Hugh Doyle – King of the Picks

A Q and A with Hugh Doyle of King of the Picks

This month we have a chat with Hugh Doyle the self styled King of the Picks (not to be confused with Hugh Taylor)

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

My name is Hugh Doyle, I am 39 years old, married with two children. I was born and reared in County Wexford before moving to Galway to study Hotel Management. I qualified as a Hotel Manager and managed pubs and hotels in Galway until Covid 19 hit the hospitality service.

I always had a huge interest in horse racing and took that to the next level during the Covid19 lockdowns. I proofed my tips for a year successfully before launching my service called King of the Picks to the public in November 2021.

Thankfully all is going well since and I am enjoying the new challenge as I am determined not to return to the pub trade and unsociable working hours!

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

I always aim to be up at eight every morning.  I enjoy a quick breakfast before bringing my dogs for their morning walk. Once the kids are in school, I settle into studying the racing form.

I look at endless replays of races. Early in the week I would look back at the weekend racing and where I could improve my tips or were there any eyecatchers that I should put in the notebook for the future.

I prefer and love to watch my tips running live on ITV, as I find myself more focused on the actual race over replays. I look up the weekly ITV racing schedule and start looking at the early declarations and odds if available.

I would always look at past winners of those races and the type of horse or conditions (i.e., weight, age, unexposed novice etc.) needed to win that race or have the best record of doing so. I would listen to as many podcasts as possible such as those available on Oddschecker, Racing Post, Racing TV and Attheraces.

I search for any stable tours online that could guide me in the direction that a trainer might be aiming a horse for in the future. I read the news on attheraces, racingpost and sportinglife websites. Race replays would be my main tool for research, it takes a lot of time but that's the difference between making a profit and a loss.

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?

I see a lot more tipsters now going down the line of Tik Tok and other social media platforms. I have mixed feelings about these tipsters.

Most of them don't show past results and instead focus on just talking up their winning tips. I feel they target younger people who want instant results and don't have the patience or knowledge to follow a staking plan.

I feel there is more technology available now than ever before to help punters get an edge on the bookies. It still takes so much time to study all the relevant racing information that the majority of casual punters don't have that time to do so.

I believe people want an honest tipster, who can make them consistent profits over the long term. I also believe that the majority of punters can't afford to go on long losing spells between the profitable months, so a decent strike rate is important.

Another key factor is whether punters can get the advised odds and stakes that are advised. I would be very conscious about this, and this is why I stick to the bigger race meetings on ITV where the betting markets are bigger, and you have an honest chance of getting a bet on at the advised odds. It is almost impossible to do this at the smaller meetings during the week. Hugh Taylor on attheraces is a prime example of this, with odds gone within minutes.

I try to stick to 2 points win or a 1 point each way for consistency, it makes it easier for my followers to balance their betting banks.

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.?

I back all my own tips. I have a 200-point betting bank and I place my bets when the email is sent to all my members. I am restricted with the majority of betting firms, but I have a few that still take a bet and have other sources of getting my bets on!

My stake is 100 euro per point, and I am comfortable betting to that amount.

Staking plans are hugely important along with the suggested betting bank.

I seldom bet on track anymore and if I am going racing, I would allocate myself an amount for betting and that would be it. Discipline is probably the single most important part of becoming a professional gambler or a successful casual punter.

Over the past few years, I record all my bets and results and see what's working and what's not. Sometimes being honest with yourself is the cruellest of all but it is essential when it comes to betting. The other biggest piece of advice I would give punters is NEVER chase your losses. I was guilty of this at the start of my punting career, and it is a lonely, guilty place where you feel you have let yourself down for being so stupid. Backing short price favourites at mid week tracks trying to get back to even par.

Not winning just even… you might get lucky a few times and then you get absolutely nailed when no favourite wins and maybe four come second. It's a lonely place where nobody should go. Working in the pub industry, I know that gambling and drinking is a dangerous combination. If you want to do it, put so much aside and if it's gone it's gone.

I like to put my bets on before I go out and then follow those tips at the races. As I have got older, I feel it is just as important to cut out the silly losing bets as it is to back the winners. If anybody would like further advice or a non-judgmental opinion on these please contact me on my website.

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

I followed horse racing from a very young age. My aunt Anna would have brought my brothers and I to many race meetings around Ireland. My brother Brendan rode in point to points, and I would have gone with him to them. My cousins Sean and Donnchadh Doyle of Monbeg Stables who now train point to pointers would have been there with their father Mike, and we would have had many a fun Sunday running along the rope chasing our tips past the finishing line.

I love the Irish point to point scene. It is the real grassroots of Irish racing with honest hard-working people involved. There is a great atmosphere at the meetings and so many future stars are introduced to racing at that level. Another meeting that I never miss is the Listowel harvest racing festival in country Kerry, every September. It is my favourite festival in Ireland.

It might not have the quality of Leopardstown or Punchestown but the people that attend that meeting are as knowledgeable on horse racing as you will find. You could get talking to anybody there and they would own a horse or know someone that did.

