It's Mark Your Card (again)

2015-07-25

With another commanding display, Isiris’ Mark Your Card finished at the head of the field in the July Besttipping Challenge. It was the third time in seven months in 2015 that this astonishing service has claimed pole position. Mark Your Card’s total profit for the four weeks under review (27 June to 25 July) was a huge 187.8 points, the sixth time they have passed the 150 point barrier in the thirteen months during which they have participated in the challenge.

            Second, with another impressive haul of 77.4 points, was Betadvisor’s John Sills, while Isiris, Personal Info, Those2oppose and Personal Info’s Saturday Service occupied the next four positions.

            First Favourite also posted a profit, maintaining their 100% record in 2015 – seven profitable months out of seven.

            Where else to begin, though, than with Mark Your Card’s annihilation of the betting community? The winners came with such regularity that rarely a day passed during the review period without some juicy nugget reducing the bookies to despair. Among the highlights were the Amanda Perrett-trained Astronereus, advised at 13/1 prior to his victory in York’s John Smith’s Silver Cup (11 July), and two successful 12/1 punts, Secret City (Thirsk, 1 July) and Head Space (Newbury, 23 July). There was also an 11/1 victor and two priced at 10/1.

            This all means that Mark Your Card now stand on 407.5 points for the year. They have someway to go to better last year’s record-breaking 804.7 point haul, but don’t forget that tally was garnered in just six months. So with five months punting still to come in 2015, anything remains possible.

            For the second time in three months, John Sills (Betadvisor) took second position. His strike-rate was a highly impressive 39%, with 9 out of 23 selections coming in first, including 15/2 Gutsy Rocky (Killarney, 16 July). A further four selections finished second (including one, advised each-way at 25/1) and three were third. Now a clear second in the 2015 table with 155.9 points, Sills has maintained a better than one in three strike-rate throughout his period in the challenge.

            Postponed, the King George winner was the most striking feature of a profitable July for Isiris. The Luca Cumani-trained four-year-old was advised at 25/1 before the scratching of Derby winner Golden Horn saw his odds tumble to 6/1.

            Personal Info continued to batter the bookies, registering a sixth profitable month out of seven so far this year. Twenty out of 26 selections finished in the first three with 13 taking top spot. This haul included 9/1 advice Heaven’s Guest, winner of the International Stakes at Ascot (25 July).

            Those2oppose found three winners and two each-way profits from just nine selections, while Personal Info’s Saturday-Only Service also posted a profit with four winners from eight selections.

            Finally this month, a word about First Favourite’s remarkable consistency: July was another month of profit, the seventh out of seven thus far in 2015. Eleven of this month’s 20 selections won at odds up to 2/1, producing an impressive strike rate of 55%. Last year, James Boyle Racing and Isiris recorded nine monthly profits out of 12. What odds on First Favourite bettering that record?