Racing Investment is a relatively long standing service that has recently opened its doors through the Bet Kudos arm of the Betfan group. Selections come from tipster Patrick McFadden.
What does the product offer?
The sales material for Racing Investment does a wonderful job painting a picture of a business investment. For example, Patrick McFadden says that he doesn’t see himself as a gambling man. There is reference made to Dragons Den and the business men and women who sit around waiting for the right investment to come. This carries on for some time and I have to be honest, it certainly paints Patrick McFadden as being in business to make money, and Racing Investment is clearly an extension of that. Whether or not it can offer profits to subscribers however is something very different.
As a service, Racing Investment is actually rather interesting, not so much in how it works, but Patrick McFadden’s approach to betting. Logistically, Racing Investment is a pretty standard service with selections being sent out on a near daily basis. These are sent out via email as well as being uploaded to a members area of the Bet Kudos website. So far, this is familiar territory, however this isn’t all that there is to Racing Investment.
The first thing that stands out as being different is the volume of bets. Patrick McFadden talks about having a business approach to betting and with a large number of days producing just a single bet per day, it is clear that he is selective about what he sends out to Racing Investment subscribers. Even on the busier days, you may only see as many as 3 or 4 bets.
The second thing that really caught my eye about Racing Investment is the sheer variety of bets that Patrick McFadden uses in order to find profit. These have ranged from win bets to each way, as well as doubles and even forecast betting (making 2 selections for which horses will finish 1st and 2nd in a race). It is rare that a tipster will move outside of a “comfort zone” in terms of finding profit and I applaud Patrick McFadden for doing so.
Probably the most stand out thing about Racing Investment however comes in the numbers. The staking plan for Racing Investment errs on the high side with most of the bets being the apparent Betfan requisite of 5 points per bet. The strike rate however is a phenomenal 50.16%. Given that this is based off over 12 months of proofing, it is a commendable number indeed, especially for a service that is based around backed betting.
How does the product work?
Unfortunately, there is no real information provided about what the selection process for Racing Investment entails. Patrick McFadden flat out says that his system “must remain private” and that he’d “never leak that info”. This is disappointing, however there is some insight provided none the less.
As I have already touched upon, Patrick McFadden is proud of his approach to horse racing, even referring to himself as a “hard working businessman”. He is also quick to point out that he doesn’t wish to portray himself as being in the know through questionable secret contacts or inside information.
This only leaves the likelihood that Racing Investment is genuinely a system based tipster service, something that the consistency of the results lays weight to.
What is the initial investment?
At the time of writing there are two different subscriptions available for Racing Investment. These are a one month subscription (which actually runs for 28 days) and a three month subscription (which actually runs for 90 days). These are priced at £40 and £80 respectively (with VAT on top of this) meaning that there is a “free” month on offer for those who subscriber longer.
Although they aren’t listed on the main sales page for Racing Investment, it is worth highlighting that at the time of writing, there are additional trial options available via the proofing page. These include a one month (28 day) trial for a one off cost of just £25. Alternatively, you claim a one month (again 28 days) trial for £20 with this signing you up to the service at a full price of £40 per month.
Racing Investment is a Betfan product and as such, there is no real money back guarantee in place. The Betfan team say that they do not generally offer refunds to subscribers, however they do also say that they will review requests and may issue a refund where appropriate.
What is the rate of return?
Racing Investment has been operational for some times and during this it has made an overall profit of 741.03 points. Even more impressively, this works out at a Return on Investment of 46.48% according to Betfan’s results. Unfortunately, this doesn’t paint a complete picture in my opinion. Over the last 6 months, Racing Investment has actually only generated a profit of 79.05 points, and that is with 5 point staking. This is enough to cover your subscription fees and turn a very modest profit, however for £40 per month I would probably expect more.
Conclusion
As is often the case when it comes to things from Betfan, I find myself conflicted about Racing Investment. On the one hand, it is clear that there is long term profit to be had. Almost 750 points in a year is not something to be sniffed at, however when you look at a more median approach to the results, they are hugely disappointing. Where this becomes something of an issue for me is what is the actual consistency of the service going to be like?
There is a trend with Betfan products of tipsters performing phenomenally before a service ends up levelling off and so the profit growth slows. This seems to be down to an initial bout of phenomenal results which brings the tipster to the groups attention (especially if they come from the Tipster Planet scheme). Logic dictates that there must be tipsters then that receive a full service on the back of a lucky run.
I don’t think that this applies to Racing Investment however. Patrick McFadden seems to have a pretty strong grip on his service and the growth that has been previously demonstrated took place over 6 months. Tipsters rarely get lucky for 6 months at a time. With this in mind, I would say that Racing Investment genuinely deserves to be on your watch list. The fact is that based off the current results, I don’t think the cost is justified. Should there be an upturn (which there is likely to be in Spring and Summer), then I would possibly be looking to get on board with Racing Investment.
I like to think that I am pretty capable of seeing through the crap when it comes to marketing and products (I have certainly been doing this for long enough), and I don’t see crap here. I genuinely believe that Patrick McFadden takes the approach that he claims, i.e. seeing horse racing as a business venture rather than as gambling. If I were to back a tipster, that is exactly the approach that I would look for.
