Handicap Gold Reviewed

Martin Blakey's Handicap Gold - Reviewed


There has been much promotion in recent months of Martin Blakey's 'Handicap Gold' by the well known information publisher Canonbury Publishing.

Having experienced the service for three months myself, I am pleased to be able to pass on my findings to you.

What is it?

Handicap Gold is a daily email service which brings to you Martin Blakeys top tips for the day. Martin apparently uses a secret handicap ratings system to assess what horses have a big chance of a win each day. He calls these his 'Plus' bets.

According to Canonburys promotional material we are to expect two or three of these 'Plus' bets a week. In addition, as a 'bonus' when there isn't a 'Plus' bet, Martin offers us tips on a selected race he has made which he feels has good chances. This will involve three horses that have rated highly in his rating system.

In their sales piece, Canonbury ask the tantalising question "Who else wants to make £3,902 tax-free a month by placing just 2 - 3 simple bets a week on 'LEGALLY RIGGED' handicap horse races?"

Yes please, I do!

How much does it cost?

It was marketed by Canonbury Publishing at £160 per quarter, this came with an initial thirty day money-back guarantee period. Martin Blakey himself promotes it through his own website at an annual cost of £530, again with the thirty day guarantee and payments processed through Canonbury.

What else do Canonbury say about it?

We are told how Martin uses his 23 years experience in the racing industry to make his daily selections. He gives a list of his results from 14th May 2009 to 19th February 2010, these show regular wins, with a strike rate of 46%, and look very impressive.

Over the period, level stakes of £100 would have apparently produced an average monthly profit of £3902, producing a total profit of £36,055 tax free for 'working' up to fifteen minutes a week in little over nine months!

We are told that the horse racing industry is full of dodgy characters and tipsters who fail to come up with the goods. Apparently, it's easy to be taken in by great sales copy only to find we end up stuck with a cowboy. Looks like Martin Blakey must be the real deal...

As in all of Canonbury's promotional material the copy is slick; it would be hard to find a reason not to subscribe. There's results, testimonials and of course a guarantee, it's all there.

Does it work then?

Now this is where it gets interesting. All that we have read in the sales copy bears no comparison to the reality.

My test period ran from March 2nd to 31st May, a day short of three months. Martin sent his daily email, reliable as clockwork. Most weeks, we had, on average, the expected two to three 'Plus' bets a week. We also had the 'extra' tips as promised. So far, so good!

I analysed the 'extra' bets over the period and the results were appalling. The problem with them is that personal discretion is required in using them. Martin Blakey suggests £100 level stakes on all three top rated horses each day. But he also suggests that some members will incorporate them into their own strategies, perhaps by going 'each way' on them, I assume.

He also suggests that if the bet starts looking bad before or in running then it's a good idea to 'trade out for a profit' (on Betfair). Which is great if you are in front of your PC all day and can follow live racing. It would also be good if there was enough price movement to make this possible, but regrettably that is not always the case. Besides, we haven't bought into a trading system, have we?

Over the test period there were approximately 167 selections of the 'extra' bets. Betting to £100 level stakes would have produced a loss of (approximately) £5900*. A major miracle would need to happen to turn these losses into anything like the 'additional £35,100 income since launch' as stated in the sales copy!

But we wont dwell on the 'extra' bets, we are not paying for those as Martin says they are his 'gift' to you. After all, it's a bit rude to be given a present and then complain about it!

So what we are really concerned with here is the 'Plus' bets, that's what we're paying for and they're the ones that could be making us '£3902 a month'.

So, during the test period we had 26 'Plus' bets, of which 6 won and 20 lost.

Working to £100 level stakes, over the test period we would have been down by £50*. Of course, added to that is our fee for the service of £160, leaving us out of pocket by £210*. If we had placed our bets using a betting exchange we would have to add to that their commissions of around £100*.

So in a near three month test period we have lost between £200-£300* instead of making the 'suggested' figure of around £11706. (£3902 a month x 3). Don't give up the day job yet!

Martin proudly says that there has never yet been a losing month. Sorry Martin, it's May 2010 : a grand down the pan!

(* Please note: I believe that the figures I have given are reasonably accurate. Betting can produce different results for different people when placing bets at different times through different mediums. I am no mathematician, and accept that other people may have achieved different results to mine).

Conclusion

I would have to conclude that I am extremely disappointed with Martin Blakeys Handicap Gold.

Perhaps I joined at a bad time, perhaps the service will pick up in time. The results looked good, but when I joined it all went wrong. Perhaps it's just me, it seems to happen a lot though!

I would not recommend anyone to sign up to this service. Luckily, Canonbury Publishing have 'temporarily closed the doors' to the quarterly paid option that they were promoting, owing to 'massive demand'. Apparently, they have 'suspended new applications to protect existing members and ensure that Martin's selections are not compromised'! Which is good news, as it saves anyone else from losing their shirt in the meantime! I would suspect, however, that they have probably had a load of complaints about the service and have stopped new applications in order to see how the service pans out.

To be fair, I would have to say that I have the utmost respect for Canonbury Publishing and have had some excellent information products from them over the years. Nick Laight, the boss, seems to be a thoroughly decent chap and is well known in the business for his fair dealings, his business integrity and his refund policy, which is excellent.

The biggest drawback of this service (well, apart from losing money!) is that Canonbury only offered a month's trial period. ANY horse racing tipping service needs at least a three month guarantee period. If it hasn't got that, then don't chance it!

So if you are still really keen to have a go, Martin Blakey's web site is still taking orders for the annual service at £530.

GOOD LUCK!