Todd Gray's 2021 Summary
SUMMARY
Well, another year has come and gone and what a year it was on the tipping and punting side of things.
Firstly, before I start, I want to say thank you to everyone out there who supports @TheDogsSA twitter page. I’m now in my 9th year running it, and to see it amass over 28,000 tweets and over 3200 followers has just been a pleasure to watch.
So thanks to those who have helped in any way over the years behind the scenes at GRSA, the followers themselves, and all the punters and of course the trainers, owners, and the dogs themselves. It means a lot to me.
We ended up making a small profit for the year which, well… is the whole point. This does make it seven profitable years from the eight since I’ve taken over which is something to be proud of. However, how the latter quarter of the year finished is something I’m not proud of.
When the year started I set out to make 5% profit on turnover or return on investment with the staking side of things. At the end of August, I hit a career high of 11.2% to only fall in a hole to limp to the finish line with a 3.8% profit on your outlay. While it’s nice to finish in the green, that drop off the last 3 months was something I cannot ignore.
January and February got us off to a small loss, then March through to August just being glorious, not having a single losing month. Then September to November being beyond poor just to finish off with a little win in December.
So, if the year was a dog race, we missed the start then showed great acceleration to get to the front and scoot away with a massive lead and looked home and hosed to only tire late and just hold on for the W.
Still, the final wash up for 2021 was as followed.
BEST BETS
172 collects from 370 selections.
Invested 1575.5 units to return 1630.93 units for a total profit of (+3.5%)
Just under a 50% strike rate which is lovely but a decent number of these were short-priced favourites. Something I generally try to avoid, but sometimes you just can’t. They went along at a steady pace all year, never dipping into the negative. I would have liked the best bets especially to be above 5% and that remains my goal in 2022.
VALUE BETS
114 collects from 451 selections
Invested 884.5 units to return 894.33 units for a total profit of (+1.1%)
We have that down payment on a Cornetto covered. This was the one bet type that was up and down like a yo-yo all year. In fact, it was only with 2 meetings to go in the year that we locked up profit. We had some big collects on the value front, but we also had some long dry spells.
GET OUT
97 collects from 275 selections
Invested 706.5 units to return 762.69 units for a total profit of (+8%)
The get out did its job this year but was the worst offender of the final quarter drop off for the year. This hit as high as 20+%. Still 8% over the year is more than I was hoping for and is very welcomed. Definitely dug us out the hole more than a few times, and put the cherry on the cake plenty of others.
TOTAL
384 collects from 1097 selections
Invested 3166.6 units to return 3287.95 for a total profit of (+3.8%)
As mentioned, I really wanted to finish at 5% or more, and at one stage had double digits on the brain. The three month period of September to November was the downfall of the big lead. Profit made, but could and should have finished better. Still, I take full responsibility.
However, that is the nature of the punt. She can be a harsh mistress at times, but she did allow us to have a lot of positives this year which was full of changes. The most, in fact, of any year the page has been operated on. With the introduction of the staking plan itself which has helped hopefully guide punters into confidence levels and how to properly manage a punting bank and turnover. To our very own man from the Mount giving Mount Gambier more love, to a few little segments like learning lingo, kennel to follow and dog to follow to name the majority.
MULTIPLES
123 collects from 289 selections invested $11517 to return $9628.10 a loss of (-16.4%)
Hard one to gauge as we got some collects that should have been bigger, but the pool sizing hurt us on that front. This stat, albeit a loss, is about right. Missed a few quaddies that would have helped get the plus.
CHANGES
This year there will be some changes, although less than last year with the main one being the omission of multiples from the tipping part of things. With the pools liquidity being too hard to gauge I have decided to just focus on the solo tips themselves and the wagering and staking attached to them. The introduction of polls on feature races and other categories like greyhound of the year etc, will also be added to hopefully get some more engagement, allowing followers to have their input and get in on the banter.
Not much else will be changing immediately in 2022 with so much happening in 2021.
HIGHLIGHTS
As there always is, a few dogs stood out this year in the old memory bank and they were:
2021 MVP
Sutton Sandy (Angela Modra)
The little engine that could has nothing on this tiny hound with a big heart, she is the smallest racer currently in South Australia. She served us very well in 2021. Being the most selected runner for the year and delivering nearly every time when she was a best bet and finding a podium when a value bet.
Good girl Sandy, and well-done Angela.
BIGGEST PLUNGE
Cobalt Missile (Tony Nobes)
$8 into $3
We said launch on the missile the night he won his maiden, and he sure did. A lucky win I must admit, but the result sure got the twitter-verse up and about. Landing the PLUNGE in dramatic style. Bringing a tear to the bookies eyes and a hit to their wallets. We love a maiden.
2021 HIGHLIGHT
Bow Down (Peter Wilton)
$71 FIXED
The longest price winner tipped in my eight years of running the page. What a race it was too. One that put Steven Bradbury to shame. Were we lucky...yes! Did we get the result…yes! Was there a fair bit of carry on when we did…yes!
BOW DOWN TO BOW DOWN AND PETER WILTON
So let’s see what 2022 brings our way. Again, thank you for the support and banter in 2021 and onwards and upwards into the New Year.
Good luck to every single runner out there, same with all you trainers and owners as well. I appreciate everything you do that allows me to have this opportunity to share the industry in which I and my family love and respect.
Giddy up!
Todd Gray