A Q and A with Jeremiah Catskill of Tipping Legends

Hi Jeremiah, and many thanks for joining us this month, first off would you start by telling our readers a little about yourself and your background?

Those people that know me will be aware that I have a very busy life. I’ve just hit the big milestone of turning 50 and we have 8 in our house just to make life nice and relaxing! I’ve been married for 17 years and we have 4 children, 1 girl, twin boys and a 5 year old boy just to keep us on our toes. One of our twins is autistic which adds another dimension to life. We also have my in laws living in an annex as both are disabled and need a level of care.

We’ve lived in Shrewsbury for 15 years but I hail from the North West and would still count myself as a Northerner.

After leaving University I went into retail but quickly realised that wasn’t a long term ambition and took my accountancy exams back in 2000.

I now work in the animal health industry as a Financial Business Partner for a multitude of countries.

My racing life is a night time and weekends job!

Would you say that you have a “typical” working day, and how would you describe it?

Ignoring my day job a typical day would probably start at 9pm on a week night or 9am on a weekend to fit around family duties. The way I approach races is partly driven by this short time frame. I do most of my races “cold” as in I don’t really follow racing as such ( I don’t have RacingTV, don’t read the Post too much and only watch the races, not the filler when on TV. The benefit to this approach is that I base everything upon what I have learnt and what is in front of me. I don’t get swayed by hype, opinion, trainers thoughts etc which bizarrely gives me an edge.

Aligned to this timeframe I’m also quite narrow in what I look at.

I don’t go through each card but instead I have plenty of analysis showing me which type of race I am better at. Handicaps better than Non Handicaps. Long Distance better than Sprints are 2 such examples of narrowing the card.

I will then go through my selected races and generally have an idea of what I want to back that night. I will then review my selections during my lunch and if the price is still attractive and the weather hasn’t changed much then I then do a brief write up and send the mail to my subscribers.

I often view the race in betting odds order, starting with the fav. If a favourite looks vulnerable then I go down the card looking for value alternatives, That way I’m always comparing my opinion against the market leader.

I have experimented with sending the night before as I do often spot those that are over priced but the nature of the beast means only a few can get on if you do it that way.

What do you think of the world of sports tipping in general and what do you think people are in search of when it comes to their hunt for a successful tipster?

When I was younger the racing press was full of people claiming to have inside information and that appealed to many. Since I have been involved I have come to the firm opinion that inside information is a distant second behind form study.

There are a lot of good types out there and lots of people who really know their stuff but I have seen at close hand that, that doesn’t always translate into profits. Many give up within 6 months. Those that have been around longer are either very good salesmen, creative accountants or just good. I wouldn’t want to say what percentages lie in each but I would hope I am here after 12 years because of the latter.

I don’t really promote myself and rely on word of mouth and longstanding clients.

I see absolutely no problem ( I wouldn’t , would I) with people paying tipsters. Like any other service if you have a skill that others can’t do but want to utilise then you pay a fee. It could be said that tipsters actually sell themselves short sometimes!

Do you regularly bet yourself? What style of approach do you take to your betting? What do you think of staking plans, loss retrieval systems etc.?

Essentially I bet on what I tip.

The only time I deviate from this is if I know I will be in front of a TV at a weekend then I will bet on each race for an interest, plus it keeps my eye in on racing I would normally shy away from. I also do the odd multiple. More of which later!

I generally like to have a separate bank that will go up or down depending on results. I try to have a minimum of a 200 point bank and after a good win last summer I managed to increase this to a 300 point bank. That way it separates betting from day to day expenses. Loss retrieval systems should be avoided at all cost as it can quickly escalate. After a winning run or a losing run I try to keep the same mentality. Both of the above can be dangerous.

What attracted you to the world of horse racing and what do you enjoy most about the sport?

It’s the analysis for me.

I’m quite a numerical person and reading form is very stats driven I loved the challenge of taking the multitude of factors and trying to decipher them to come to a selection.

For quite a long time I didn’t bet more than the odd 50p as it wasn’t about that. That said, more and more I do better when I sway more to a “gut feel” rather than pure stats. I know , by now, which horses are more likely to win, which horse to avoid and all the relative chances but sometimes you see a weak favourite and know to oppose it.

I make more money on the flat but get far more enjoyment out of the winter game and my 1 treat each year is to make sure I go to the first 2 days at The Cheltenham Festival. The returning horses, the competitive nature which is lacking a lot of the time & the anticipation.

My first visit to a racecourse was to Aintree when Rhyme and Reason won the National. I paid £5 to get in the cheap enclosure only to run across the course, climb a fence and blend seamlessly into the higher echelons of racegoers! The Grand National, despite its detractors, still excites more than any other race.

What led you into the world of racing tipsters and what do you feel you can offer racing enthusiasts and punters that other tipsters can’t?

I got into tipping by pure accident.

I had been interested in racing from the mid 80’s but after starting work I drifted away from racing and only really followed the big NH races.

Someone I knew mentioned a site called OLBG who had just started and were doing tipster competitions and I thought it might be fun to have a go. To show how out of touch I was I hadn’t heard of Ryan Moore, couldn’t name any recent Derby winners and everything was new again.

I joined in Dec 2006 and despite there being 30,000 members at the time I somehow won the December competition. That highlights my cold reading approach to a huge degree. I started putting up a few comments in the forum and then in March 2007 they did their first big comp.

