clive holts fineform

In first three of betting forecast......3 pts

In top three form ratings......4 pts

very clever chap who started off selling his systems in the old Sporting Chronicle Handicap Book.

RIP

Is he dead?

can't remember when he died exactly, but several years ago.
made a fortune selling his book, re-jigged it a few times and full-page ads in the papers for years.

this was written when he was alive:
Clive Holt

Clive Holt is a legendary punter. He talks so much sense that his word should be written in gold. He goes racing at least four times a week and prefers midweek to a Saturday. Clive bets on the racecourse only, not in the shops. Like many of the successful punters, William Hill closed Holts account in 1978. Coral soon followed suit closing his account as well. He admits it is difficult these days for him to place a bet.
Clive Holt has come a long way since the day in the past when a friend of his told him The Holt was running at Ally Pally. His friend suggested that he back him. In the more than 30 years that have past since that first day, Clive has made a comfortable living. Holt attributes his interest in betting back to his father. His father kept a couple greyhounds in the 1960's and showed his son that there was money to make in betting on them. The first business principle Clive Holt learned about punting was that betting in singles was a fairly easy way for him to make a profit.
By March of 1975 Clive had realized he was ready to punt full time. No need to work anymore just bet. He mainly was betting in doubles, trebles, and the likes of those. Clive himself will tell you his approach was haphazard at best. His pockets dictated what he could and couldn't bet on.
When Holt was starting out, he did not keep proper records of the bets he made. He only worked on a week to week basis. He usually was only able to keep the same amount coming in as he had going out. Thus he was left with the same amount to bet weekly. He really had no way to track the percentage of return he was making. This did bother him so he decided to finally do a thorough job and track all bets. This was the first time he treated his hobby of betting as a business venture.
Thinking back Clive said, "It probably had the greatest influence on my future success. As the figures and the percentages built up before me, it was clear that I was becoming more and more analytical." With the figures in front of his face he could see he was clearing almost 50% profit on an outlay. Had he bet on singles, he would have cleared a bit over 60%. With this fact, and the fact that there were fewer singles available he figured he should increase the outlay on single bets. Importantly, he had shorter losing streaks and was more in control of his money.
His second business venture that he applied to make a difference and net a better profit was setting up his betting bank. It took Clive seven years from the first day he stepped into Haydock Park to feel confident enough to bet full time and quit his day job. Clive recalls, "I set off for Chester on the 6th May 1975 in a new Ford Ghia Capri, in a new suit and in a new job. My first bet was £67 to £30 on Western Jewel with Roy Christie on the rails down to a ticket number. The horse won by two lengths and was never in any danger."
That was the beginning of a streak that Holt himself was surprised with. In the following six weeks he would make more money than he did in a year working with the Electricity Board. Betting has been a very rewarding career for Clive. He claims he's never been a big time hitter. Holt usually does not hit more than £1,000 at a time but with the rather modest start he had, it is clear he has grown greatly as a skilled punter.
Clive himself will admit that he has enjoyed the success of betting he has become accustomed to and his tangible belongs can show anyone that. He has such items as, Lotus, Jaguar, De Tomaso, Pantera, BMW's, and many other luxury cars. Winter holidays in the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, America, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Canaries - plus the Mediterranean of course. It has provided his wife and four children with a Listed Georgian Country House complete with Coach House and Stables, set in acres of parkland, close to the norths major training centre.
Clive will be the first person to admit he knows that had he not quit his job jointing electricity cables to bet full time, most of his worldly possessions would not have been obtainable. His life would have been woven on a much different cloth. Surprisingly, Holt has never had the desire to bet purely to have an interest in a race per say. He claims that he would not have a problem not placing another bet ever if he could find another, equally rewarding and challenging career.
When asked what advice he would give to the new professional's apprentices he said, "One vital ingredient for successful punting is that you've got to be confident that your selection can win. Horses with good recent form, preferably winning form, running against limited opposition within their class, when at their peak, progressing or improving - do win the majority of races, all year round. They are a constant source of winners for anyone to exploit. Almost every winner worth backing falls into this category which is broadened even further by the four Pros: PROVEN, PROGRESSIVE, PROMISING and PROFITABLE."

fineform was the best system ive ever seen...threw up loads of winners..and considering the criteria a lot of good prices

'Clive will be the first person to admit he knows that had he not quit his job jointing electricity cables to bet full time, most of his worldly possessions would not have been obtainable.'

