Turnaround Sees Mark Your Card Return to Top

The enduring tussle between Middleton Racing Services and Isiris’ Mark Your Card took another twist in June, with Mark Your Card leapfrogging their rivals to take a narrow 1.8-point lead in the 2016 Besttipping challenge.

Mark Your Card finished June with a 38.7-point yield taking a third monthly title of 2016, while Middleton, who headed the table in February and May, had to be content with second place and a 7.1-point profit.

At the half-way point in the challenge, Mark Your Card have a 99.2-point profit, while Middleton have gained 97.4 points so far.

Those2oppose finished third with Steve Jones’ Daily Bargain, Personal Info’s Saturday-Only service and First Favourite also posting June profits.

As usual, Mark Your Card unearthed a number of winners whose generous prices didn’t reflect their chances of success. These included two 16/1 advices, Classic Seniority (York, 10 June) and Zayfire Aramis (Worcester, 29 June) along with 14/1 Rio Ronaldo (Windsor, 30 May) and two 12/1 York winners, Shrewd (10 June) and Snoano (11 June). There were also two 10/1 winners, four priced at 9s, and three at 8s.   

During the course of the period under review (29 May to 30 June), Mark Your Card provided 372 tips at an average of more than 11 a day. In the same period, Middleton Racing Services gave just seven tips but they included Galileo Gold (7/1 advice), winner of the St James’ Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Oaks third, Harlequeen, a juicy 20/1 each-way punt.

It is worth reflecting on Middleton’s record this year. As well as the two monthly wins they have claimed four runners-up spots. Not only have they finished in the first two each month, but they are the only service to post a profit in each of the six months so far in 2016, a remarkable effort.

For the third month in a row, Those2oppose finished third in the table, this time with a monthly profit of 6.7 points. The victory of the French-trained filly, Qemah, in the Coronation Stakes ensured a handsome pay-out (6/1 advice, Royal Ascot, 17 June) while the month ended on a high curtesy of a 14/1 each-way double on 25 June with Breton Rock (3/1, Newmarket) and Arcanada (5/2, Chester) both winning.

Steve Jones’s Daily Bargain returned to form with four winners during the period under review. This effort was spearheaded by Eternity’s Gate, a 12/1 advice prior to that horse’s Pontefract victory on 6 June. Successful strikes at 7/1, 6/1 and 9/2 complete the picture.

Operative, a 3/1 advice (Redcar, 18 June) was one of three winners (from just six bets) for Personal Info’s Saturday-Only service, which now moves into fifth place in the 2016 table behind Mark Your Card, Middleton, Isiris and Those2oppose. One place behind Personal Info Saturday-Only is First favourite, who notched another profit in June, the sixteenth since the start of 2016.

We are now entering the busiest period of the racing year with Newmarket’s popular July Meeting heralding a month that also features the most important all-aged race of the summer, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot as well as the start of Glorious Goodwood and the marathon Galway Festival. Rest assured we will be ahead of the game, with regular twitter updates throughout the month.