For the first time in nine years the top three place getters for the Tipster of the Month awards were filled by Australia's racing experts from the media.
Was June a bad month for the punters? More a case of some outstanding performances from some of the Australia's most respected names in the racing publishing industry.
As always we set the parameters to ensure there is sufficient tipping activity to warrant consideration. All punters and members of Australia's racing media who enter 15 or more tips during the month qualify for awards. The Top 3 tipsters using profit as a percentage of turnover (POT) and cash profit, the absolute profit made from an even stake bet on each tip, make the cut.
Laurie Sainsbury is a name known amongst punters for mining out value in a form guide. A reputation that he well and truly lived up to in June with a run of winners paying tasty odds as high as $25.80 best tote.
Punters following the tipster from racing website Racenet were treated to a massive 203% profit on turnover. By following each of Sainsbury's 17 best bet tips placed during the month, punters ended up with $3,450 extra in the bank by months end and the best part is that it didn't cost them a cent to get them.
At month end Sainsbury had won on three of the five days that he placed tips for Saturday's race meetings. Happy Saturdays for the punters that followed.
Both runners-up in this category came from the media. Country and provincial West Australian race caller, Dave Sheehan bagged 9 winners from 19 tips posted in the month. His winners avereaged odds of $4.38, delivering his followers a tidy 107% POT.
The second runner-up was Michael Manley, senior racing writer and form analyst for the Herald Sun. Manley managed 85% POT from his 10 winners in June and has continued on with that form turning a profit in the first three days that he tipped in July.
Measuring absolute profit made with an even stake during the month we had three more of Australia's racing media finishing on top of the pile.
Victoria's premier race caller Matt Hill from RSN Racing made the most cash for punters where $100 win bets raised $5,450 for his followers. Hill found 25 winners at average odds of $5.38. His winning streak now extends to 90 days and the good news for punters is that Hill posts free tips.
The runner-up in this category deserves a special mention. Paul Micallef from the Sportsman racing news paper and Super Racing website racked-up a $5,430 profit from $100 bets which represented 37% POT.
To achieve these results however, he faced one of the toughest assignments compared to his colleagues in Australia's racing media. Not only did he have to study in excess of four race meetings for Saturday's News Limited publications as he does week-in-week-out, but his selections had to be submitted up to 72 hours before the horses jumped to meet editorial deadlines, missing out on important pre-race information like odds fluctuations, track conditions and scratchings.
Second runner-up Laurie Sainsbury achieved one of the rare feats of placing in both profit categories. A huge effort and happy punters who followed him.
Tips, results and performance statistics are available for all these tipsters and more in Australia's horse racing tip market.