SpeedRatings is a very long standing horse racing service that provides subscribers with information and insight into all horse races across the UK. They also provide their best bets as a tip.
Introduction to SpeedRatings
Something that you get a little bit used to in this line of work is seeing the same old crap come and go. Sometimes it feels like every single week there is yet another service peddling the same old set up, the same old BS. And it is almost inevitable that the vast majority of these services end up failing in the long term. That is why for my money, I have always liked the idea of being the “master of my own destiny” with betting. It isn’t a coincidence that the services we have tried and loved here offer you autonomy with your betting.
It is with all of that in mind that I am quite excited about today’s review subject, SpeedRatings. As the name suggests, it provides its users with speed ratings for races around the world. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at something that I would say is so comprehensive and single minded in what it sets out to do. Something that I most definitely do not say as a criticism. The fact of the matter is that what the SpeedRatings team have put together here is an incredibly impressive site and service.
Original Link: www.speedratings.com/
What I really like though is the fact that SpeedRatings isn’t just a case of “do as I say”. There is a tipping element (that I will be covering too), but that isn’t where the strength of this lies. In actual fact, I would go as far as to say that the tipping element is probably the least important element. Something that does become a bit of a factor in what you ultimately sign up for. As you can probably imagine, there is a lot to talk about here, so without further ado, let’s get into it.
What Does SpeedRatings Offer?
Like I’ve said, the core offering of SpeedRatings is right there in the name. This is a service that offers you the teams own speed ratings. But this wouldn’t be much of a review if I simply wrapped things up there, would it. What you actually get is a comprehensive breakdown of the days racing.
In and of itself, that isn’t necessarily anything new or unique. I’ve looked at products before that offer a fundamentally similar service. Where SpeedRatings stands out a little bit to me though is how accessible and easy to understand everything is. Even if you knew nothing about horse racing, you could quickly and easily get an idea of what is what.
This is because the SpeedRatings team simply present the information well. Everything is in a member’s area and when you sign in you are given access to the days race cards. There each race is very clearly identified with the header showing you the going, the weather, the price, the class and the distance. All basic things you need to know about the race.
From there, every horse in the race is then broken down with a level of detail that I haven’t seen from other speed ratings services before. More importantly than just the level of information is the fact that it is all very easy to read and to understand. The user interface for SpeedRatings is really good. Something that you don’t tend to see in this industry.
For every horse SpeedRatings gives you the odds, the details of the horse (including the age, the sire, and the dam, as well as when the horse last ran). If there is something additional to note, the team include this too. This is one of those things that I think really makes this stand out from the crowd. Because these little snippets can be really quite important trends that may be overlooked. You can also add your own notes on the horse too.
A few examples from the day I am writing this include highlighting that a horse has never won on a right handed track, despite winning 7 times on left handed tracks. Another points out that a horse that is heavily favoured hasn’t actually won carrying as much weight as it would in this race. And there is so much more.
From there, the information covers things like the weight of the horse, the trainer, the jockey and their ability, and of course, the speed ratings. These include expected speed ratings for today, as well as their performance over the previous six races. Combine this with the form that SpeedRatings also provides, and you can get a good idea of how things might go.
As well as the ratings themselves, something that I like about SpeedRatings is that the team provide you with quite a comprehensive guide on how to use them. This means that if you aren’t sure what you’re looking at, it is very easy to learn. It is well written, but the formatting isn’t great. So it’s a bit dense which is intimidating. But it shows that the SpeedRatings team do know their stuff.
Now, let’s talk about the tipping element. Referred to as SpeedRatings Best Bets, this provides you with a daily NAP as well as an each way multi bet. The best bets advised through SpeedRatings are a rather mixed affair. The proofing on Racing-Index shows a historic massive range of odds. This is quite unusual for a service that bills itself as NAP based.
As you might expect given all of that, the tips advised are simply back to win. There are level stakes involved with the proofing showing bets advised at £30. Because of the inclusion of odds and the like on the SpeedRatings database, it is very easy to follow along and is arguably a very accessible service.
Over the years the strike rate for this has been quite consistently low with some very mixed results. Despite that fact, you have to go all the way back to 2017 to find a losing year. Honestly, there isn’t much more to say about this element of SpeedRatings. It doesn’t seem like an afterthought, but it is also very clearly not the focus of the service either.
How Does SpeedRatings Work?
When it comes to how something like SpeedRatings works, there isn’t really an easy descriptor. Fundamentally, there are two things at play. The first is how the SpeedRatings team find their ratings. This is always going to be proprietary information with different speed ratings services using their own formulas and calculations. As such, it would be unreasonable to expect them to give this away. But I do have faith in their numbers.
