Remember there’s always more than one way to skin a cat…!

Adjournment 6/1, Bolintlea 8/1, and Cape Columbus, 5/4 were all ‘in the frame’ on Thursday and we continually recommend each-way trixie/patents; all were placed, you do the maths and go draw your winnings!  

Profit is my sole purpose; no sentiment, celebration, just making racing pay from betting is the reason for submitting this column and I’ll continue to get up in the early hours of every morning to achieve my objective.

Nowadays pathetic adverts detailing ‘gamble responsibly’ are shoved in faces of the public but, I’m an ‘investor’ and advise readers to appreciate, for the umpteenth time, punting on horse-racing is a serious business for this stoical veteran.

‘Gambling’ is for those who go to casinos, have occasional flutters on races like the Epsom Derby/Grand National or indeed have credit accounts which spiral uncomfortably out of control and bring millions into the hypocritical bookmaking profession. I knew the folly of this malpractice decades ago, having witnessed the demise of so many gamblers!

Recent confessions, to losing millions, from two high-profile ex-International footballers, made for uncomfortable reading and I knew one of them very well; only last year I was informed ‘soccer players are betting their heads off’ and it’s no wonder apathy on the field becomes the result. Names were mentioned and I’ve watched them on my 50″ TV screens, shaking my head in disbelief. You can’t live, survive with a worried mind, believe me.

Do you lose from betting?

Not if you stick rigidly to advice from yours truly who, as usual, produced the aforementioned trio of placed runners after hours of study; the place total amounts to ten points, without backing a winner!

My speciality, two-year-old racing, is way over the heads of most scribes because there is so much cheating with three runs to establish a handicap being the main reason; unfortunately at an average of about £60 a day, cost of keeping a horse in training, it’s necessary to have a big bank balance which, of course, makes such a long term ‘gamble’ a total misnomer; why risk what you’ve got when you don’t need to get it?

Answer to this question is stick with successful trainers like, for instance, Charlie Appleby who journeys once-raced Last Ammo to Wolverhampton tody for a thirteen-runner Novice Stakes over an extended mile of the pristine Tapeta surface. Fourth to Bizzarre Law on Kempton polytrack last month was an interesting first-up run because stable companion, Imperial Crown, was a heavily-backed favourite and finished three lengths in front of Last Ammo, an unfancied 10/1 chance!

Was ‘Ammo’ off?

Charlie, private trainer to Godolphin, doesn’t need to ‘play clever’ however and realises nothing succeeds like success; his bank balance is surely testimony to fact!

Juvenile racing is a minefield, leave it to the expert!

Would I like to come back and do it all over again? you bet I would!

Selections, Chepstow, 2.32 Ree Okka; Wolverhampton, 4.30 Last Ammo (e.w); 6.30 Warm Smile.

 Jeffrey Ross, horse-racing correspondent for WMN since 1983 when winning the most prestigious racing journalist award, Sporting Life Naps Table, before winning it a record number of six times collectively in the Racing Post, the current ‘trade’ paper, including 2019