My punting needs some Brechin spirit..

Back in the punting game and struggling to get a grip of things, unlike my Scottish team, Brechin City, who are flying in Div II. I've been a Brechin fan since the age of eight when as a group of lads in a small village near Plymouth we decided it was time for us to choose our Scottish teams and I settled on the mighty City.

Forty-five years later I finally got to the hallowed Glebe Park during our Scottish trip. I had just wanted to get a picture of myself at the gates but a splendid chap, Alan, who was locking up said he'd show me round and to my delight I was inside, touring the pitch and into the players' lounge where among the mementos was a Plymouth Argyle pennant from a pre-season tour a few years ago! Things got even better when I discovered that the next day City were playing Rangers in a testimonial for Charlie King so the next night I was back and saw a game for the first time ever - what a thrill!

Back to earth now, with guests at the B&B and no winners but hoping to turn the corner today with that old warhorse Mister McGoldrick in the 3.20 at Wetherby. He's won thisrace the two times he's run in it and is at his lowest rating for three years so I'm taking a chance on him at 7-1 even though he hasn't won for two years.

Happy punting!

Return to the fray

Back from a fabulous trip to Scotland which exceeded all our expectations. Stayed in a little town called Dunkeld for six nights, then three nights at the New Lanark Mill Hotel and had a great time throughout.

We drove from Cornwall to Scotland in a day on the way up but took our time on the return, having a couple of nights in Lancaster then a night in Ludlow and then Chepstow where we were entertained by our lovely 16-month-old grand daughter. Had a good day at the races at Ludlow backing a couple of winners to secure a profit and then back home on Saturday in time to see Argyle beat Huddersfield 2-1 to round off a great two weeks.

In the mood to get punting again now and kicking off at Musselburgh with 4-1 shot Graceful Descent in the two mile race at 3.50. This is a very competitive handicap but the way this horse won over 1m5f at Ayr suggests this trip will be right up his street. Also Franny Norton has ridden him twice and won on both occasions so Ladbrokes' 4-1 looks good enough for me.

Here's to a successful autumn's punting for all of us!

Next stop Scotland!

Our very busy season at the B&B is drawing to a close and we are off tomorrow to Scotland for a couple of weeks, with stop offs at Lancaster, Ludlow and Chepstow on the return leg.

Looking forward to it very much but its going to mean an enforced break from punting which is no bad thing as I can't back a winner for love nor money while staying at home. At least I had a good day at Exeter on Thursday with two decent winners to ensure a healthy profit - next racing for me is likely to be Ludlow unless by some miracle I manage to wangle a day at Kelso which is looking highly unlikely.

Been to Argyle today to see them draw 2-2 with Charlton which I suppose was a fair result and a vast improvement on the last two home games. Didn't have a proper bet today, just a small patent on Hugh Taylor's 3 losers and a losing Trixie on three Twiston-Davies horses at Bangor so looking forward to getting back into the fray in two weeks time!

Till then, happy punting!

Off to Exeter

Bright and breezy in the westcountry today and conditions are just right for a damn good day's punting at Exeter races.

My chum John the newsagent will be here soon for the 60 mile trip along the A38 to get to the races, stopping on the way to pick up another punter pal, Mitchell, who is still sitting on a massive profit having won over £18 grand recently.

No such success from myself with very limited punting going on due to being so busy at the B&B and generally out of form but in the mood for a good day out. On other racing fronts my plans for Kelso while we're in Scotland now look hopeless but I've managed to secure a trip to Ludlow on the way home with a stopover in that lovely Shropshire town.

Annoyingly a horse I have a share in may run at Worcester the before then but we'll be too far north to get there. Still, a lovely NH season ahead and hopefully plenty more opportunities to see the horse run.

I've had the chance for a quick look at the Exeter card and have backed one with Stan James at 11-1, which I think is a cracking price. It's Swiss Art in the 4.45, trained by the lovely Alison Thorpe and ridden by Ollie Dayman, the 7lb claimer who has a great record for her and I'm pleased to see he's now 9s with Stan James - obviously word has got out that westcoastpunter has put down the readies!

Another big handicap

It's big handicap time again and I've gone for two in the Cambridgeshire. Now that Nationalism has drifted slightly I think he's good value at 13-2 and at a bigger price I'm with Proponent, ridden by Ryan Moore.

This one is pretty consistent and won over 1m at this meeting last year and has also won at Newmarket over 9F. He has winning form on good to soft and from a favourable draw he looks worth an each way go at 25-1.

Nationalism is in blinding form and is being knocked because of his low draw but I hope that will not prevent a decent run. This 1m1f trip is ideal as is the ground and I can see him running really well. My only other bet today is Sahpresa in the Sun Chariot at 4-1, hoping she can win the race for the second year in succession.

I won't see either race as I'm off to watch Argyle-Hartlepool but am already in a grumpy mood as one of our guests at the B&B is a QPR fan who was raving about Jamie Mackie who we sold to QPR for the paltry sum of £500,000. He's now been picked to play for Scotland and West Ham are reported to have offered £6M for him after seeing him score eight times already this season.

How we ever let him go for that I'll never know, particularly considering the rubbish we've bought for the same amount - it's a complete shambles. Our guest, Ken, and his wife Mo are coming back next year - "the only consolation is we don't have any more decent players for QPR to pinch before then," I told him.