Scambusters Latest Warning!!

Racehorse Investments mail should be binned


Graham Green

THE Office of Fair Trading, determined to foil the latest bid by fraudsters to fleece unwitting punters, is urging everybody who receives a mailshot from Racehorse Investments Ltd to "put it straight in the bin."

Members of the OFT's Scambusters team are concerned that as the recession starts to bite, recipients of the high-quality brochure that promises earnings of up to £70,000 a year tax free could be seduced into sending off the joining fee.

The bogus tipsters are understood to be using a mailing list as the punter who alerted the Racing Post, John Buck from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, was among those targeted by the fictitious All England Racing Club 18 months ago, and two operations are thought to emanate from the same source in the Brighton area.

The advertising material contains a family portrait featuring somebody named Alan Stapleton who, pictured with his wife and dog, claims to have won £340,000 since signing up to the Racehorse Investments service six years ago.
But investigation has revealed the photograph is available from a company in Canada which specialises in selling stock pictures.

The supposed head office for Racehorse Investments at 34 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1 is similarly misleading with a Scambusters investigator saying:

"It is a mailing address that has been used by a lot of fraudsters."

He added: "We are investigating Racehorse Investments Ltd, and believe it is the latest scam to come off the assembly line of a gang that has been operating in this field for some time.

The best thing anybody who gets the brochure can do is put it straight in the bin."

Buck said: "When I looked at the mailshot, it appeared too good to be true, but it is a glossy 12-page brochure and I am sure some people will be taken in by it so the more the fact that it is a scam is publicised, the better."

- racingpost

Horses to Follow

Saturdays Results

Horses to Follow results:

1.05 aint RIPPLING RING - 5th

RacingPost - Rippling Ring, moved stylishly during the race, but folded tamely approaching the last hurdle. There did not seem any obvious excuse for his weak finishing-effort.


1.35 aint TATENEN - 1st @ 4/7

RacingPost - Bookmakers fell over themselves to cut the winner for the Arkle just TATENEN’s impressive display, but there is a long time between now and the festival, and prices around 6-1 make little appeal. That said, he is clearly an exciting horse to look forward to.


2.40 aint BLACK JACARI - 2nd @ Evs

RacingPost - Black Jacari shaped well on his hurdling debut, but he did not conclusively prove that he was that willing in front. Held up early, he was given every chance to get past the winner under a powerful ride, but gave the impression that he was not fussed whether he went past or not. It will be interesting to see how he performs on a stiffer course.


4.25 aint HORA - 1st @ 7/2

RacingPost - HORA won on her debut at Ascot before easily following up in a 2m4f mares' novice at Hereford. This trip should have suited considering her best Flat efforts, and one always got the impression that the jockey had something up his sleeve despite losing his position a couple of times in the latter stages. She has surely earned a step up in class now.


1.20 chep JUNIOR - 5th @ 7/4

RacingPost - Last year's Coral Cup third Junior was well backed for this seasonal return, despite the fact he had still to taste success as a hurdler. He is not straightforward, but the pick of his form last season shows he is very capable on his day and a confidence-boosting drop in grade now looks a wise move for him.


2.20 chep BIGFELLATHANKS - 3rd @ 4/6

RacingPost - Big Fella Thanks, who signed off his novice season over hurdles with an official mark of 139, is every inch a chaser and jumped like a handicapper out in front. He felt the pinch from two out, but kept gamely to his task and eventually went down fighting. He is another who should peak this season and will not be long in finding a winning opportunity, with a softer surface likely to help his cause.


2.50 chep FOREST PENNANT - 2nd @ 5/2

RacingPost - Forest Pennant, last seen winning at Aintree on Grand National day, was popular in the betting despite resuming from a 10lb higher mark. He ran a blinder in defeat and was only agonisingly reeled in at the line after being produced to lead after four out. He remains progressive and looks yet another potentially decent chasing prospect for his leading stable.


3.05 str THE POLOMOCHE - 1st @ 2/1

RacingPost - A competitive handicap run at a strong pace which had most of the field under pressure leaving the back straight. Most, that is, except THE POLOMOCHE, who came away from the field and won with complete ease. He looks to have a bright future andwill be kept to handicap hurdles.



HTF RECORD SO FAR

+£107.14

10w - 5pl - 19

b/f +£936.77

c/f +£1043.91

BE LUCKY!!

Horses to Follow

Thursdays Results

Horses to Follow result:

2.40 carl RAYSROCK - 3rd @ 13/2

3.55 lud FIRST POINT - 1st @ 4/1


HTF RECORD SO FAR

+£415

7w - 3pl - 11

b/f +£521.77

c/f +£936.77


Today’s HTF runners:

1.05 aint RIPPLING RING

1.35 aint TATENEN (Too short a price to be a realistic betting proposition over fences)

2.40 aint BLACK JACARI

4.25 aint HORA

1.20 chep JUNIOR

2.20 chep BIGFELLATHANKS

2.50 chep FOREST PENNANT

3.05 str THE POLOMOCHE


BE LUCKY!!

