DAILY BARGAIN IN SIGHT OF FOURTH BESTTIPPING CROWN
2020-11-30
Daily Bargain in sight of fourth Besttipping crown
Last year’s Besttipping champion, Daily Bargain, is on course to make it back-to-back wins following another impressive showing in November. Steve Jones’ value-based service secured a 37.5-point yield in the penultimate month of 2020. And with nearest challenger, Mark Your Card, posting a loss, Daily Bargain extended the lead at the top of the table from less than ten points to a commanding 59.3 points.
Even if Daily Bargain fail to secure a winner in December – in itself an unlikely proposition - Mark Your Card would need to post a profit of more than 28 points to secure victory. Stranger things have happened, and in this crazy year we cannot rule anything out, but Daily Bargain enter December as long odds-on favourites to make it four Besttipping championships, following wins in 2012, 2017 and 2019.
Daily Bargain’s stable companion, Probets, claimed second place in the list, while Personal Info Saturday-Only and Personal Info’s mainline service also posted November profits.
Daily Bargain’s November haul was the best monthly return since Mark Your Card’s 40.1-point gain back in March. It was a fifth monthly crown and was also a seventh profitable month out of the nine months in 2020 in which meaningful action took place.
Winners on the first two days of the month set the tone and a third four days later sent Daily Bargain on the road to profit. A further five selections took the honours giving a strike-rate of more than 26% - a remarkable feat given that advised prices averaged over 10/1. Of these eight successes, Johnny Drama (11/1, Kempton, 2 November), Fantasy Believer (10/1, Kempton, 11 November) and Robinshill (8/1, Taunton, 12 November) returned the best SPs.
Although the margin of Daily Bargain’s victory was large, there was a terrific tussle for the minor placings. Less than half a point covered the next three finishers. The identity of the runner-up remained in doubt until the last weekend; had Arthur’s Seat prevailed in the junior bumper at Doncaster, second spot would have gone to one of the two Personal Info services. But the Paul and Clare Rooney-owned gelding fell just short – finishing two and three-quarter lengths adrift of the winner, Masaccio.
That reverse enabled Probets to cling on, despite an eight-day losing streak which followed the victory of Araifjan (11/4 advice) at Wolverhampton on 22 November. In all, Probets secured six November winners (21% strike-rate) with Bringitonboris (11/2, Newcastle, 20 November) steering the way to a 0.75-point yield.
Personal Info Saturday-only eventually took third with a 0.34-point gain, while Personal Info’s Mainline service came fourth with a 0.30-point return.
All seven of Personal Info’s Saturday-only selections finished in the frame, with two, Sceau Royal (10/11, Wincanton, 7 November) and Dubai Warrior (4/6, Lingfield, 14 November) crossing the line first. A further two selections secured each-way money, ensuring a seventh profitable month from nine in 2020.
As for the Mainline service, 13 race bets yielded five winning selections. As well as the two mentioned in the previous paragraph, Run For Oscar (5/6, Fairyhouse, 13 November), Bravemansgame (evens, Newbury, 27 November) and the exciting Honeysuckle (4/9, Fairyhouse) also prevailed.
Mark Your Card experienced a quiet month with just 32 selections advised. This list included the Kevin-Ryan trained Glass Slippers, 8/1 winner of the Turf Sprint at the Breeders Cup (Keenland, 7 November) and a number of good each-way returns, but it will take a much more productive month to put any pressure on Daily Bargain. But, if there’s one tipster capable of such action, it’s Mark Your Card. Exactly two years ago, a heavy November loss of 45-points was followed by superlative 54.7-point yield. A repeat would certainly make things interesting.