Newspaper tipsters can be a good source, but DO NOT follow them blindly. As the statistics below for September 2023 to August 2024 highlight, even the most successful one over the last 12 months - Rob Wright of The Times - would have made you an 8.64% loss if you had put a level stake (to win) on all his selections.
From time to time, newspaper tipsters can enjoy a bit of a run, but it never lasts, which is why some punters believe that laying horses, rather than backing them to win, is a more effective way of making money from racing.
Bestbet's analyses of where the newspaper tipsters are generally successful or unsuccessful help to identify which newspaper selections are worth backing. For example, since the beginning of September 2023, Robin Goodfellow of The Mail has had an excellent tipping record at Kelso and Chester, while, across all 7 of the tipsters we analysed, Aintree, Bangor, Exeter, Fontwell, Huntingdon and Yarmouth proved the most problematic.
Drilling down into the detail even further, sometimes a good guide is seeing how a particular tipster does at a particular course at a certain time of the year. Here's a tempter from our archives, to which only our subscribers have unlimited access: March 2024 at-a-glance, April 2024 at-a-glance and May 2024 at-a-glance. But, if the analysis below is anything to go by, May is the most predictable month, with July the least.
PERFORMANCE IN THE LAST YEAR based on the official SP and a level stake
| ROB WRIGHT - TIMES | WEAVER/HEAVEY - STAR | SCOUT/JONES - EXPRESS | |||||
| MONTH | RETURN | MONTH | RETURN | MONTH | RETURN | ||
| August 2024 | -3.8% | August 2024 | -25.4% | August 2024 | -9.8% | ||
| July 2024 | 2.7% | July 2024 | -12.7% | July 2024 | -23.0% | ||
| June 2024 | -10.2% | June 2024 | -10.2% | June 2024 | -5.9% | ||
| May 2024 | -7.3% | May 2024 | -15.0% | May 2024 | -11.2% | ||
| April 2024 | -16.1% | April 2024 | -4.2% | April 2024 | -7.3% | ||
| March 2024 | -7.8% | March 2024 | -19.9% | March 2024 | -12.0% | ||
| February 2024 | -11.9% | February 2024 | -15.9% | February 2024 | -7.3% | ||
| January 2024 | -17.3% | January 2024 | 9.2% | January 2024 | -18.4% | ||
| December 2023 | 0.6% | December 2023 | -10.6% | December 2023 | -17.9% | ||
| November 2023 | -3.0% | November 2023 | -20.5% | November 2023 | -16.9% | ||
| October 2023 | -17.7% | October 2023 | -0.1% | October 2023 | -17.9% | ||
| September 2023 | -11.2% | September 2023 | -5.1% | September 2023 | -15.1% | ||
| OVERALL | -8.64% | OVERALL | -10.72% | OVERALL | -13.52% | ||
| TEMPLEGATE - SUN | MARLBOROUGH - TELEGRAPH | NEWSBOY - MIRROR | |||||
| MONTH | RETURN | MONTH | RETURN | MONTH | RETURN | ||
| August 2024 | -7.5% | August 2024 | -10.5% | August 2024 | -2.9% | ||
| July 2024 | -13.1% | July 2024 | -21.2% | July 2024 | -24.8% | ||
| June 2024 | -13.7% | June 2024 | -21.9% | June 2024 | -15.7% | ||
| May 2024 | -16.1% | May 2024 | -13.9% | May 2024 | -1.5% | ||
| April 2024 | -15.7% | April 2024 | -5.2% | April 2024 | -20.0% | ||
| March 2024 | -5.0% | March 2024 | -15.1% | March 2024 | -12.1% | ||
| February 2024 | 0.5% | February 2024 | -17.3% | February 2024 | -15.6% | ||
| January 2024 | -11.8% | January 2024 | -2.7% | January 2024 | -15.2% | ||
| December 2023 | -22.5% | December 2023 | -12.6% | December 2023 | -6.7% | ||
| November 2023 | -19.2% | November 2023 | -9.3% | November 2023 | -19.6% | ||
| October 2023 | -15.1% | October 2023 | -25.1% | October 2023 | -10.4% | ||
| September 2023 | -18.3% | September 2023 | -10.7% | September 2023 | -29.6% | ||
| OVERALL | -13.59% | OVERALL | -13.96% | OVERALL | -14.75% | ||
| ROBIN GOODFELLOW - MAIL | AVERAGE | ||||||
| MONTH | RETURN | MONTH | RETURN | ||||
| August 2024 | -31.0% | August 2024 | -13.0% | ||||
| July 2024 | -20.5% | July 2024 | -16.1% | ||||
| June 2024 | -9.4% | June 2024 | -12.4% | ||||
| May 2024 | 1.5% | May 2024 | -9.1% | ||||
| April 2024 | -22.1% | April 2024 | -12.9% | ||||
| March 2024 | -18.7% | March 2024 | -12.9% | ||||
| February 2024 | -20.6% | February 2024 | -12.6% | ||||
| January 2024 | -13.9% | January 2024 | -10.0% | ||||
| December 2023 | -10.6% | December 2023 | -11.5% | ||||
| November 2023 | -17.5% | November 2023 | -15.1% | ||||
| October 2023 | -23.7% | October 2023 | -15.7% | ||||
| September 2023 | -10.0% | September 2023 | -14.3% | ||||
