Not withstanding I like his 5.00 selection Faithful Dream,as the saying goes u have to have faith
The guy is putting up picks at prices that are available to all before he posts. It's not his fault that prices shorten up.
What's more his column includes explanations and he's even described what he does as having an element of demonstrating an approach. I'm sure he wouldn't be putting up the majority of the same selections at lower odds. All his results are clearly visible and he doesn't shirk or play safe in losing runs.
OK, it's annoying when he nicks a price for one you're interested in, but short of just not existing as a feature, there's nothing to be done about that.
There is plenty to learn from his scripts and his methods. If you want the benefit, do some work and get ahead of him.
I'm not a professional and have no inside knowledge, so I try to emulate him and measure my own punting against his standards. It hasn't been a bad strategy down the years.
It is irrelevant to me as I have never backed a horse other than on my own judgement.
It is a fair question to ask what the P&L would be at BFSP
"If you'd backed every horse in GB handicaps with 14 or more runners over the last 5 years you'd have made a loss of over 4,000 points at SP - and a profit of over 80 points at BFSP! BFSP can randomly turn moderate tipsters into apparently good ones. It's no guide at all."
Comes across as a down to earth fella.
Jan 26, 2026 -- 7:10PM, uptheirons wrote:
The moment the Books get to know a Hugh or Ricketwise selection the price goes without a copper coin being Layed.It is irrelevant to me as I have never backed a horse other than on my own judgement.It is a fair question to ask what the P&L would be at BFSP
I'd argue that its an unfair question - HT is not seeking to manipulate markets. He's employed to make selections at prices advertised prior to him making them.
Only the parties putting up the prices have the control over whether they get laid.
My point is that his column has didactic utility for anyone aspiring to back winners to make long term profit. I've never backed an HT tip in my life, obviously that won't work as a strategy. But I've certainly learnt plenty in reading the reasons behind them.
In reality you would do well to get two bets on before A/C closed.
Hugh seems to know his stuff and it is merely the prices claimed that are abject nonsense
but i will grant him the possiblity Hugh is a teacher, although having never seen his column i dont know
Irons - so you back winner at 20/1 that starts at 5/1. Was the price you took "abject nonsense" or were you identifying a bit of value?
If you did that regularly on a public website and the price disappeared as soon as you put it up, would that turn the price into "abject nonsense"?
He's not making these prices up. He's taking them from offers out there in real life. Yes he's making them disappear, but they're there to be taken before the value reveals itself.
There is plenty more value to be found that he doesn't put up. Its just market influence that is in play here, not an inherently flawed approach.
The prices claimed are,in reality,mythical.
Jan 26, 2026 -- 9:01PM, uptheirons wrote:
Are you deliberately being obtuse Steerforth?The prices claimed are,in reality,mythical.
Ok yes, mythical in the sense that readers of the column can't access them, but they were not mythical prior to them being posted on ATR and that's not his fault. On the odd occasion I've backed a horse before he posts, and he happens to go with the same one as me, I can testify that the prices are very much real. More often, I've had one in mind that he subsequently sabotages by wrecking a price I'd been interested in.
So I'm absolutely NOT making a case for using HT as a source of bets, as I've already said.
I can accept that any marketing as a succesful tipping service is a bit disingenous. But thats not his fault, he's not in control of the layers. HT has acknowledged the problem first hand and suggested that the write ups are likely more valuable than the actual tips. And that's really the only point I'm trying to make.
Those days are long gone
So, a tipped up horse that had been cut from 25s to 8s would be 25s again for that 15 minute period, before being cut again
It was hectic in some shops on a Saturday or Festival day
It really was a great concession, sadly only lasted a couple of years
I might be a tad bitter having once been sent flying across a Hills shop by a cab driver rushing to get £250 on.
At the Festivals, I think it was Corals who said one year that boosted prices during their eve of Cheltenham preview were being snapped up not by ordinary racegoers but by mob-handed ring bookies and their workmen.
And that's why we can't have nice things.
family man who prefers the security of salary and pension over the stress of going solo shirley
The same would be true for Hugh if he went the tipping line route and subscribers would have no chance of turning a profit.
Also I believe he only gives out tips on ATR's website on weekdays now as he wants the weekends off. He also has quite a few weeks off a year as well.
Jan 26, 2026 -- 6:51PM, steerforth wrote:
I have no axe to grind for Hugh Taylor but the constant griping about not being able to get on at the prices really grinds my gears. The guy is putting up picks at prices that are available to all before he posts. It's not his fault that prices shorten up. What's more his column includes explanations and he's even described what he does as having an element of demonstrating an approach. I'm sure he wouldn't be putting up the majority of the same selections at lower odds. All his results are clearly visible and he doesn't shirk or play safe in losing runs. OK, it's annoying when he nicks a price for one you're interested in, but short of just not existing as a feature, there's nothing to be done about that. There is plenty to learn from his scripts and his methods. If you want the benefit, do some work and get ahead of him. I'm not a professional and have no inside knowledge, so I try to emulate him and measure my own punting against his standards. It hasn't been a bad strategy down the years.
It's very easy to pick prices at bookies which are shorter on the exchange. Very easy to do indeed
At The Races have agreed to a change to my working days for this column as of this year. Whilst this job has always been a labour of love rather than being remotely onerous, it does require a fair commitment of time, and after 16 years of producing a column for seven days a week, I wanted to give myself more time with my family, as the nature of working every day means that there have been limitations on what I could do with them, especially in terms of things like short trips away etc.
With that in mind, I’m no longer going to do a column on weekends (with the exception of Royal Ascot Saturday) and will instead be doing my column from Monday to Friday only. I’m grateful to At The Races for their support in this matter.
But a more meaningful approach would be to give a recommended mimimum acceptable price. If that price is never available to real money after the selection goes up on ATR, then don't count the bet in the results.
But none of that negates the quality of the expertise in spotting a value price that exists. If he never published a word, the market wouldn't move; (at least not for the same reason), and anyone who had reached the same conclusion, could step in and take it.
31 losing selections from 32 picks, with just the one 7/2 winner.
Long way to go though.
