Thursday racing summary

A gratifying day, and four successful bets from four. I had three win bets, each of which did exactly what is says on the tin -- namely "win". Lead On, Hattan, and Abragante, at 10/11 and 2/1 and 6/1 respectively with better prices advised and available on the exchanges

I proposed two bets to lay, with Valery Borzov losing, and Adagio not meeting my price requirements. As Adagio won his race, it underlines (in my opinion) the importance of sticking to my guideline prices. Every punter owes it to themselves to get value when they bet, and at today's prices this horse was too much of a risk to warrant a lay bet. The horse was making his seasonal re-appearance after a good performance in the Dewhurst Stakes last autumn. However, in that race the market only rated him a 25/1 chance. Today's race was also to be over a slightly longer distance. For these reasons I would not be backing the horse, and at a price around the even money mark I was prepared to lay bets. In the event the horse produced a good performance to win, and I was proven right to be offering backers only a short price about him.

Good to see the win bets producing such handsome returns, and all told I pocketed more than 12 points profit.