The other element of how SpeedRatings works is also a difficult thing to describe. Because all of that depends on how you want to use it. The fact of the matter is that this isn’t in many respects, a direct money making product (even if there is talk of how many points of profit you’d have seen per day). What you are paying for is information, and that information is effectively a tool. What you do with it will drastically alter your results.
Really bluntly, the end results for two users of SpeedRatings could be drastically different. And whilst there are easy ways to use it (as I will be touching on shortly), there is no “if x then y” type of approach here. What you get out of this is heavily influenced by what you are willing to put into it. The more you educate yourself on what things mean and what impacts a race, the better your results will be in the long term.
Despite all of that, there is still an easy way you can “make this work”. Ultimately, the horse with the highest speed rating is according to SpeedRatings’ calculations, the fastest horse in the race. The fastest horse in the race is the most likely to win. Some light filtering of races where there is a clearly faster horse will help. But ultimately, how you choose to use SpeedRatings is down to you.
What is the Initial Investment?
There are three options if you want to give SpeedRatings a go. First and foremost, there is weekly access which is deemed as being a “Trial” package. This gives you access to the ratings only and is priced at £9.99. The next option is also only for the ratings, however it is monthly. Referred to as the “Standard” package, it is priced at £29.99 per month.
The final package is referred to as the “Professional” package. This is priced at £39.99 per month and is the only way to receive the tip element of SpeedRatings. Other than that, there is no difference between this and the Standard package. This is a bit of a personal choice as you have to decide whether those tips are worth the additional cost.
Something that is worth noting with SpeedRatings is that you can only pay either through Paypal or BACS transfer. This leaves you with little recourse if you aren’t happy with the service although, these options aren’t a subscription. You have to pay each month so at least there isn’t any cancellation or risk of an unwanted subscriptions.
What is the Rate of Return?
As is always the case with something like SpeedRatings, talking about how much you can earn is a difficult thing. The tram will, for example, post about how they have had 16 winners that saw a 32 point profit. But that is based off you backing every single one of their best rated horses that day. Something that, frankly, most people are unlikely to do.
Were you trying to do this, it is perhaps noteworthy that SpeedRatings saw a 677.11 points profit for last year. That sounds pretty reasonable, however, it is also based off almost 13,350 point staked. An ROI of almost bang on 5%. That isn’t a bad result by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn’t amazing either. Especially given the work involved.
Realistically, I think if you are looking at SpeedRatings and considering it, it shouldn’t necessarily be as a direct money making product. This is a tool that you can use to help you find winning horses. What you get out of it is really all about how much you are a willing to put into it.
Conclusion for SpeedRatings
There is little denying that SpeedRatings is a service that has some merit. Speed ratings are by no means the be all and end all when it comes to racing. As incredibly simple as it would make things, horse go fast isn’t the final word. But with that said, there is also little denying the fact that it is a pretty good place to start.
If you are looking for speed ratings, there are plenty of other options on the market. This is because (as the SpeedRatings team point out themselves) there isn’t a singular calculation. As such, there is a massive degree of subjectivity. All of this begs the question of whether or not SpeedRatings is better than other son the market.
For my money, I think that SpeedRatings is probably one of the better options that I have seen providing this service. The ratings themselves are pretty solid and provide a clear edge. This is clear from the fact that if you’d bet on everything, there would have been at least some sort of profit. But that isn’t the start of the show for me.
What I really like about SpeedRatings is the accessibility of everything. This is a very easy service to use and that is definitely welcome. Compared to other similar products that I have looked at, the actual use of this is significantly simpler. Furthermore, the addition of extra information and things that may be pertinent to a horse is very welcome.
On top of all of that, having all of the additional information that is included with SpeedRatings is a strong positive too. It provides you with everything that you may want to know in one place. That in and of itself isn’t enough to warrant any sort of recommendation, as a package, it is all very attractive.
So, as a speed ratings service, I would really say that SpeedRatings is worth some serious consideration. It is as at least as good as anything else one the market, and whilst the pricing is a touch higher than some competitors, I think that there is definitely some value to be had in it. Particularly if you are looking to implement the data in a system.
With all of that said, I can’t help but feel like the tips are probably something that aren’t necessarily worthwhile. The tipping element of SpeedRatings isn’t necessarily the terrible value. £10 per month for a few tips isn’t bad. But if you’re buying this for the speed ratings, I’m not certain that the tips really add much.
All things considered, I think that you can do worse than SpeedRatings. It is undoubtedly something that is going to be for everybody. But I think that’s pretty obvious from the get go. If you are willing to put in work and want to start finding your own selections, then this is something that can definitely help with that. And all at the cost of a low end tipster service.
