Back in the hot seat...... and on fire!!

Hey all!!

I'm back at last, after a few delays on flights i got back late sunday night.... spent most of monday sleeping and finally forced myself to work yesterday!

 From the decking at our back door!

Maldives - Meedhupparu

The picture above there dosen't do it justice but the water from the back door of our beach villa was litterally 30 metres away!
Meedhupparu was the island we stayed at, although i'd never been to the maldives before id guess its probably one of the better islands to be on for various reasons... some of them tend to be limited with things to do being so small and some of the reef's around the islands limit what you can do in the ocean.
This one though there was stacks of excurions to do, diving, watersports, snorkeling, several bars, a couple of restraunts and still loads of space to chill out! (it wasn't particularly busy given all the things around).
I caught the sun a fair bit and as one the waiters said after pointing at his own skin ''same same but different'' haha, peeled a bit despite having loads of suncream on but really couldnt fault it, i'd recommend it as a resort to anyone that was thinking about going. Being a typical bloke i didn't take all that many pictures but you can see from the pic's it was absolute paradise! 10 out of 10 for me, i'll definately be going again.

Small beach bar by the water (spent quite a while in there!)

Back in the hot seat!

So after a day of feeling poor due to jet lag and lack of sleep i managed to tear myself out my pit to trade, motivation wasn't too bad considering but i thought i'll just take it steady to warm back into things after 10 days off as i thought i might be a bit rusty. Turned out to be quite the opposite!
Yesterdays cards were not all that bad in terms of quality and today should be better with York but i think the biggest thing that helped me yesterday was that i really wasn't all that bothered about making alot of money and had little to no expectations for the day, for that reason i didn't even really check my balance or progress untill the end of the day card!
Was a little supprised as i knew i was going ok but not quite that well!! anyway it supplied me with the motivation to carry on, so i did! ... come 6pm i was feeling a little drained and by 7pm i was loosing the will to live! haha, the only thing that spured me on was the fact i might break my personal best for a single days trading, and as dangerous as thinking like that can be i just about managed it!!! first day back, who would of thought!!

I realise there is alot of opportuity on offer with the better racing in the evenings picking up around now and the markets felt a bit more fluid too in general so i took a trip to tesco after to stock up on isotonic drinks and slow release energy foods!! I think im ready to wage war on the summer markets!!.......

Holiday!!!!

Thats right people!! ... its been a good few months since my last holiday to Egypt so i've decided to treat myself to another break away, this time to one of the nicest destinations i've ever been, for some reason its somewhere ive always wanted to go just because of the whole desert island type thing.

Maldives, woop woop!! 11 days of pure relaxing, hopefully it'll help me freshen up for when im back!
This months been a pretty good result for me so im not too anxious although its a bit of a shame im going to miss 12 days of the racing with flights and traveling included, still i can't complain and want to go but with the way its been going just lately it seems like ill be loosing a small fortune in lost earnings!
Keen to do a bit of diving this time as its supposed to be where its at for diving too, all in all a bit excited!

The markets have livend up now it would seem and the evening racing has started, i havent done a huge amount of it yet although initially it feels a bit thin, sure thats pretty normal for the start of any change to the calendar anyway though!

Not long now!! nearly into counting the hours despite it only being a few days away!!

Trading Fuel!

Hey all....

Was just thinking there has been much talk in the past i recall of people having various rituals and 'trading fuels' all seems a bit superstitious to me to make the link between some things although undobtedly there must be some things that put you in the right state of mind!

For me that's a cheeky Kopparberg! some that i speak to think this is sheer lunacy, some need focusing i suppose where as i think i just need calming down a little so one or two of these mid session seem to sort me right out!!
With the summer weather on its way i think its gonna be a tough call for me to sit in and do the evenings racing although it would be a bit opportunity to miss so im compramising at the moment like this, i think come the end of the summer though it could end up like this....

Still.... on the serious side of things, trading drunk is a bad idea... definately, but trading relaxed with one of your favourite beverages helps in my opinion, like today, a fairly average yet consistent day....

Thinking outside the box...

Afternoon everyone,

Looks like a bit of a dreary wednesday afternoon today which is a bit of a shame with Newcastle cancelled and only two cards left, just trying to fill the gaps up with household chores at the moment.... always a little big of a grind when its like this but im sure it'll be worth it come the end of the day. Motivation always seems to take a little dip for me after a really bit meeting, although it was the right thing to do given last weeks circumstances i can't help but think i should of tried to get more done as the opportunities clearly aren't about on days like today!

Anyway, thought i'd share a little interesting angle with you as i was thinking earlier and it's something i often do before trading...

