End of month report – Feb 2014

It’s that time of the month where we need to add up what has happened and, more importantly, what we can learn.

This report will be produced every month and in it I shall review the previous month’s performance and detail any upcoming changes to the service.

I’ve tried to structure this report in a sensible manner but, if there are elements that you feel that I have left out or changes that you wish to see made, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

I can always be contacted at contact@focusratings.com

Likewise, if you’re not already a member and would like more information to help you make your mind up, please don’t hesitate to contact me on the email address above.

Balance Sheet

Top Rated Horse

During the month of February 2014 there were 687 races, of which 202 were won by the top rated horse.

This equated to a 29.4% Strike Rate for the top rated horse.

This compares to a 25.65% Strike Rate for the top rated horse for February 2013.

The top rated horse came in the first three in 449 of those 687 races.

This equates to a Place Strike Rate of 65.36%

Top Three Rated Horses

During the month of February 2014 there were 687 races, of which 444 were won by one of the top three rated horses.

This equated to a 64.63% Strike Rate for the top three rated horses.

This compares to a 56.56% Strike Rate for the top three rated horses for February 2013.

News

Recent problems

Obviously, there have been some problems, over the last 10 days or so, with incomplete ratings (the latter races not being included) being generated and sent out.

I am still looking into this problem and am now manually checking the ratings before sending them out.

On a positive note; some members have said that they really rely on the Early Bird Preview Ratings and so I am trying to work out how to generate an Early Morning set of ratings (perhaps at 7am) which should be more accurate than the 5pm the night before ratings and still be early enough for those of you who have to print off the ratings before you leave for work (to read in your lunch hour, perhaps?)

This will have the added advantage of being a System Test for the normal 10am ratings?

Morning Emails

The links on the morning email will be changes slightly so that the New Format ratings become the default ratings PDF.

I shall also work on the other PDF format ratings to try to add all (or as much as possible) information from the New Format ratings to those PDFs.

New Spreadsheets

I shall be creating new versions of the spreadsheets (both in CSV and XLS formats) to, once again, show all the information available on the New Format PDF.

Because I know that many of you have macros or import filters I shall leave the existing spreadsheets in place until you have all had time to adjust your systems/software to the new format spreadsheets.

Some Strategies & Systems

Since Christmas I have been speaking to a number of you about the way you profit from the ratings and, as a result, I have come up with a few strategies and systems which may be of interest to you.

I shall be detailing these throughout March and, if there is enough interest, may put a link on the morning email to a PDF containing any system selections.

If you have any systems that you wish to share with the other members then please feel free to let me know about them; I will proof them and, if you like, could publish them (and automatically generate the selections on a daily basis.)

Now, I should mention that I am primarily concerned with the accuracy of the ratings and am in no way trying to be a tipster.

But, if I have knowledge of ways to profit from the ratings then it would be rude of me not to share them?

Videos

If a picture tells a thousand words...

In order to answer some of the more common questions that I get about the ratings I have decided to produce some short videos explaining each aspect of the service.

As well as covering the basics of the site, I shall also be showing how to do basic Spreadsheet work (using the Results.CSV as an example.) Things like Pivot Tables, Filters and Forumlas.

Changes to the site

You may have noticed that I have started creating a File Archive (on the sidebar, just above the Subscribe Now bit.)

In March I shall fully populate this so that it shows links to all ratings PDFs and Spreadsheets going back as far as I can.

This is so that you can download them, if you wish, for your own research purposes.

I have also removed the Support Page.

This is mainly because very few people were using it and, when they did, it actually took longer to resolve the problem than it would have done with a simple email.

If you have a support issue then it's best to just send an email or use the Contact Page.

Finally (for this bit, anyway)I am also teaching myself a new programming language which will allow me to produce iPhone/iPad and Android apps. I'd be very interested to hear if any of you would be interested in an App to deliver the ratings direct to your phone/tablet.

The App would be free to members.

New Members

We've seen an influx of new members during February and I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you all on board.

If any of you have any questions then please don't hesitate to ask.

I have updated the Cheat Sheet to show the new fields in the New Format PDF.

I shall also be updating the Handbook to reflect the changes in the site since I wrote it (almost a year ago.)

---

Conclusions

Well, with five days in February (a short and difficult month) where the Strike Rate for the top rated horse was over 40% I am becoming more comfortable that the Ratings are on the right track.

I've been told that February is the most difficult month of the year as the Jumps Horses are tired after jumping all winter and the weather affects training and even the ability to get the horse to the race.

A quick look at some of the proofing sites show that even some of the better tipsters have had a bad month.

Thus, it's kind of nice that Focus Ratings has had its best month since January 2013?

I anticipate that March will be even better (there, I've gone and jinxed things now, haven't I?) and I wish you all the best with your use of the ratings (and your own systems and strategies) to make the £10 a month subscription worthwhile.

My kindest regards