The mindset of a battered punter

By Alan Conway

I never thought I would hear myself say this but I cannot wait for the jump season to get into full swing. The reason I cannot wait is that I hope my luck will change as I have endured my worst punting form on the flat in memory.

You see I’m a flat racing man. From the Guineas to the Breeders’ Cup and everything in between I love flat racing. Yet this year my punting has taken a sharp nose-dive.

I know there will be people who will have little sympathy for me but my confidence is shot. The thing is. I hate losing. In racing more often than not you will lose more times than you will win. But it’s that winning feeling that you get when you back a winner that I love. Each person has their highs in life. Mine comes from backing winners. For the last while I forgot what that feeling was like.

All the big meetings passed me by. Memory in the Moyglare, Strong Suit in the Phoenix, Workforce in the King George. The list could go on. They all came and went. All I had to show for it was ripped up dockets and a bruised ego.

Normally when I go racing I would expect maybe three or four winners. Now when I go one will do. It all began after Galway/Goodwood week. That week was a particularly strong week of punting. The first two days were especially good. The only blot on the week was when Tony McCoy chinned me on Finger On the Pulse in the Galway Plate. Since then it has been a barren spell. The only ray of light ironically has come from summer jumping.

It has been hard to take. I have tried everything to regain my mojo. I have tried different betting techniques. I backed against a Coolmore horse in the Phoenix Stakes this year. Look at how that turned out. I even ventured into handicaps, something I wouldn’t normally do, and I still came out on the wrong end.

I tried the each-way option a couple of times and I would either just miss out or I would come home with the stragglers. It has left me in a jam. For the first time I had to question my methods. Methods that have served me well over the years. But where do you go when you have hit bottom? For me it was back to the basics. It was like having an internal audit. All the betting books were dusted down and examined. I combed through each detail to find an answer to my punting woes.

Looking back I found like everyone does to their cost that when things are going good you take them for granted. I had eased off on looking at the form and thought that I could wing it. It came back to bite me. I worked even harder than normal to try and get myself back on track and little by little the confidence and winners have returned.

I would normally retreat to winter quarters when the jumps return but this year is an exception. That winning feeling has to return. I may have to wish upon a star but like Arnie said “I’ll be back.”

By Alan Conway