BREAKING NEWS! Racing To Profit signs Adam Norman on a season long contract...IntroI am delighted, and excited, to announce that Adam Norman has agreed to join us here for the winter season, (Nov 1st > end April) with regular tips, write ups and his exclusive 'Notes from The North' which will be sent out as a newsletter every two weeks or so.
The first of these from Sedgefield's recent meeting, as a free taster, is below.
Many of you may not know who he is, so there's an intro from him below also. Those of you who've been around for a while may remember his feature 'notebook' articles on RTP, or may be a reader of his blog. You may have even heard him on RTV every now and again. I first met Adam at Aintree many years ago, studiously making paddock notes. We've kept in touch ever since and for the last couple of years I've long thought he could add plenty of value to RTP. We've never shared a track-side pint, mainly as the racecourse has been his office. One day. It was time I shook thinks up a bit, realised what I'm good at, what I'm not, and how I can improve the your experience.
This is a new adventure for us both and I'm excited about what we can offer together in the months ahead, further adding to your enjoyment of jumps racing. The last week or so on the blog, esp the Chepstow/Silver Trophy approach, is a good snap shot of what you'll get from me, especially my more focussed approach to feature handicaps. It was pleasing to start off with a winner. Adam will bring daily tips /insights using his wealth of knowledge - the attention to detail you'd expect from a pro punter who knows how to price up a race - as well as his unrivalled 'notebook eye'. (as you can see from the Sedgefield article below)
This 'signing' will take the content and experience here to a new level, creating the perfect portfolio to use as you please :-
- Daily Tips/write ups (Adam, posted 9am), 'Big Race' tips/previews (me)
- Trainer 'systems/angles', Big Race/Meeting Stats / Trends/ Trainer pointers etc
- Videos (previews, reviews, 'educational', research ect) , unique notebook horses/reviews (Adam)
- The unrivalled engagement / community / readers' insights etc
On paper at least I think we will tick most boxes - that mix of opinion you can follow and information you can use as a 'way in' for your own punting - all enjoyed together as we try to create new racing moments and memories. But, not so much 'opinion' (tips) that you're suffocated and don't have space to find your own, which is the ultimate buzz. But winning money/cheering winners from other's view's is quite fun also! That blend is what keeps us all in the game long term in my opinion.
So, that's the plan. All being well we will go 'live' with the full offering from Nov 1st. They'll be a 28-30 day trial of some sort (may be free) before a one off 'winter season ticket' price through to end of April, with a 30 day money back guarantee from that time of payment, if we fail to add to your enjoyment of the greatest of games. I've yet to decide the final price but it will be reasonable for what's on offer, but while also realising this is a new offering of sorts. But, in reality you'll have around 60 days to see for yourself, risk free.
Right, I think that's enough from me.
I
'll hand over to Adam, with a brief intro from him. Below that is his first Newsletter instalment. The rest of his October musings will be available to anyone who signs up to the trial. We may do a recorded 'zoom chat' at some point in the next couple of weeks, but for now...*
Hello, Adam here, I’ve been a professional gambler since giving up work in the early part of 2014. I say giving up work...I mean paid work. Anybody who has started their own business knows you can never do too many hours, and sometimes it’s hard to know when to step away from the machine. So for the past six years I’ve never worked harder, and the time has gone by in a flash.
I have always gone racing whenever possible, and have been doing so for more than three decades. That experience gives me the confidence to back my own ability not only to find winners, but to have the mental strength required to come through the inevitable tough times.
I spent several years working for an on-course bookmaker, which gave me a solid grounding in odds, percentages and a sense of value. I often price up a race before looking at oddschecker to give me a handle on where I’m likely to find value.
I focus solely on National Hunt racing, predominantly in the North, and more specifically novice and handicap chases. My on-course work means that I am able to pick out young horses in bumpers and novice hurdles that should perform well in the short term, as well as those that are more likely to come into their own in the medium to long term.
I have written a blog for the past six years with more than 400 posts, most being a review of the day’s racing from my unique paddock perspective, regularly pinpointing horses to follow and, just as importantly, avoid.
While I am hoping to continue to get to the racetrack, given the current climate there are no guarantees however, hopefully racing will continue to take place and with less time on the road I should get the opportunity to study even more and have teamed up with Josh to share my wealth of knowledge and experience with you.
Adam
*
Adam's 'Notes From The North' Your notebooks/trackers at the ready... in any case it's an informative read from a pro, as you'd expect...Sedgefield October 7McGarry, winner of a weak Point just 12 months ago, revealed the nature of his true ability with a close-up fifth of seven at Haydock on his final start for Henry Oliver in December, which earned him an opening mark of 107 despite not being asked too many questions.
I’ve noted him several times in six runs for new trainer Phil Kirby, every inch a chaser being a strong, lengthy individual, and despite this being his third outing since lockdown he still looked on the burly side.
It has to be said he has shown very little since Haydock, however that will not stop connections from having a right go when the time is right. Just modestly bred, the son of Mahler may only be a 105-type horse at best, yet he is already down to 94 and about to drop further.