It was a winner takes all (£1,000) tipping challenge at Cheltenham. 999 people entered and I managed to win ! This was 4 months after not knowing about any form for over 7 years. They then repeated the comp but for Aintree and with 1,600 entering I again managed to win. I also wrote up the Grand National and managed to get the tri-cast. Off the back of this I had quite a few offers to go pro but I was still assuming this was beginners luck and declined them. We had a 1 year old girl and I needed a steady wage.

They then ran a Royal Ascot comp and somehow I won that despite hardly knowing the form book on the flat. It looked like there was method in my madness. The chances of winning all 3 were over 1.6 billion to one.

Again I turned down requests to set up a service but by now I had many people on the site following my tips so I thought “Why Not”.

Roger Bush who was a well known member on the site and a leading tipster offered me a partnership as long as all I did was tip. We called ourselves the “Tipping Legends” which is a bit embarrassing now but it was a standing joke on the forums at the time.

At this time my wife was pregnant with our twins and we had a very difficult time. They had a rare condition that required surgery within the womb to save them. Even then there was a 40% of losing them. They were born 9 weeks early on Dec 14th and 3 weeks later I started Tipping legends!! The boys didn’t come out of hospital until Feb that year.

Looking back I have no idea how I managed this as I set everything up and we were tipping in far more races than I do now.

We had an amazing start and the first 6 months were ridiculous. We had 3 days of multiple winners and if you look on my website then the testimonials are all true reflections of the time.

The peak personally was tipping Bulwark at 66/1 ( got 90’s on betfair) for the Chester Cup and followed it with the next race being a 16/1 sprint winner !

So, any stress I have now pales into insignificance with that period of my life and is probably why I can ride out the bad times which kill virtually every tipster out there.

Basically I can look at a race stone cold and often pinpoint value bets with a decent chance of winning. Over time that will make profits.

There are poor runs but my methods rely on long term analysis.

What traits do you think a good racing tipster should possess and what do you think the average punter is looking for from a tipping service?

Punters look for different things.

If you want inside info then I’m not your man. I think many want the thrill of betting but have recognised that either they don’t have the skill or time to make it pay so will rely on others. Others see it as a real possibility of making decent money and if they create a separate bank and scale up then that could happen.

A good tipster should try to be transparent, consistent and true to their methods.

You get plenty of well meaning emails ( or quite nasty ones in poor times) offering you advice and even tips but I feel you just have to pretend it’s Day 1 every day and not let outside influences or recent form effect you

New and old punters alike can struggle to make a success of their betting. If you could give them just one piece of advice to improve their profitability what would it be?

Don’t bet at under 2/1.

I know people will say a 5/4 shot can be value and of course they can but it is so difficult to move a bank northwards playing at shorter odds.

My average tip is just under 9/1. I sometimes do add in a shortie as a saver when I feel EW doesn’t suit but still fear the favourite but the main bet is always the longer priced one.

What would you consider to be a highlight of your racing experience to date? Do you have any personal racing / betting experiences which when reflecting back brings a smile, or for that matter any which bring a grimace; you can share with our readers?

Making a success of Tipping legends makes me very proud as my membership relies on me producing a long term profit. The testimonials you will see are also a highlight as it shows what a difference a big win can make.

Personally, I missed out on the big wins in 2008 as I was a very sensible level stakes better and did singles only. Subsequently I do the odd multiple ( mainly on the odd Saturday) and that is where my big wins have come. Unfortunately because I see them as “fun” bets they are rarely part of the service. Maybe I should start a weekly yankee service?!

I have had 4 big wins via multiples. A couple of big win doubles at nice prices, a yankee that got 3 out of 4 on Ebor day which included the Ebor and Melrose winners but a highlight that I’m fairly certain I won’t be able to match

In Dec 2014 I got the nirvana of all 4 winners. I also for some reason doubled my stakes and the winners accumulated 3,700/1. Without going into full details it was a life changing sum.

The grimaces stay with me even more.

My very rare antepost bet, on the nose, on Sunnyhill Boy at 40/1 in the National only to lose by a nose. Boston Bob falling in the RSA which scuppered a very big double with Back in Focus who had just won the 4 miler are two that leap to mind.

What about the gambling industry, is there anything you like to see changed there? Many website forums are full of criticisms of the bookmakers and their treatment of their customers? Is this something you have an opinion on?

I do have an opinion but probably you’ve heard the arguments many times before so I won’t go into too much detail. I recognise and share the frustrations of the increasing difficulty of getting on but the bigger issue from a personal perspective is the alternative. Betfair.

The problem I have is with subscribers I can’t rely on betfair to take any number of bets, especially if you’re looking at midweek Class 5 handicaps. The liquidity just isn’t there and often the odds have narrowed to closer to their true odds so it’s difficult to take advantage of any market faults. That said I do try to take a stoic approach because I find as soon as you take on the troubles of the racing world it really hinders your enjoyment of the sport and also your analysis process.

What do you do to relax and unwind? What interests have you outside the world of horse racing?

As I mentioned earlier, free time is at a premium but I do enjoy watching football and being a life long Liverpool fan the next month or so is eagerly anticipated/feared. I also take my son to Shrewsbury most weeks.

I would say I play golf but once a year can’t be called a pastime anymore. I also have a keen interest in Art and more so Art History and if I do get to different cities I will also seek out the local galleries. As a regular visitor to the Netherlands I’m quite spoilt in that aspect.

Jeremiah has offered a free 20 points trial of his service. Just drop him and eMail at jcatskill1@gmail.com and quote JC1.