Have you ever considered that saying about form being temporary and class permanent, but sometimes wish that form was permanent and therefore the class was never undeniable?  Seriously, the form Racing Intelligence is in, I never want it to end. If only form was permanent…

I’m not even going to mention the winners RI has had this week and which aren’t included in the figures below, but suffice to say we’ve had a series of big wins at fancy odds.  I’ve said all along with Racing Intelligence I find it nigh on impossible to get the advised prices (they do move quick) but I don’t worry as the prices I do get consistently beat Betfair SP – possibly the ‘truest’ odds – and usually by a significant margin.  The nature of the bets means that we’re following ‘shrewd’ money that is already down, so of course the prices are going to move pretty sharpish.

I found this a little tricky to get my head around at first.  Over the years I’ve accepted that following a service with which I can’t get at least very close to the advised prices is probably not one for me, but with Racing Intelligence I’ve made an exception and have no regrets in doing so.  My ambition is to achieve a minimum 10% ROI over time with it, and am well above that level.  And so long as I continue to beat Betfair SP, I’m ok with getting 8/1 on a 10/1 shot, or 3s on a 7/2 pick.

Suffice to say that Racing Intelligence has been by far the stariest of Star Performers for September to date, but good to see Golf Insider hit on another winner over in the States over the weekend, even if at relatively conservative odds of 12/1.

Precision Value continues their winning streak early last week and notched up good figures despite a little pegging back over the weekend.

The woes of Racing Service 1 show little sign of easing with not a return of any sort in sight from seven bets, and Bet Alchemist found things a little tougher than of late too.

Portfolio performance for September (to the 6th)

Bet Alchemist (100 point bank): Staked 8pts, -6.7pts

Racing Service 1 (200): Staked 13pts, -13pts

Golf Insider (400): Staked 15pts, +5.5pts

PGA Profit (500): Staked 8pts, -8pts

Precision Value (200): Staked 26pts, +6.75pts

Racing Intelligence (200): Staked 65pts, +31.241pts

Scottish Football Income Booster (100): n/a

Racing Service 2 (50): n/a

Total for August: ROI 8.52%, ROC 0.8%

It was great to make back the losses suffered in July, and then add some substantial profit.  With three services having a very strong month, one more chipping in to the profit pot, and the three tipsters who ended the month in the red hardly disgracing themselves, August finished nicely up.

Top performer was Racing Intelligence who was one of the few to perform in July.  I am still finding getting the advised prices an almost impossible task on the vast majority of the selections, but I am consistently getting better prices than the industry and Betfair SPs, so at present I’m happy.  Despite taking a few days off in the last week, the tipster returned to action over the weekend and landed two or three decent wins to really finish the month strongly.

Bet Alchemist started to turn things around following a poor patch of form back in late July and the improved performance carried on very nicely through August.  Nothing really spectacular, but each week saw solid returns which when totalled up show that BA has enjoyed a fantastic month.  I’m liking the switch from tipping the night before racing to 9.00 in the morning of race day too.  Sometimes you don’t want to be hanging around on a Friday evening to place bets.  I know it’s not been so easy to go down the pub for an end of week swiftie as normal, but Friday night is at least takeaway night.  Better to settle down in front of a film with a beer and a curry than worrying about putting bets on, I reckon.

The first half of July was a bit of a nightmare for Precision Value but since then we’ve seen a run of hot form.  I feel – but without checking can’t be sure – that mid to late summer is often a lucrative time for this service.  Certainly it has proven to be this year!

A small profit for Golf Insider but it feels like August was very much a nearly month.  A winner at 20/1 and a number of golfers picking up a place return, I can’t escape the feeling the end of August figures should have been much better. Still, a profit is a profit and you’ll never hear me complaining when a service ends the month in the black.  I’ll likely be making a little tweak to the way I follow having been lucky enough to see all the data that goes into what is a soon-to-be-released to SBC members re-review of this service.  Watch out for that.

The three services to contribute a small loss on the month are PGA Profit, Scottish Football Income Booster, and Racing Service 1.  The latter are still to find their mojo, despite their recent tinkering in approach which included a back to basics policy.  We really need to see a strong end to the year from RS1.

Portfolio performance for August

Bet Alchemist (100 point bank): Staked 39pts, +26.211pts

Racing Service 1 (200): Staked 73pts, -7.5pts

Golf Insider (400): Staked 75pts, +8.858pts

PGA Profit (500): Staked 148pts, -13.76pts

Precision Value (200): Staked 92pts, +37.08pts

Racing Intelligence (200): Staked 301pts, +63.967pts

Scottish Football Income Booster (100): Staked 19pts, -4.262pts.

Racing Service 2 (50): n/a

Total for August: ROI 20.09%, ROC 9.74%