| OVERALL | -15.62% | OVERALL | -12.97% | ||||
BEST RETURNS IN THE LAST YEAR based on the Official SP and a level stake
| Robin Goodfellow | Kelso | 60.2% |
| Marlborough | Epsom | 47.6% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Cartmel | 45.5% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Chester | 32.6% |
| Rob Wright | York | 31.9% |
| Marlborough | Cheltenham | 31.7% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Bath | 29.4% |
| Templegate | Sedgefield | 28.6% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Chepstow | 27.6% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Bath | 27.3% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Taunton | 27.2% |
| Rob Wright | Kelso | 25.2% |
| Marlborough | Beverley | 21.6% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Warwick | 20.9% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Perth | 19.0% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Uttoxeter | 18.2% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Hexham | 17.9% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Ludlow | 17.7% |
| Marlborough | Ripon | 17.6% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Hamilton | 17.1% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Wetherby | 16.8% |
| Marlborough | Wetherby | 16.5% |
| Marlborough | Goodwood | 14.7% |
| Newsboy | Beverley | 14.7% |
| Newsboy | Wetherby | 14.3% |
| Newsboy | Hexham | 13.9% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Perth | 13.9% |
| Templegate | Wetherby | 13.7% |
| Newsboy | Newton Abbot | 13.4% |
| Rob Wright | Cheltenham | 13.2% |
| Templegate | Ayr | 12.6% |
| Rob Wright | Pontefract | 12.6% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Cheltenham | 12.4% |
| Rob Wright | Ascot | 12.1% |
| Marlborough | Aintree | 11.9% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Windsor | 11.7% |
| Rob Wright | Newmarket | 11.2% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Salisbury | 11.0% |
| Newsboy | Sedgefield | 10.9% |
| Newsboy | Nottingham | 10.9% |
| Rob Wright | Windsor | 10.3% |
| Rob Wright | Ludlow | 10.2% |
| Marlborough | Brighton | 10.1% |
WORST RETURNS IN THE LAST YEAR based on the Official SP and a level stake
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Pontefract | -57.5% |
| Newsboy | Aintree | -54.7% |
| Marlborough | Ascot | -52.8% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | York | -51.7% |
| Robin Goodfellow | York | -51.1% |
| Newsboy | Bath | -50.3% |
| Rob Wright | Yarmouth | -49.7% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Hamilton | -48.2% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Epsom | -47.6% |
| Templegate | Yarmouth | -46.3% |
| Templegate | Perth | -45.3% |
| Templegate | Salisbury | -44.2% |
| Marlborough | Exeter | -43.4% |
| Marlborough | Leicester | -43.0% |
| Newsboy | Newbury | -42.3% |
| Marlborough | Bangor | -42.1% |
| Marlborough | York | -42.0% |
| Newsboy | Salisbury | -41.9% |
| Newsboy | Market Rasen | -41.4% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Aintree | -40.6% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Plumpton | -40.0% |
| Marlborough | Windsor | -39.5% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Taunton | -39.4% |
| Templegate | Warwick | -38.6% |
| Newsboy | Fontwell | -38.3% |
| Rob Wright | Plumpton | -37.8% |
| Marlborough | Thirsk | -37.7% |
| Marlborough | Huntingdon | -37.6% |
| Newsboy | Pontefract | -37.5% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Ayr | -37.4% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Carlisle | -37.3% |
| The Scout/Melissa Jones | Yarmouth | -36.6% |
| Templegate | Worcester | -36.3% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Fontwell | -36.2% |
| Marlborough | Chepstow | -35.6% |
| Marlborough | Nottingham | -35.6% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Newcastle | -35.6% |
| Marlborough | Newbury | -35.5% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Goodwood | -35.3% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Ripon | -35.2% |
| Patrick Weaver/Jason Heavey | Ludlow | -35.2% |
| Rob Wright | Nottingham | -34.8% |
| Robin Goodfellow | Exeter | -34.7% |
| Newsboy | Taunton | -34.7% |
| Marlborough | Hamilton | -34.4% |
| Marlborough | Redcar | -34.3% |
The statistics above are for the period 01/09/2023 to 30/08/2024.