Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 11 August 2025

The result of the Sussex Stakes, won by 150/1 chance Qirat, encapsulated the season so far.

I have often talked and written about the ‘rhythm’ of a season, with a top horse or yard heading the field, but it would be hard to nominate a leader in either category at the moment.

I had high expectations for Lake Victoria, who I was reliably informed was rated the best three-year-old in Aidan O’Brien’s yard, but she has been out of action and there is talk of her retiring to the paddocks.

From the two-year-olds Gstaad was a convincing winner of the Coventry Stakes but he missed the Phoenix Stakes last weekend when off his feed. In his absence his stable-companion True Love was beaten at 4/1 on by Power Blue, who the time before had been beaten five and three-quarter lengths by the favourite.

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes came and went without a representative from the three-year-old generation and the Sussex Stakes was won by a horse who was officially rated 24lbs adrift of Field Of Gold.

I don’t know if there are any professional punters around any more, but if so I would love to know how they are doing this season.

From a personal perspective I would describe myself as a recreational backer. I like to have an interest in a race, but am quite happy to sit out and watch if I don’t hold a strong view.

I like multiples and forecasts, where you have a chance of a substantial return from a limited outlay. That puts me in good company, because Barney Curley’s big paydays in his later years came from multiple bets.

But I wonder what sort of money was actually bet on Field Of Gold at 3/1 on or True Love at 4/1 on?

A few years ago the larger on-course bets were featured in the following day’s race analysis … sometimes six-figure sums … but that was before the exchanges and online sites.

Looking back to Goodwood there were a few strong market movers.

The two which featured horses in which I had expressed an interest were Rhoscolyn and Push The Limit, backed from 12/1 to 11/2 and 6/1 to 5/2 respectively. These moves were a consequence of genuine market support, whereas Field Of Gold and True Love were priced up defensively by the bookmakers attracting interest from only a handful of heavy hitters.

I have a quiet chuckle when the bookmakers’ representatives appear on the screens before the day’s racing to say where the early money has been placed, mindful that just a few pounds can reduce a horse’s price the night before.

According to the Statista Research Department the turnover from off course betting has been in decline over the last 15 years, in March 2023 amounting to 3.3 billion pounds, which was 42 per cent lower than in 2009.

Given the reports of closed accounts, affordability checks and the difficulty of getting money on, I wonder what the volume of activity really is in the betting markets these days?
Bye for now

Why wait a week? Receive Marten’s free horse racing publication Weekly Roundup the day it is written in full for free every Monday evening by clicking here & signing up for our free Newsletter

© Copyright in all Marten Julian Publications is strictly reserved by the publishers. No material therein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from Marten Julian.