Sixth Besttipping title for Daily Bargain

2022-12-31

And so it came to pass that Daily Bargain secured a fourth straight Besttipping Challenge, thus bettering Mark Your Card’s previous record of three straight wins (2014-16). An overall tally of 56.5 points secured a comfortable success over Probets (30.6 points). Personal Info’s Saturday-Only service finished third with a seven-point yield, and a tremendous record of eleven winning months out of twelve.

There’s no real surprise that Steve Jones’ outstanding value-based service won a record sixth Besttipping title, but the manner of victory was surprising, to say the least. Because, at the end of July, Daily Bargain languished at the foot of the table, some 111-points adrift of Jones’ second service, Probets.

At that point, Daily Bargain were showing a loss of 45.5 points, notching just one profitable month out of seven. Probets, meantime, were 66.3 points up, having just topped the table for the seventh month in a row with a 39% strike-rate and a 14.38-point yield, then the year’s best monthly return. But, as noted in the July review, August is often a kind month for Daily Bargain: in 2021, for instance, the return was 22 points.

Not only did August 2022 provide Daily Bargain with a handsome profit of 36.5 points, but it also marked the turning point in the year; with each successive month, the margin between the two services would reduce, until entering December, the difference was just a point, and the momentum had passed from a faltering Probets to a steadfast Daily Bargain.

With three winners in the opening six days of action, Daily Bargain quickly put the issue to bed. The long cold snap followed by the Christmas break made it difficult for Probets to launch a counter attack, and by the time Into Overdrive scored at Wetherby for Daily Bargain (26 December), it was just a question of how far Daily Bargain would win by. That 6/1 winner was the fifth success of the month for Daily Bargain, following Will Victory (7/1, Sedgefield, 2 December), Merlin Giant (7/1, Fairyhouse, 4 December), Hurricane Harvey (13/2, Uttoxeter, 6 December) and Beattie Is Back (15/2, Wolverhampton, 13 December).

The month’s yield was 17 points, the fifth double-figure profit in a row. For Probets the month ended with a 10-point loss, the fourth successive negative return. During this four-month spell, the overall profit fell from more than 70 points to 30.6, a disappointing end to what had started out as a memorable year.

In securing top position in the table seven months in a row (January to July), Probets set a new record, which, ironically, is now under threat from Daily Bargain, currently boasting five top spots in succession. And it goes without saying that never before has one operator (in this case Steve Jones) won a clean sweep of titles during a calendar year.

Probets overall return (30.6 points) would, in normal circumstances, be hailed as a fine effort. It represents a huge improvement on last year’s 8.4-point return and is Probets best tally since a yield of 61.9 points back in 2018. Eight winning years out of ten (with an average yield of more than 16 points profit) is Probets’ all-time record.

Last year, Personal Info’s Mainline service topped the list for most profitable months in a calendar year with ten. In 2022, the same stable’s Saturday-Only service went one better, securing eleven consecutive profitable months after missing out in January. A positive return in January will see Saturday-Only emulate First Favourite, who posted 12 straight months of profit back in the calendar year of 2015.

December’s yield was a modest 0.4 points, but a decent return on investment of 30% was secured, on just two bets: Mighty River a 15/8 winner at Wolverhampton (3 December) and an each-way return on 6/1 Tipperary Star, who came third at Uttoxeter (31 December). Saturday-Only’s potential earning were diminished as three successive Saturdays were lost, the first two to bad weather, the last to Christmas. 

Mainline was cruelly denied a ninth profitable return of 2022 by the disappointing showing of Central Hall at Newcastle (28 December). December did, however, feature three winners (from six bets): Mighty River (15/8, Wolverhampton, 3 December), Queen of Fairies (3/1, Southwell, 13 December) and Pyffo (4/1, Haydock).

It only remains to wish all followers of Besttipping a very happy new year.