Fact is, he didn't make his fortune betting on horses,
he made his fortune selling that book.

Fact is, he didn't make his fortune betting on horses,
he made his fortune selling that book.

How do you know that?

Current seasons 2 previous outings
1st 5pts
2nd 3pts
3rd 2pts
4th 1pt
any other placing or first run of season 0pts

course and distance 3pts
course. distance 3pts
distance 2pts
course 1pt

Joint top rated
add extra point to any of these runners that is a distance winner. If still a tie for clear rated runner nearest bottom of handicap is given + and then emerges clear top.

Clever chap, made a fortune selling a system that loses money.

Heres my take on this nonsence ... its just that nonsence ...

Clive Holt .. Phill Bull .. Tommo .. Jimbo .. to name 4 and they are plenty more . they could not pick their nose . and mugs sent em good momey for Drivel ....

Alex Bird was the man made his money on photo finishes

I remember buying a system from Fineform. Past 5 years results came with the system. Appx 40% winners, appx 100 bets per year, appx 50% ROI. The system was to note the horse that was placed 2nd in the following races. There was enclosed a list of appx 100 sponsored races. When I put the system into practice, you guessed it. A disastrous string of losers. The whole system was a con because the results had all been back-fitted. Conned Yet Again I Was!!! I could write a whole page of similar cons and the sad thing is is that there is always a fresh supply of new blood coming up. But it was a learning curve for me.

Back in the early 90's I wrote to Clive Holt pointing out that his advertising of going through the card at odds of 1000's was wrong as by backing the two top rated in six races you would have to stake 64 units.....his brother wrote back, agreed with me and carried on.

Ospey Alex Bird made his money in photos dream on ....... the bookies had zip on the line .. when he could not split em ....... it was and still is even stevens ...........

Luckysod ...... This Mr Clive Holt ... how much did he put into your bank account .... honest answers only ....... zipper .

So William Hill and Joe Coral closed the accounts of Clive Holt.
Accounts of winning punters closed!
Seems far-fetched to me.
Anybody on here experienced this?

I had William Hill account closed in 1997 along with Tote .. there was a firm in Watford called SportsWorld that closed after 4 bets when I think i was staking 25, maybe 50 pounds in win singles

It does happen, i'll have dusty yellowed letters in an attic to prove

Gallivanter 01 Jan 15:29


Fact is, he didn't make his fortune betting on horses,
he made his fortune selling that book.

"How do you know that?"

Work it out, full page adverts for years in the Sporting Press, and he sold over 100,000 copies,
I know that for fact, and what was it, £20 a copy (?) started at £15 and then £20 I think,
less overheads: cost of ads, printing and postage . I reckon he made over a million from that book,
very clever chap, he got the idea from someone to turn his systems into book form,
he knew exactly what he was doing. Previously advertising systems every week in the Handicap Book.

I don't know it for fact, but I'd say Clive Holt was the first one - or one of the first tipster millionaires.
In that posting from Lucky Sod on here, it clearly implies he made his money as a pro punter,
he didn't make a million from betting on racehorses, he made a million from selling his book.

i was following an old clive holt system called the handicap surprise,i only had small stakes on £3 wins if i remember right,i still have copied of the betting slips somewhere,the first horse was called village green won at 100-1 sp. and the second horse was called charmed life,won at 33-1,but i had backed it on the tote and it paid about 108-1 on there,so i claim that as two 100-1 winners on one day,if i am allowed.
on the same system i also backed another winner at 175-1 a few months before,but forgot the name at the moment.


i just googled this does anyone know how his handicap surprise system worked?

no

the-dak, if you've forgotten the method then it wasn't worth remembering.
Winning systems seem to stick ;)

Many racecourse regulars on the horse racing forum knew Clive Holt and speak very highly on the great man. He was a successful winning punter quite apart from his book & tipping line.