Age doesn't matter when people have a common interest and there is a lovely atmosphere during the week before it gets busier at the weekend. Horse racing is a lovely family day out and I am delighted to be a part of it.

My passion would be the National Hunt although I do enjoy the Flat and have to say my visit to Coolmore to see the legend Galileo was a highlight I will never forget. The facilities at Coolmore and at Ballydoyle are out of this world.

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?

My brother Nicky Doyle would have had a big part in encouraging me to start my “King of the Picks” tipping service. Nicky runs the Betalchemist website and would have given me a great introduction to what is required. We are two very different people with different betting styles. The characteristics we would share would include honesty, loyalty to our customers and a hard working drive to succeed.

Covid-19 would have forced my hand in the process. I was a casual punter up to that with plenty of rough edges. I think of my service as a very easy to follow betting guideline that will return profits over the year. I like to attract the more casual punter who likes to sit down and watch the ITV racing on their day off and follow my tips. I concentrate on each way value but usually near the top of the market. Most of my tips are a similar price at race time as they were when advised the night before.

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?

A basic trait that every racing tipster must have, is a love for the sport and a respect for their customers.

It's well known that if you love what you do it doesn’t feel like work at all. I would spend at least twenty hours a week researching racing news around my daily research. The majority of people I talk with on a friendship basis have the same racing passion as me. You have to put in the hours though.

If you are not willing to study past races and put in the study, you will not get the results.

I feel the average punter just wants a tipster that they can trust to do all the hard graft for them. A tipster that gives them honest tipping with honest results. A tipster that acknowledges the losers as well as the winners as long as they are making an overall profit.

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?

Stay away from short price favourites.

The bookies love people backing short, priced favourites and long term you will struggle to make profit. I went from being an unsuccessful short price punter to a successful each way value punter.

That doesn't mean a horse has to be 50/1 because you will more than likely never get your stake on but even a 5/1 each way when you feel they have a great chance of at least being placed.

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?

I have two polar opposite answers to this question.

The first was when I was at college in Galway, when money was very tight as per usual with a student. Monty's Pass and Barry Geraghty in the 2003 Aintree Grand National. I put 50ew on him and it was either beans or Guinness! I watched the race with three of my friends in the bookies and boy did we roar Monty’s Pass home. All I'll say is, we had a great couple of days spending the bookies money.

The biggest grimace was when I chased my losses on short price favourites through the whole meeting at Ballinrobe one summer. I think the favourite was second five times. I blamed the jockey, the trainer, the horse, and anyone near me.

I should have blamed nobody but myself and it was a sore and hard lesson truly learned on the job!

The current racing format seems to be heading towards a large number of races with mediocre quality races. How would you suggest readers navigate the multitude of small field races we have been seeing recently? Avoidance or do they have a part to play in our betting portfolios?

I am worried about the quality and quantity of races, especially in Britain. It doesn't seem to be affecting the bigger meetings that I target as much but it is definitely worrying for the industry.

The other concern I would have is the dependence the industry seems to have on the betting industry (Bookmakers). I feel jockeys especially, shouldn't be sponsored by bookmaker firms for the integrity of the sport. 

There is a huge conflict of interest there and it just heightens the suspicion amongst the general public that this sport is corrupt. We all know horses are handicapped and that is fine, we all know that horses fall sometimes but the biggest annoyance I have is when a bookmaker offers extra places, and a jockey doesn’t ride his horse through the line!

The horse is leading at the furlong pole and is fourth coming up to the line. The jockey then sits up on the horse eventually just denied for fifth and the jockey has that bookmakers sponsor on the leg of his pants. Absolutely infuriating the punter.

Jockeys should be penalised for not riding out a finish up to the maximum number of places being paid out each way.

For example, if that horse was backed at 16/1 and didn’t place, I would be raging. It just doesn't sit well with me the power Bookmakers have in racing including the leading racing media.

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 think there should be a minimum pay-out guarantee through the entire bookmaker industry.

They are granted a licence every year to take bets and if they refuse to offer certain people up to a minimum amount, they should be penalised the following year. The bookies should not be allowed to pick and choose whose custom they want by installing high tech algorithms. It’s crazy to only accept and keep losing punters only. You might not have even won any money off them and you are still restricted to amounts that basically tell you to go elsewhere.

There is definitely a need for a change here because basically if you look like you have any idea of racing or know what you are doing, they don’t want to accept a bet off you.

The only chance you seem to have is sticking to the bigger races where there is a bigger number of punters putting on bets. Also, try to spread your stake over a number of firms.

I use Oddschecker but I would never link my accounts to Oddschecker as I feel it will accelerate the chances of those accounts being restricted.

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

I spend the majority of my spare time with my wife and children. They keep me grounded when things are going well. I love the majority of sports really and have interests in Gaelic games and football. I enjoy going to look at a game when I can and have a few Guinness when possible. I love my dogs. I enjoy spending time outside in the fresh air with our dogs and bringing them for walks. They listen to all my rants and raves when I have a disappointing result or when I narrowed a race down to two horses and of course ended up tipping the wrong one! They don’t care, they just wag their tails and enjoy the company.

Hugh