Joe Thorpe and The Daily Racing Brief

Hi Joe and many thanks for joining us this month, would you start by telling us a little about yourself and your background? 

My life revolves around my family. I have 4 children and I always had to find a way to provide for them and ensure they all wanted for nothing in life. This is still my main interest, apart from racing, and I get great pleasure from my 4 grandchildren. 

All my children, a daughter and 3 sons have moved on, and nowadays I love nothing more than finding winners for the Racing Brief service which I work on full-time. 

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

I was always interested in football as I was growing up. I played to a good standard in Amateur leagues. When I was only 21years old I tore the ligaments in my knee which scuppered my football. With that no longer possible as a participant, I started to take a keen interest in horse racing. 

I read books on the racing game and tried to learn as much as possible, which I found to be fascinating. I remember reading a book by Alex Bird, a famous punter from the 60s. 

It was a riveting read, and highlighted numerous things which I always reflected on as I went through life. 

After a few years betting I decided if you can't beat them join them and I got a job working for Coral in Gloucester. I had the knowledge of racing already so I took to it like a duck to water and I quickly became a shop manager . I'm from Dublin, Ireland, and I wanted my family to grow up in Dublin, so I transferred back to Dublin with Coral. 

I found myself wanting to improve my stock so after a while I worked on putting together a screen system for Terry Rogers, a major independent bookmaker in Ireland. I had to put together different markets for the screen system and display all the necessary information for the many independent bookies which had the system in their shops. 

From there I then moved to VC Betting when they opened up in Dublin. I was involved with the initial opening of their shop, with the long-term plan to open several more in time, but VC pulled the plug after a while and I went back to work for Terry Rogers until he had to close. All that experience had led me to what I do nowadays, and the knowledge I accumulated along the way is invaluable. 

How would you describe a typical working day? 

In a “normal day” I spend the morning getting myself through all the daily things I do. I walk the dog soon after I get up, usually go and see my Dad, he's 88 and still going strong. In the afternoon I'll take in some racing and prepare for my evening/nights work. Any time after 5pm I'll be going through the racing markets for the next day, compiling a list of any horses which are of interest. I'll go back through them from about 8pm again, to see if anything else is worth adding to the now growing list. 

After that I use many platforms which will enable me to whittle down the list and eventually finish up with 4 horses which will make up the final list I send out every night. All in all this takes between 6 and 8 hours a day. That equates to a lot of hours each week and month, 7 days a week, and I get tremendous satisfaction from the knowledge that a lot of guys out there are reaping the rewards. 

What style of approach do you take to your betting on a personal level? What do you think of staking plans, loss retrieval systems etc.? 

On a personal level I've always tried to ensure I don't lose money each day I bet. This is a good habit I got into when I was raising a family, and one I stand by today. 

I firmly believe in having a staking plan for each day, and when I put together the list I send out I ensure the clients realise how important it is to stick to a plan. Level stakes is also a very important part of what I do. 

When I go through the racing the last thing I want to do is settle for 4 horses less than 3/1. That’s the starting point to making the Racing Brief work. 3/1 is enough to cover a day’s betting in my system, that can change depending on the racing, but the clients come first, and I always try to ensure they don't lose money. It's as simple, yet as difficult as that. 

I have the belief that no matter how much you know, or how good the information you receive is, a realistic strike rate is 50%. Yes that means I expect to have losers, and that's why I strive to have suitable prices on the selections each day. Of course I would look to have 4 winners, and several times I've had a return on all 4, but being realistic is what I'm all about. 

Generally the strike rate works out about 33%, and in the last 10 months there hasn't been a month where my clients have lost money. The best month in that time showed a profit of over 100 points. That was exceptional. I continually revise my work, and the aim is to have the best service available, which I believe will be the case if not already, then in the near future. 

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? 

In my opinion I think every “Tipster” should be providing as good a service as they can. If someone is paying for a service they deserve the best possible. 

The average punter doesn't want you sending through obvious horses each day, they want to see horses which the average guy won't see, or realise has a chance. I could stick in horses at short prices every day, but what would be the point in short changing the clients, and I'm convinced the system I use wouldn't show much of a profit if I sent out 4 horses between odds on and 6/4. There would be no point, and I'd feel like I was cheating the clients. I also encourage the clients to contact me if they have anything good or bad to say, and I respond to every message I get. I want my clients to feel they can have some input into my work. 

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? 

Most punters go wrong by staying in a betting shop. 

I remember over 20 years ago, while I was working for Coral. We were on a training course in Bristol and it was the last day, we had finished early, so the guy running the course started explaining how Coral saw the future of betting. 

They were comparing the shops to their leisure side of the company. Everything was based on a quick fix. As far back as that they knew there would be virtual racing in the shops, and the idea was to have an event going off as often as possible. It’s all based on greed, and the punter doesn't realise that's going on. It's worse with the FOBT's in the shops nowadays. One machine can cover the wages in a shop each week! So the first rule has to be to do your bet, whatever that may be, and get out of the shop. 

It's worse now as you can bet off your phone, so once you open the site it's too easy to push a button and bet away all day. I think the best thing is to bet cash across a counter, walk out when the bet is placed, and enjoy the days racing. 

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 was a big follower of Henry Cecil for years. 

I remember going to the Curragh when Old Vic came over for the Irish Derby. If you've seen the Curragh you'll understand the experience. As they came round the final bend into the long straight, Steve Cauthen pushed Old Vic and he immediately stretched and went from being in front, to being 4 or 5 lengths up in a matter of strides. Where I was standing was half way down the straight, and the sight of Old Vic then was brilliant. 

I had several big wins on his fillies in the Oaks. Light Shift was a big winner for my oldest son and myself. I also had a big win off Ramruma previously, but my best win came off a free bet which I cut out of the newspaper. It was for a £3 Placepot on the first day of Cheltenham. At the end of the day the Placepot clicked, and for a 50p perm I got 2 lines up. The bet paid £1,200. It was my wedding anniversary the next day, and it was a great way to celebrate the win. 

The racing industry is often criticised for having too many races and poor quality meetings with insufficient prize monies to encourage entries etc. Is there anything that you would like to see changed within the horse racing industry and why? 

Sometimes you wonder what’s going to become of the racing game, especially with the news that Kempton is to close. That was a shock to many involved in racing. Is it going to go like the greyhound racing, which is run by the bookies, and is in decline. 

In general there is too much racing and the prize money can't go far enough to make it worthwhile for the owners to stay in the game. The bookmakers have moved away from the time when a betting shop was all about horse racing. If it was that important, why are several bookmakers not sorting out the dispute with the suppliers of racing on their screens. You can have ATR and RUK at home, and those bookies in dispute don't show racing which is on ATR at the moment, it shows how irrelevant the racing has become to them. 

Their shops can survive on FOBT's nowadays. 

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? 

As I mentioned the bookmakers can survive on the income from FOBT's nowadays, and survive well off them. They need to interact more with their customers, show their appreciation of their business. The move away from the counter trade has made the betting shops feel more like an arcade nowadays. And although it's easy to bet on-line I've never seen that as a way to seriously bet. It's too easy to keep betting away on your phone, laptop or computer, and that's never good for the punter. 

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

You always need to get away from the pressure of work and relax. 

I'm a fairly laid back person and have various interests to fill my time, including walking my dog, gardening and spending time with my family Although I put a lot of time into putting together the Racing Brief each day, I enjoy the work and the satisfaction I get from happy punters makes my job very worthwhile.