Tipping Mr Alby was the key to making headway in the PR TipStar - 2018 Ascot Racing Carnival tipping competition
The second round of the PR TipStar - 2018 Ascot Racing Carnival tipping competition came down to one sharp punter's big bet on a roughie.
Western Australian tipper Brennan Fyans made one of the biggest calls this side of the Nullabor Plain on Saturday. Not only did Brennan find Mr Alby, the 45.40 TABtouch tote odds winner of Ascot's fifth race, but also he made it his big bet. Brennan, who goes by the alias of BJF77, was one of three punters who tipped the Paula Wagg-trained gelding but the only one of them to make it his big bet. By tagging Mr Alby as his big bet, Brennan received a score equivalent to $50 each way at TABtouch's tote odds rather than the $20 each way scored for a regular tip. That decision catapulted his score up the leaderboard by 2,685 points. Brennan's other points came from Double Digit, which won the fourth race at Ascot, and four minor placings.
The punters in the PR TipStar - 2018 Ascot Racing Carnival tipping competition put in an extraordinary Round One effort because more than 50 per cent of them a profit. In Round Two, however, only 27% landed in the black. Australia's expert racing tipsters in the media are keen to show up the punters in the $20,000-plus tournament but just one personality shone. Ben Armstrong returned 710 points from his 380-point outlay, which would have been good enough to rank 13th on the second round leaderboard. Ben tipped five winners from the eight races at Ascot, including landing his best bet. After scoring only 320 points in Round One, Round Two winner BJF77 finds himself as the overall leader on 3,329 points.
Brennan's effort should give punters who have not yet joined the PR TipStar - 2018 Ascot Racing Carnival tipping competition a lot of encouragement to get cracking. There are 11 rounds remaining and it will not be long before The TABtouch Masters, featuring the Kirin-Railway Stakes, the Crown Perth-Winterbottom Stakes and the Magic Millions-Kingston Town Classic, begins so join up here before Ascot's Group One races get under way.