Racing to 5k is a new to market horse racing tipster service which is operated by a tipster referred to simply as “Stephen X”. He claims that he can turn small initial stakes into a very substantial profit.
Introduction to Racing to 5k
How long would it take you to raise £5,000 if you started right now? I’m sure that the answer would depends drastically on a huge number of factors. For some people, it might be a days work. For others, months of work. Some people would go and put £2,500 on black, and some could simply refinance a property that has substantial positive equity. But what about if I you were challenged to do this with just £100 to start out with? Well, according to the subject of today’s review, you’re looking at less than 2 months.
Welcome then, to Racing to 5k. This is a tipster service that, if I’m honest, I’ve seen an increasing number of in recent times. The core premise is that you can start with a relatively small amount of money and turn it into a very lucrative profit using the right sort of investment. It’s the kind of thing that really reads well. Especially if you’re able to pair it with the right kind of marketing. Because I’ll be honest, something like this is very much dependent on Stephen X’s ability to sell you a service (a fact that will become incredibly important later on).
One of the reasons that these services sell so well is because there is a timescale. People like to know where they will be, and here, Stephen X is saying that in less than 2 months, you can be £5,000 richer. And when you only have to put aside £150 to do that… Well, it’s hard not to be interested in that kind of offering. Unfortunately, in my experience, things like Racing to 5k don’t tend to fare so well. So, let’s get into it, and see if this will be the one to break the mould.
What Does Racing to 5k Offer?
As far as writing a review goes, Racing to 5k is a bit of a difficult proposition. This is mostly down to the fact that Stephen X has made the decision to keep a lot of details of his service behind a paywall. Now, that doesn’t stop one from looking at it, of course, but it does create a situation whereby it is difficult to talk about without giving away details for free. Which of course, I don’t tend to do.
So, because of that, I hope that you will forgive me if things are a bit vague. Of course, my final thoughts will be entirely reflective of what I think of the service, so you can put faith in them.
And with that out of the way, let’s get straight into what you are getting here. The core of what Racing to 5k is, is very simple. It is a somewhat straight forward tipster service which is based entirely around UK horse racing. Now, in terms of the management side of things, Racing to 5k is quite interesting, because there is a very peculiar disconnect in terms of the marketing and the reality.
We are told in the sales material, under the header “HOW DO I GET THE BETS” that you will receive selections directly via email, “at midnight the night before each day of racing”. Immediately after this, we are told, once again told under a separate section with the exact same header that you can expect to receive the bets each morning.
From what I have seen, you should probably expect the latter more than the former. Which in many respects, isn’t a problem. But it is a concern that this has to be addressed. It is also indicative of something that really is a massive problem with Racing to 5k, but I will pick this up a little later on.
In terms of the bets themselves, there is a fair old range of bets that are advised and need to be placed. This can very much be seen in the fact that the headlining bet for Racing to 5k, the one that Stephen X claims took him over £5,000 on the last cycle, is a giant of an each way Heinz bet.
For those who aren’t familiar, this is a rarely used accumulator that involves 6 selections spread over a multitude of smaller accas. These are 15 Doubles, 20 Trebles, 15 Four-Folds, 6 Five-Folds and a Six-Fold Accumulator, adding up to 57 bets (hence the name, with Heinz famously (and falsely) advertising 57 varieties).
Now, this isn’t the only bet type that you will see, but it does highlight the fact that you can expect to see a lot of eclecticism. Whether or not you see that as a bad thing will be a personal preference. At the very least, I think it’s fair to say that it keeps things interesting, and you don’t tend to have huge numbers of bets to contend with, which is also something.
In terms of the stakes that you should be betting, Stephen X sends out advice with the bets. These are, once again, a varied affair. But given that you are recommended to start with a betting bank of just £100, there is some compounding involved there. But again, there is that frustrating position whereby this is all ultimately behind a paywall. As such, I am tied to some degree.
What I will pass comment on however is that I think that the staking plan is… Perhaps a tad aggressive. I don’t necessarily believe that it is the worst thing that I’ve seen, but there is inevitably a degree of risk that comes with this kind of approach. Something that won’t suit everybody.
The final thing worth touching on is how often you can expect to win. Now, the short answer is that… Well, you shouldn’t come into this expecting to win all that often. As you would probably expect from a service that leverages particularly extreme accas. On a long enough timescale, that isn’t the worst thing, but with something like Racing to 5k, it can be problematic because in theory, this should be a bit of a sprint.
How Does Racing to 5k Work?
One of the few things that is credible about Racing to 5k is that Stephen X does talk, at least somewhat, about his selection process. Of course, it is also hidden behind that paywall. Which means that if you want to know what you are getting into, you have to pay for the service. Something that just seems at odds to me, and really, this is problematic for me.