The_Dak, email me at bettingtimes@gmail.com and I will send you details of his Handicap Suprise system, I have loads of old Clive Holt stuff

the_dak 01 Jan 22:57


i was following an old clive holt system called the handicap surprise,i only had small stakes on £3 wins if i remember right,i still have copied of the betting slips somewhere,the first horse was called village green won at 100-1 sp. and the second horse was called charmed life,won at 33-1,but i had backed it on the tote and it paid about 108-1 on there,so i claim that as two 100-1 winners on one day,if i am allowed.
on the same system i also backed another winner at 175-1 a few months before,but forgot the name at the moment.


i just googled this does anyone know how his handicap surprise system worked?



Its No. 4 in the First Chapter of his book :-

Profitable Betting Strategies ( 1989)

Clive Holt was correct in 3 aspects:-

Keep a record of all bets
Back singles only
Back horses with recent winning form

I've been using the Fineform Rating Formula on and off since I bought the Red Book in 1989 and have had some cracking winners from it down the years,especially with the maximums.

Last year I put into practice an idea I'd had for a while.This was to specialise in higher rated horses in Class 1 and 2 races in the UK & Irish /French/US Group 1's with some extra filters applied.
(A maximum won the BC Sprint this year @25/1,not on it unfortunately as I don't do sprints).

Anyway the LSP from 10 May to date is + 47 points from 49 bets.The latest winner being Fortification @12/1 at Kempton on 27th with Moneytrix going very close in the Lexus @14/1 two days later.

It was top rated Kayf Aramis winning the Pertemps @33/1( early price) that made me consider this angle seriously with a number of good priced winners in the period leading up to my start date on 10 May when maximum Silver Frost won the French 2000g @7/1.So the LSP would be much higher had I started earlier.

I don't intend this to come across as aftertiming,only to make the point that 20 years after buying this book the logic behind it still stands.

As someone stated in a testimonial in one of Clive's advertisements ''it's so simple it's difficult to believe it works,but it does.''

i noticed one person uses clives rating in pricing up a book:


Pricing Up A Book: Horseracing


Where most horse racing punters get lost is that they try and cherry pick winners rather than concentrating their efforts on looking in depth at one or two races a day and looking for horses that are most likely to win at the right price.



In order to do this we must come up with a price for every runner in the race and this must be based on some sort of logic.

Firstly, you want the right race. I prefer to concentrate on class handicap races that are not age restricted, where there is plenty of form and pointers
for you to work with.

So, discard all races for 2-Y-O and 3-Y-O horses only and kick out any selling handicaps. Once you've done that you are left with the races that you want to have a go at.

Step One

The next step is to shape the race. An easy way to do this is to look at the first 4 positions in the betting forecast, or any horse forecast at 8/1 or less. Around 65% of all of the winners in handicap races come from this group. To shape the race award 3 points to the first 4 in the betting forecast and 1 point to all of the other horses.

Convert all of these points into percentages by adding the total number of points together for all of the horses and then dividing each individual horses score by the total number of points.

For example a horse with 3 points, in a race with a total score of 19 would have 3 / 19 = 0.157 and a horse with 1 point in the same race would have a score of 1 / 19 = 0.056. I leave this bit and do step two next.

"I have used the Clive
Holt Fineform ratings numbers for form, course and distance points because
they are probably as good as anyone else's"

Step Two

Now you want to add some form figures to the horses. I have used the Clive Holt Fineform ratings numbers for form, course and distance points because they are probably as good as anyone else's.

Points are awarded as listed below for each of the runners' previous two outings in the current season.

1st 5 points
2nd 3 points
3rd 2 points
4th 1 point

Course & Distance (C&D)
C&D 3 points
C.D 3 points
D 2 points
C 1 point

Convert all of these points into percentages by adding the total number of points together for all of the horses and then dividing each individual horses score by the total number of points, the same as in step one.

Step Three
You should now have two columns of figures, one for the shape of the race the other for your form rating. Add these two columns together and convert them into percentages as above.

Note:
To convert percentage to prices, Decimal Odds - Exchange prices, divide 1 by the percentage. Fractional Odds - Bookies prices to one, divide 1 by the percentage and
subtract one.

That is basically how I make a book. You could simply back the horse with the shortest odds on your book or wait for one of your outsiders to come along at the right price