They may look for a weak race over hurdles for him, however it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the money was down first time over fences when they will have a readymade excuse for the sudden burst of improvement. Kirby has fine record with chasers especially at the likes of Catterick and Wetherby.
In the opening contest, a horse that used to be owned by the Vacuum Pouch Company and was indeed the subject of strong support by connections last season returned to action by the name of
Kangaroo Valley.A son of Australia, he cost a whopping $200k as a yearling but I wasn’t taken by his backward appearance that day at Catterick, when he was off the bridle with a circuit to go before plugging on to be fourth in a modest juvenile hurdle.
On his first start since last winter, the four-year-old looked to be carrying condition but should do better given time to strengthen up, showing little in what turned out to be a rather weak event even by the track’s standards.
Interestingly, the horse found a jolt of improvement with the addition of cheekpieces when trained at Ballydoyle, earning a mark of 90, so we can look forward to a similar scenario for new connections possibly when stepped up to 2m4f.
The trainer will be keen to get his mark down from the current 110 into the 90s, which will take another couple of runs.
In the same race, the Sue Smith-trained
Small Present is one to keep on the right side after finishing full of running in second place, repeatedly messed about in the final mile thanks to some novicey leaps and a basic lack of tactical speed over a tight 2m.
Still not looking fully fit despite having shown plenty behind a future winner at Hexham the previous month, the son Presenting is a typical ‘work in progress’ from the yard although he’d need to grow further before a career over fences is considered.
There is no doubt that both his bumper and hurdles outings thus far suggest a decent horse in the making, however I would still expect him to make his mark in the shorter term providing he is stepped up to 2m4f.
He may struggle in deep winter ground given that he is still immature but he is clearly some way ahead of the rest of the stable’s winter team, suggesting they are hoping to make the most of the better ground this side of Christmas.
Returning to the third race on the card in which McGarry was down the field, the Smiths ran
Blaster Yeats who hadn’t been seen since chasing home the well-handicapped Thomas MacDonagh at Wetherby last November.
I felt that was a massive run at the time from a young horse that was on the small side and quite backward, and was looking forward to seeing him in the flesh again.
It was rather disappointing to see that he hadn’t grown much, although a lot of Yeats progeny can lack for size. Like the other Smith horses I’ve seen so far (small sample) he did not look great in his coat and was a bit on edge.
The money came for him however, I suspect a result of having had a couple of shock novice hurdle winners recently the assumption is that the yard is ahead of where they are usually at for the time of year. I’d treat that view with some caution at this time.
Blaster Yeats showed up well for a long way prior to fading out of contention, however this is a horse I will be keeping a very close eye on going forward, hopefully he will take training well and gain some condition. The 2m3f was on the sharp side and I see him as improving over further when the freshness is out of him.
Raecius Felix is one to put in the locker for the spring. Immature mentally, he looked in fantastic condition prior to winning at Kelso the time before and I fancied him strongly to back that up with another win here, however he needed to dig deep to get past the well-handicapped Oak Vintage.
This Stowaway gelding had had a kind introduction to racing under Ruth Jefferson, which is only now bearing fruit for new connections. A very athletic individual, he’s quite fizzy and arguably ran up a little light here and the trainer told me she will now ease off him for the time being.
A fine and natural jumper, he is every bit a ‘Saturday horse’ of the future (in the north at least) and I have him on a mark of 132 following this performance, so another rise of 7lb or so should still leave some leeway.
He is thought to need good ground so whether they’ll keep him in training this winter with a view to picking their way through the better ground meetings I’m not sure.
While he has plenty of natural speed, as he matures and settles he will get 3m no problem, so we can look forward to seeing him continue to improve further in the spring at the Aintree and Ayr festivals.
Runner-up
Oak Vintage will also have to go back up half a stone but he has loads of leeway from here to his best form as he’s able to operate around the 120 mark. Although he was quietly fancied they felt, as did I, that he would benefit from the outing and I’d expect him to be winning before long.
It was very surprising that connections of
Eyeofthescorpion chose to take on the fiendishly well-handicapped The Navigator in the closing race and not take up an easier option at Exeter the following day.
When winning at Huntingdon, it was clear to all that the further he went, the better he looked, so this drop in trip was a huge negative and he predictably couldn’t handle his main market rival in the closing stages.
He lost nothing in defeat, but will now have to race from a 7lb higher mark. No matter - I had already elevated him to a mark of 120 and the manner of that previous victory suggests he has bundles in hand and this good-looking, rangy individual will be back winning again before long, provided of course he returns to a trip of 2m4f and beyond.
I'll be using this list to contact you about the Members Club and you'll be at the front of queue to join the trial if you so wish. This also gives me an idea on numbers and whether we will need to shut up shop. I'd be lying if I said I thought we'd get to a stage where we don't accept new members this season, but you never know. There are around 240 off you on this free email list at the moment, and if you'd like to join them...