Now, first things first, I want to be upfront. The explanation of Stephen X’s selection process just isn’t great to me. I have looked at a lot of betting systems and a lot of tipster services in my time. And from this, I have really come to understand when somebody has a genuinely good idea, which they are able to articulate well, and when somebody has a vague idea that sounds good.
In my opinion, Racing to 5k falls more into the latter than the former. Because really, what I think I can say quite fairly is that products of this nature inevitably end up following the same sort of path with just the odds simple tweak. And core to everything, as you would expect (and as I’ve mentioned, if I’m honest) is compounding. It is a necessity.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with this idea, what it means is increasing your stakes as you win. So, let’s say you start with £100 and you’re betting 5% of your stakes. That means £5. That £5 bet returns £20 of profit, which means your next 5% bet would be £6, and so on and so forth. It is a brilliant marketing tool for betting systems because compounding can make anything seem very simple. As an extreme example, £10 could be £1.3 million in just 17 spins on a roulette table. How many times could you do that a day?
What is the Initial Investment?
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that I don’t really agree with tipsters keeping basic information behind a paywall. But if you re going to do so, at the very least, you should make it cheap. Racing to 5k is not this. Stephen X is asking a one time cost of £47 plus VAT for access to the service. That might not be bad if you know what you’re getting into, but it’s a big ask to go in blind.
Fortunately, a lot is made of the money back guarantee that is in place for Racing to 5k, but this is a bit of an interesting thing. First and foremost, I think that it ‘s noteworthy that Stephen X says that “IF at any stage in the challenge you feel that it’s not working for you, you will be entitled to claim a FULL refund – no questions asked.
And in theory, that should be a good thing. However, you are entirely taking the word of the vendor on this. Somewhat backing this up however is a 30 day money back guarantee which is backed by Clickbank. Now, Clickbank have become a little more… difficult, when it comes to claiming refunds. As such, whilst you may not have problems with this, it does mean that I can’t put quite as much weight on this being place as I once did.
What is the Rate of Return?
Obviously, the income potential for Racing to 5k is very straight forward. In actual fact, it’s right there in the name of the service. However, as Stephen X says, you might not actually get to £5,000. Instead, you might just get close to this amount, depending on what odds you are able to get and whether you back all bets.
Furthermore, there is the unspoken implication that you can increase these numbers by starting out with a larger initial betting bank. Let’s not mince words, if £100 can make you £5,000, why couldn’t you use £200 for £10,000? Or £1,000 for £50,000. It all scales very neatly. Realistically though, I’m not sure that you will actually get close to these returns.
Conclusion for Racing to 5k
As far as I’m concerned, Racing to 5k is a masterclass in marketing. Because Stephen X does a fantastic job of trying to convince people to fork over £47 (let’s not forget that also has VAT on top of it) for something that, really, you have to come into blind. Because, and I don’t care what argument may be made, that is effectively what is happening here.
Let me put it this way. What do you actually see before you hand over your £47? Well, Stephen X talks about how he made five grand in just a couple of months. And there is a very big and impressive looking bet that has produced a profit of about £650. But even when you start to dissect that, it’s hard to overlook that a part of this was cashed out. Something that isn’t really talked about in Racing to 5k.
From what I’ve seen, this isn’t something that is ever addressed. That is a little bit concerning in my mind as cashing out bets drastically changes a tipster service. Because you could easily miss that, and then what?
Let’s be honest here. It all just boils down to taking Stephen X’s word that Racing to 5k will work as advertised. And it isn’t even like I really feel the PDF that you get does a lot to allay those concerns. Like I’ve said multiple times, I don’t think it’s fair to give the game away. But it’s just… In my mind, it isn’t good enough given what you are being asked to pay. £20 is worth a punt. £50 is a bit more serious when you can get genuine and proven methods of making money through betting for a bit more than that.
On top of that, there are a lot of concerning anomalies. Let’s not forget the fact that Stephen X repeats the information about receiving bets. Except, it’s different both times. It is very sloppy. And to me, it is indicative of what is really happening here. Because, as is often the case when it comes to tipster services that are sold through Clickbank, there is a lot that is happening effectively “in the background”.
Here, what you are dealing with is a vendor who is well known to me. And not for the best reasons. In actual fact, their start wasn’t even in betting. This makes Racing to 5k a very interesting thing, just… In all of the worst ways. The fact of the matter is that this is a highly questionable service, and it is one that will ultimately cost you close to £60. That’s just a big ask.
Putting all of this together, I simply don’t believe that I could look to recommend Racing to 5k. Aside from the fact that Stephen X is so keen to make you sign up for the service in order to see… Well, anything, that is worthwhile. And when you do… Well, it’s only really going to lead to a lot of disappointment. I cannot stress enough that this is one that is worth avoiding.