Horses to Follow

Tuesdays Results

Horses to Follow results:

2.40 exe SHALONE - 1st @ 6/4

3.40 exe THE TOTHER ONE - 1st @ 8/11


HTF RECORD SO FAR

+£222.73

6w - 2pl - 9

b/f +£299.04

c/f +£521.77



Today’s HTF runners:

2.40 carl RAYSROCK - 0.5pt e/w

3.55 lud FIRST POINT - 1pt win

BE LUCKY!!

Horses to Follow

Wednesdays Results

Horses to Follow result:

3:05 - Uttox Diamond Harry - 1st @ 13/8

3:10 - Punch Browns Baily - 5th

4:50 - Weth Marleybow - 2nd


HTF RECORD SO FAR

-£62.50

4w - 2pl - 7

b/f +£361.54

c/f +£299.04



Today’s HTF runners:

2.40 exe SHALONE

3.40 exe THE TOTHER ONE

** WARNING ** The Tother One is too short a price to be a realistic betting proposition!!

Backing chasers at odds-on is a sure way to the poor house!!

BE LUCKY!!

Benin-based scam still targeting trainers

Rodney Masters

ELATION will soon turn sour for the many trainers still receiving a £6,500 cheque in the post from a potential owner, as an advance payment for training fees for a horse yet to arrive at their stable.

Kim Bailey is one of the latest of at least a dozen trainers targeted by a fraudster who goes by the name of Austin Clarke and claims to be a Welshman living in the Republic of Benin in Africa.

As some trainers have already realised, the £6,500 cheque is worthless.

Bailey, who did not fall for the scam, has posted on his website, kimbaileyracing.com two letters he received last week from Clarke.

Written in broken English, it is clear he has little understanding of racing. He begins his second letter: "I would love to have my horse under your training and I would like you to get him fit and then race him from there because the horse has to go through your system of training.

“I would envisage him staying there for 90 days, because it could take you 90 days to get completely unfit horse race fit".
The Racing Post highlighted Clarke's scam in a story published on October 9.

He is reworking a con used for decades from Africa, centred on the difficulty of financial transactions from there, and adds: "The money that my financial institution (based in the UK) will be sending to you is a bit more than your fee for 90 days training but I would really appreciate it if I can be able to trust you with the remaining balance?"

He continues: "To avoid delay and shipping of the horse to your location, I would like you to deduct your total fee to book your services and send the balance over to our insurance shipping agent immediately, so they can make arrangements for shipping the horse to your location in the UK immediately. Thank you and hope to hear from you soon."

The fraud is being investigated by Paul Beeby, the BHA's head of intelligence, who has warned trainers not to fall for the scam via Rupert Arnold, the National Trainers'Federation's chief executive.
- racingpost

Horses to Follow

Today’s HTF runners:

3:05 - uttox DIAMOND HARRY

3:10 - punch BROWNS BAILEY

4:50 - weth MARLEYBOW


HTF RECORD SO FAR

+461.54

3w - 1pl - 4

b/f -£100

c/f +£361.54

BE LUCKY!!

Horses to Follow

Horses to Follow result:

BREEDSBREEZE - 1ST @ 1/2

STRIKING ARTICLE - 1ST @ 8/13

CRACK AWAY JACK - 1ST @ 7/2


HTF RECORD SO FAR

+461.54

3w - 1pl - 4

b/f -£100

c/f +£361.54

Be Lucky!!

Horses to Follow

Thursdays Results

Horses to Follow result:

4.35 kil FINAL QUESTION - 3rd @ 15/8f

A disappointing 3rd - Chased leaders, 5th halfway, headway to 3rd 4f out, ridden and no impression 2f out, kept on one pace


HTF RECORD SO FAR

0w-1pl-1

-100


Today’s Horses to Follow runners:

BREEDSBREEZE

STRIKING ARTICLE

CRACK AWAY JACK

A big test for JACK today which will determine the route he takes this season. He needs a big performance today to go down the Champion hurdle route, otherwise he will probably go over fences according to trainer Emma Lavelle.

BE LUCKY!!

Best Tips of the Day!!

Thursdays Results

2.45 tram EBALISTA - 1ST @ 15/8

4.05 winc RUSSIAN FLAG - 3rd @ 8/1


RECORD SO FAR

+316

95w - 82pl - 367

b/f +£1204.5

c/f +£1520.5


I will be having an interest in the following horses today:

1.45 asc SIR GERRY

2.20 asc ALLIED POWERS


BE LUCKY!!

Horses to Follow

Horses to Follow results so far:

0w-0pl-0

Todays HTF runs at Kilbeggan in Ireland.

4.35 kil FINAL QUESTION


BE LUCKY!!

