20 Points Profit in the Bank

A whirlwind week! It comes and goes so quickly but after months of build-up, starting with our very first Antepost bet back in November we can confirm another profitable year in the bank, but we wanted more there’s no doubt about it.

You can look at the festival with so many angles here. The near misses, the lack of many super stars who pulled out and the uncertainty on where horses were going (spoiling the Moon Racer, Supreme NAP for example), but ultimately I think we’ve done alright in both general and antepost packages.

I do feel the festival lacked that superstar performance perhaps we are normally treated to. Both Altior and Douvan were hyped up to the max and numerous other names were thrown about and despite some great performances, you do feel it lacked that killer instinct. I thought Willie Mullins did so well to end with 6 winners and Ruby’s Super Thursday was typical of the man. Hats off to Gordon Elliot and Jessica Harrington, the former the Champion Cheltenham Trainer and the latter, a brilliant Gold Cup winner.

Day 1 – Our old Friend

The day for us belonged to Un Temps Pour Tout, for the 2nd year running. This horse is primed for the festival and so it showed with a display of real character to win us the Ultima at 16/1 and get our festival rolling. Moon Racer’s move to the Champion Hurdle was so painful on a personal note. I was convinced for his Supreme chances and he’s never let us down before. I still felt he was backable for the Champion Hurdle but sadly he got pulled up. What might have been…

I was absolutely delighted with our pick for Apples Jade, not just on the day but for Antepost members too. The circus regarding Vroum Vroum Mag and Limini was rife and I was happy to take a step back and take them on. It was, in truth, a brilliant race, the sort you all want to see. The top 3 in the market neck and neck, toe to toe and our Mare dug it out so gamely. A tidy winner and an enthralling race.

Two Taffs was bold to finish 3rd for us at 10/1 in the final race of the day and Charbel ran so well alongside Altior but the fall halted our chances there.

Day 2 – So near, so far

A day to try the patience! The first 2 races should’ve yielded two winner but two neck defeats left us reeling. It appeared the whole course wanted to back Neon Wolf and the silence when Willoughy Court got up was palpable! Still, a fine effort from the winner but there is much more to come from Neon Wolf I can assure you that.

Whisper then suffered a similar fate sadly and the each way returns were scant consolation at the time! Bellshill also went close but placed for us in the RSA to give us a 2-3 where Might Bite was incredibly impressive, but what followed after the last fence was astonishing! I thought we had it with Whisper but he dug so deep to edge it out.

Douvan’s loss was the shock of the day but hearing he was lame from behind after made it all clearer.

We were dealt another 2nd with Debuchet, another horse with more to come, edged out in the Bumper. A day that could’ve turned the 20 points profit into double that perhaps.

Day 3 – Ruby’s Back

3 winners and a return to form on Day 3! Presenting Percy, Un De Sceaux and Lets Dance were as impressive as each other and I was delighted with the turnaround which put us back neatly into profit.

Un De Sceaux was all class and I wasn’t having that any other way. Yorkhill’s win in the opener was the push Mullins and Walsh needed and I couldn’t have been more confident with Un De Sceaux – so it showed.

Politlogue came home 4th but Yorkhill justified the hope, and how. The Stayers Hurdle provided a shock with the hotpot beat into 3rd. If you’d have told me that before the race I’d have been uber confident of a winner but Jezki didn’t feature and that was that!

A positive day and momentum going into Friday.

Day 4 – Arctic on Fire

Two more winners but again I look at what might have been. To win the first two races set everything up perfectly and I felt like a major day was on the cards. Defi De Seuil was a brilliant double winner for us (16/1 for Antepost Members and 5/2 on the Day). One of the more eye catching performances of the week also.

Then our big priced winner came! We always seem to grab one each festival and Arctic Fire’s price of 25/1 was ridiculous and I said it pre race. He bolted up the inside rail for a memorable 25/1 winner for us. 2/2 for the day at this stage.

Death Duty was really disappointing. I felt we had a huge chance from 3/3 and with the 10/at at Antepost that would’ve enhanced the banks. It wasn’t to be and the same for Cue Card sadly…

The same fence got him again this year but, for all the confidence that he’d have won last year, I think we can all agree he wouldn’t have featured quite so prominently this time around. You take your hat off to Robbie Power, Jessie Harrington and Sizing John. A top class team effort and Minella Rocco almost gave our friend Jonjo a shock winner as he bolted up into 2nd from nowhere. Native River dug deep as always but sadly we were empty handed.

No other big priced winners could land and that left us 21.5 points up from single bets for the week.

Antepost and Multiple bets

Defi De Seuil was the big winner for us when we tipped him up all the way back in Week 3 of the service at 16/1! There is no better feeling than landing one of those from so far back and it recovered a lot of the NR/Injury bets we made. Apples Jade was another winner and as was Un De Sceaux leaving us with 3 winners from 18 single selections and 3.5 points profit in total on that front.

Our multiples yielded just small returns in general with none of them getting close enough to the big pay out.

I do wonder though how different it would’ve been if Finians Oscar and Faugheen had run. We had a Lucky 15 with those 2, Defi De Seuil and Altior. The two horses run and they win for me – all of a sudden we land a big Lucky 15 and are laughing but we know that’s racing!

With multiple bets for Antepost and Day to Day we completed the week 20.03 points in profit. No complaints but my word what might’ve been!

To get a full list of our results visit our Spreadsheet.

What’s next?

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