James Boyle Tipping Column FAQ

What are the aims of the Value Bets column?

I suppose there are a few but the main one is to find winners, of course! Doing so will not be possible every day, or indeed every week, but I hope to show that good profits can be achieved by taking a smart, patient approach to your betting. The average price of the selections will be around 10/1 but any price can be a proper bet given the right circumstances being present and I have no set rules regarding where in the market I will play. Be it at the top end or the bottom end; if it’s a good bet, I’ll back it!

Losing runs are, unfortunately, prevalent given the average odds and I’ve suffered some tough ones in my time – including during some of the best punting spells I’ve had – but the good times will hopefully outweigh the bad to significant effect! Full reasoning will be provided along with every selection and another one of the column’s aims will be to show that form study is worthwhile. As with most things in life, you get out of it what you put in and hopefully it will prove to be an interesting read for all.

How often will the column be online per week? And what time will it go live?

Depending on the quality of racing, the column will be online anywhere between one to three days per week to start off with and I will be aiming to average a few selections on each betting day when possible. The time of when it’s posted will also vary but the aim will be to have it on site by around 6-7pm the night before. When the column goes live, it will be tweeted on the @myracingtips Twitter page.

What races will you be predominantly looking at?

This will vary depending on where I feel the value can be found on any given day but the majority of selections will be on the level, so over the course of the summer it will be all turf races on the flat and over the winter a lot of All-Weather meetings will be targeted. Some National Hunt selections will be found too but I’d guess at least four out of every five will be running on the flat and most will be in handicaps over trips of 5f to a mile!

What staking plan do you use and what size of betting bank do you recommend?

The staking plan is quite simple; 1 to 3 points is the range and all selections are win-only. I haven’t had an each-way bet in a long time for a variety of reasons and don’t plan on having one again any time soon! The average stake will be less than two points per bet so I would recommend having around a 150-200 point bank in reserve. Less than that could well suffice and hopefully it will, but around one hundred times the average stake is the best way to approach the bank size if following to the penny.

How long have you been betting on racing?

I’ve been punting for a long time and learned a lot about the sport in my late teens, but took it more seriously from about 2011 onwards and ran a private service from 2012 until 2018. During that time I’ve made oceans of mistakes but learned from the vast majority! The thrill for me isn’t really the money that can be made on a bet, more the process before the race even starts; the video analysis, the form study, pedigree research and numerous other variables that go into finding a bet.

Most of what I do is speculative but many horses thrive when granted a certain set of circumstances, especially at the lower grades, and figuring out that puzzle is where the buzz lies for me anyway. Over the next few months I hope to solve enough of said puzzles to show a nice profit and fingers crossed that anyone reading the column will take something from it other than just bets!

Your bets differ from those posted on the myracing tips page of the website – why is that?

This might often be the case and it might rarely be the case! myracing have their own experts working behind the scenes making selections but my column is entirely separate and based purely on my own opinion of a certain race/horse/price. One man’s bet of the day is another man’s lay of the day!

I have a question – how can I contact you?

You can contact me on my own Twitter account any time at @JamesTheBoyle.