Horses to Follow

One of my horses to follow this year is CRACK AWAY JACK.

Copy and paste the following link to see what connections think of him.

You will have to register with the Racing Post to view the video.

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/news/news.sd?psection=racingpost.co.uk&page=News&category=Crack%20Away%20Jack%20video%20special

Best Tips of the Day!!

Wednesdays Results

Exeter
2.20 - Flemish Invader
4.50 - Weather Front - 1st @ 10/3

Towcester
3.30 - Easy Dancer
5.00 - Thai Vango


RECORD SO FAR

-204

94w-81pl-365

b/f +£1408.5

c/f +£1204.5


I will be having an interest in the following horses today:

2.45 tram EBALISTA - 2pts WIN

4.05 winc RUSSIAN FLAG - 1pt WIN

0.5 e/w dbl

BE LUCKY!!


Horse to Follow result:

4.50 Exeter COPPER BLEU - NR

+0

0w-0pl-0

Best Tips of the Day!!

Tuesdays Results

2.50 sthl PLOTTING - 1st @ 15/8

3.20 sthl MINUS FIFTEEN - 3rd @ 4/1


RECORD SO FAR

+87.5

93w - 81pl - 361

b/f +£1321

c/f +£1408.5

Now we are in October the ground has changed and it is VERY likely you will get some strange results at the flat meetings.

For that reason I will be concentrating on National Hunt racing from now until next May.

Exeter
2.20 - Flemish Invader - 1pt e/w
4.50 - Weather Front - 1pt e/w

Towcester
3.30 - Easy Dancer, - 1pt e/w
5.00 - Thai Vango - 1pt e/w

The first horse out on my Horses to Follow list runs today:

4.50 Exeter COPPER BLEU


BE LUCKY!!

ARC DE' TRIOMPH

At the moment, assumimg ground on the soft side, I am leaning towards,

SOLDIER OF FORTUNE with a saver on VISION D'ETAT.


SOLDIER OF FORTUNE has apparantly been trained for this race.
(Interview with K Fallon)

If the ground is on the soft side he will handle it better than the other runners.

If Johnny Murtagh rides the SOLDIER this should be taken as a positive, although Seamie Heffernan is no poor substitute having won a couple of Group 1's himself this season.

DUKE OF MARMALADE has had a busy season already and this MAY be a race too far!!

There is rain around in France and DUKE OF MARMALADE may not run, as he prefers Gd/Fst ground.


Some stats to digest.

Twelve of the last seventeen runnings of the Arc were won by lightly raced, strongly fancied French trained three year olds.

A pointer to the winner of the ARC can be found in the Prix Niel, which has provided every one of the last eight 3yo winners.

While the last eight 3yo winners of the ARC all contested the Prix Niel, not all actually won that trial.

The 2008 Prix Neil was won by the Eric Libaud trained Vision D'etat

No winner of the Prix Vermeille (Zarkava) has won the Arc in the same season since Three Troikas in 1979.

Horses above the age of five and fillies (Zarkava) do not have a great record in the race; nor do horses that have been peaked to take in mid Summer races such as the King George.


The draw is of crucial importance, with only one winner in the last fourteen years (Sakhee) racing from a stall number higher than nine.

In the 2008 renewal the leading contenders are drawn as follows;

Soldier of Fortune - 9 ; Zarkava - 1; Kasmin - 12; Vision D'etat - 8; Getaway - 7; Duke of Marmalade - 14

LAY of the day!!

DON'T FORGET THESE ARE LAY BETS!!

Sorry no selection today!!

4.05 Ayr, There was a selection in this race but with four non-runners it is a NO BET for me!!

There is always tomorrow on the horses!!

And hopefully our Golf bets will go well this week.


Record so far:

13 winning bets from 15 selections.

b/f +£722.20

c/f +£822.20


BE LUCKY!!

For P&L purposes I use a stake of £105.30 which produces a profit of just over £100 when the selection LOSES.

Turning Stone Resort Championship - Oct 2nd

With a lot of the big guns taking a well earned rest for a while, hopefully we can find the winner of this weeks tournament at Turning Stone.

My four against the field this week are:

C PETTERSON - 2.5 pts WIN @ 20/1

D HART - 2 pts WIN @ 25/1

S FLESCH - 1.5 pts WIN @ 33/1

R IMADA - 1 pts WIN @ 45/1


GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!


RECORD SO FAR

-350

1w-1pl-13

B/f +£2510

C/f +£2160

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LAST TOURNAMENT RESULT:

Paul Casey 0.5pt WIN @ 50/1 - T15 on 287

Lee Westwood 1pt WIN @ 25/1 - Missed Cut

Kenny Perry 1pt WIN @ 45/1 - Retired with Eye Injury

Hunter Mahan 0.5pt WIN @ 50/1 - Missed Cut

Zach Johnson 0.5 WIN @ 110/1 - Missed Cut