The Secret Handicapper is a new product being offered under the Winning Information Network arm of the Betfan group. Selections themselves come courtesy of a tipster known simply as Ash (a.k.a. The Secret Handicapper).
What does the product offer?
A quick scan over the sales material for The Secret Handicapper shows a tipster that is very confident in what they are offering. In fact, Ash spends a lot of time talking about some rather interesting and I would argue advanced ideas. Of course all of this looks and sounds great, and I have to admit that if I didn’t know too much about the industry, I would definitely be impressed with the presentation.
Even the headlines for The Secret Handicapper tie in with this idea. Winning Information Network say that Ash is “Meticulous, Obsessed And [knows] How To Win At The Races”. Of course anybody can say anything when it comes to their marketing material. I feel much more qualified than most to make this statement given the number of products that I have reviewed in my time. So with that in mind, let’s get down to the proverbial brass tacks and see whether or not there is really anything to The Secret Handicapper.
The Secret Handicapper is operated by Winning Information Network and as such, you can expect that the operational side of things will run smoothly. This means selections being sent out directly via email as well as being uploaded to a member’s area on the main website. I should also point out that Ash issues selections on a daily basis covering a large range of horse racing disciplines. This means that you will receive bets for flat, jumps and all weather (with jumps supposedly bringing the biggest profits over the year).
In terms of the tips themselves, there are a few things that need to be covered. The first is that all bets advised through The Secret Handicapper are straightforward win bets. The second is that the volume of bets involved is frankly rather staggering. Ash says that you can typically expect around 10 selections per day however there can be a few more or less than this number.
With this high volume of bets in place, it is fortunate that The Secret Handicapper doesn’t subscribe to the usual 5 points per bet staking plan. Instead, Ash employs the Kelly Criterion which essentially means that the stake is based on the “edge” that has been calculated. What this roughly translates to in real terms is that the more likely a bet is to come in, the more you will be staking on it. In teal terms, this means that you can expect to be betting between 1 and 4 points on a given horse.
Keeping with the numbers side of things, there is also the strike rate to consider. At 17.85% since the end of May, I can see how some people may not perceive this to be a particularly strong result but to credit The Secret Handicapper, I think it has done well to achieve this. The fact of the matter is that as a service, The Secret Handicapper does involve backing some rather long odds and as such, to get close to 20% is very respectable.
How does the product work?
Truth be told, despite the rather extravagant fashion in which Ash talks about his service, truthfully I don’t see a whole lot of information that tells me how selections are found. We are told that selections are approached systematically and that every bet picked by The Secret Handicapper has been done so on the back of meticulous data analysis and measuring performance. This supposedly includes watching back replays of other races.
What is the initial investment?
There are two options if you want to sign up to The Secret Handicapper. The first of these is a monthly subscription which actually only runs for 28 days. The alternative is to sign up on a quarterly subscription which offers better value over the 90 days that it is active. Access to The Secret Handicapper on a monthly basis will cost you £48 whilst access to selections over a 90 day period cost “just” £96.
It is worth pointing out that because The Secret Handicapper is sold through Winning Information Network who are ultimately a member of the Betfan group, there is unfortunately no money back guarantee in place. The team do however say that any requests for refunds will be reviewed and if they feel it is warranted, this will be offered. I wouldn’t buy into The Secret Handicapper expecting this as an option however.
What is the rate of return?
The Secret Handicapper has been proofed since the start of June this year over the course of which profits of 346 points have been amassed. This is some way from the claimed 400 points which are mentioned in the sales material for The Secret Handicapper. More importantly, I feel that it should be highlighted that this also includes a 2 month losing streak which saw The Secret Handicapper lose almost 80 points. All of this represents an ROI of 10.79%, certainly not a fortune, but better still a reasonable profit.
Conclusion on Secret Handicapper
I am rather bothered by quite how highly Ash seems to think of himself because frankly, everything that I have seen about The Secret Handicapper suggests that this is pretty far from an exceptional tipster service. Don’t get me wrong, by the same token, it is not necessarily bad either. In my opinion, this is simply a case of bad management of expectations on behalf of Winning Information Network.
More than anything else there is one question that lingers over The Secret Handicapper ad that is one of value. At £48 (plus VAT remember), I think that it is fair to say that it is a premium service. I also think that it is fair to say that The Secret Handicapper has covered its subscription costs more than adequately. And yet, there have also been two consecutive losing months. Yes, Ash has steered the service back into profit, but it would be foolish to ignore.
As far as I am concerned, The Secret Handicapper isn’t for me. Not because I think that it is bad, or even necessarily too expensive (although it is hard to ignore the fact that it is pricey). The truth is that I would like to see how consistent Ash and The Secret Handicapper will be in the future before I committed to anything that resembles a long term agreement.