I don't know about you but although i trade the horses every day i actually know next to nothing, i know alot about the markets but pretty little about the racing. There are some things i have picked up on along the way and i've probably watched a few thousand races so have an idea of whats going well when running-ish anyway but my knowledge is limited.
It really dosen't matter though, as long as you can read anyway! heres a link i like to look at briefly before i start each day, Hugh Taylor.... a pretty good tipster, sometimes his tips will make them market shift a little depending on whats said but he has a far better idea of whats goin on than me so i'll let him do the work.... Hugh Taylor selections

I like reading his view on things as usually (not every day) he gives a view on what he thinks is strong in the market and will even quite frequently say 'if theirs money for x runner' i'd consider it a sign etc. Anyway, it turns out more often than not what he says is pretty true in the markets near to post time. I'll usually do slightly better in these races so sometimes i'll even go as far as hedging up in-running.

Anyway if ATR is useful for anything this is it as personally i can't really stand what they say on the channel! haha.

Cheltenham.... a bit deflated

Afternoon all!!

Well its all over! rather quick wasn't it. What can i say? i didn't particularly enjoy Cheltenham this year as much as i should, unfortunately its just how it goes but this week i was heavily burdened with personal issues meaning i didn't trade half as much as i should have nor did it get my full attention when i actually was trading at times either. A real shame as the week only comes around once a year although i was happy enough to still pull an average kind of weeks result from tuesday - friday (suppose it is only 4 days) having traded only 66 races with 5 of them on gold cup day.

The gold cup race itself i found utterly utterly frustrating!! reason being i just had to keep scratching my position on the runner i was on, possibly 3 - 4 times i found myself in a position with an entry 100% filled and the exit i could 'feel' was right on the cusp of being filled when the price would move away a tick, a real shame had i got them as that result for the gold cup was pretty much one ticks worth of profit on the stakes i was playing.... gotta try these things i suppose if you wanna ever try and pull some big results out the bag! anyway a bit of good fortune wasn't on my side this week.....
A similar thing happened on wednesday i think it was with an extremely short priced runner and a massive order (felt physically sick after that one).
Anyway theirs alway ascot and all the other big meetings just around the corner, should have my life in good order by then and be ready to fire on all cylinders!
Hope everyone had a good Cheltenham! its always a big of an experience for those on the first time around.
This week i have recorded plenty of the Cheltenham races i did which is always a good idea for anyone, also its worth mentioning i'll be going through them along side Jack Birkhead in our Mastermind webinars shortly, feel free to check it out :)

Pennies make pounds!

Evening chaps,

Been thinking alot of late having made the epic leap to being full-time, its not turning out too badly at all and im ticking over pretty well at the moment.
What i have noticed over the last few weeks though is i tend to have alot of time on my hands, a good thing but i think im going to try and channel this spare time along with my energy into other things... i think its important, also it keeps me interested... and most of all stops me being lazy and getting up really late!

So this week i've started my gym membership again (im a bit of a tightwad) so that should ensure i go! I've been most days already. Also something i used to do quite some time ago although failed on the discipline is attempting to lay the draw on the football at attractive odds, so i'll be reading up on that a fair bit more.. and finally the dogs....

I know how to trade the dogs successfully although due to the poor liquidity it makes it very tricky for me to make any kind of sum per race, occasionally i use it as a 'warm up' prior to the days racing, although not taking it serious on small stakes i still manage to take out maybe a quid a race, so i thought if i just do myself £10's worth of dogs each day it'll keep me a bit busier, maybe ill improve even and whats more an extra tenner a day cant be grumbled at over the space of a month.

Anyway as frustrating and boring trading the dogs can be it could still be worth your while over the space of the day.... nothing like the racing and i think id rather watch paint dry than do it all day but here ya go, this morning i did 6 before i started trading the nags... this is all of them back to back. Should of plugged the mic in so i could explain my thoughts but didnt even think of it... sorry for that.

Enjoy :) --- you'll need to select 720 viewing quality.

One week and counting!!

One week before the 'greatest show on turf' starts!, and im pretty excited!

Although Cheltenham is a different beast to the rest of the year spelling problems for many as they struggle to adapt and change how they behave to fit around the markets (myself included) but i still really enjoy it!!
It's a great opportunity to put your more 'static' trading to a test and possibly up the stakes which is always a different experience at times, as heart thumping and scary as it can be its an opportunity you wont get too many times a year to evolve and learn through experience.... i can hardly wait!

This week im going to be following the news on the buildup to the festival for any last minute price alterations i may be able to cash in on which will be interesting for me as its something i've rarely done in the past, also i think i'll be making notes of which runners are to run in big races later on possibly catching ante-post moves as they happen while the cheltenham races are run, last year i remember watching Big Fella Thanks price crumbling for the grand national i think it was as he was running his race at Cheltenham, it'll be a while to pay day with that sort of thing but its a nice feeling to get to the national and open up to a green screen!

Also, i've finished the little focus challenge i set myself on the GeeksToy forum now so i'll be updating alot more regularly!