. Stride and breeding suggest she’ll like cut, but then she drifted almost full two points before the off. What was that all about? Then ran like she was never going to win, which is suspicious. And weird. Further we had Drop Dead Gorgeous in the 4.02 at Navan. Again, what was that? She’s either simply not very talented, weak or veeery slow to learn. The final feminine fatality was when I laid Al Arrivee in the last at Punchestown, noting that she was, ‘total athlete but absolutely tiny’. Good enough to win that race by 3.25l though. :o) Hey ho. We got out alive.

8th June 2026

Start £359.27 (Betdaq £271.00/Matchbook £88.27)

P&L £122.85 (Betdaq £80.14/Matchbook £42.71)

End £482.11 (Betdaq £351.14/Matchbook £130.97)

Total P&L £364.12 (£999,636 remaining)

Daily Notes – small down day on the greyhounds today. All the profit came from the horses, including Albeyours in the 5.28 at Carlisle (loves a hill with that stride), Truly Special in the 3.45 at Carlisle, Percy’s Star in the 3.30 at Leicester. I do like a stride bet at Carlisle but they’re so easy to get wrong. As when I backed Deputy Vice (win AND place, just to add insult to financial injury) in the 2.45 won by the Wathnan Light Of Dawn.

9th June 2026

Start £482.11 (Betdaq £351.14/Matchbook £130.97)

P&L £121.06 (Betdaq £79.97/Matchbook £41.09)

End £603.18 (Betdaq £431.11/Matchbook £172.07)

Total P&L £485.18 (£999,515 remaining)

Daily Notes – some nice spots and some pretty darn annoying stuff today. Salisbury was annoying in general. Bit tired to make loads of notes come the end of play so I’ll just leave it to the numbers to do the talking.

10th June 2026

Start £603.18 (Betdaq £431.11/Matchbook £172.07)

P&L -£244.27 (Betdaq -£157.21/Matchbook -£87.06)

End £359.91 (Betdaq £273.90/Matchbook £86.01)

Total P&L £240.91(£999,760 remaining)

Daily Notes – well that was a disaster, undoing the past three days of profit like that. But it needs to be shown. Because I haven’t got to this place by not having complete blowout days. i.e. this has been a common occurrence historically speaking. But it’s not good enough, is it.

It wasn’t luck, it was just poor judgement and poor table selection followed by chasing and not stopping when it was clear that things had gotten away from me.

I didn’t want to post these figures. It’s embarrassing, simply not good enough and the sort of downturn that puts off potential investors. But that’s way in the future. So after much tossing and turning overnight, I’m publishing. And I think it actually helps me, because shedding light on it and owning it should (?!) curtail further P&L destruction; in theory at least. And that’s what has done for me in the past. Steady profit, steady profit, steady profit, steady profit….catastrophic decline. Which is where Will Smith comes in.

So…back to equilibrium and back to the hard work and judicious risk taking. Or this will be the world’s shortest-lived investment blog. Final thought…today was 10 days without a break and the day before I was too tired to make decent Daily Notes. Hmm. That’s something to keep an eye on.