2020 was a year unlike any other.
But when the world was flipped upside-down, horse racing provided a rare shining light, putting smiles on the faces of punters up and down the country.
We've run the numbers to come up with our annual Tipsters of the Year awards. Anyone whose tips are captured on the site are included. The list is large, including over 1,000 punters, tipsters and commentators from the racing media and pros who are confident enough to publicly demonstrate their punting intelligence.
Speaking of the punters, a few of them had a year to remember for all the right reasons.
In fact, one bloke from Tassie notched up a mind-boggling $24K in cash profit to lead all comers.
It was a cracking year for the media tipsters as well, with a handful of their mob showing why they're trusted by fans of the great game.
SKY Racing were the dominant force once again, demonstrating why their stable of experts is regarded as the best going around.
Read on to discover all of 2020's top horse racing performers.
Best horse racing tipsters: Profit on turnover
| Media Outlet |
Tipster |
Winning Tips |
POT |
|
|
RacingMarkets |
52 |
41% |
|
|
Peter Staples |
60 |
39% |
|
|
Craiglewis |
39 |
28% |
The guys at RacingMarkets have achieved pro punter status and it's not hard to see why.
Their 52 winners from 238 selections drove a fat 41% POT.
This mob is sure to have plenty more fans for 2021.
As we mentioned earlier, SKY Racing were well represented in 2020 and it was Peter Staples who had the best of it.
The Tasmanian racing writer and form expert came agonizingly close to taking out the top spot, after clocking off with a 39% POT.
Staples' 60 winners saluted at a stellar strike rate of 33% and a meaty average price of $4.17.
If you thought that was impressive work, check out Staples' tipping streak.
The racing journo has now notched up 7 consecutive profitable months.
It doesn't get much better than that.
Peter Staples has been causing the bookies plenty of headaches
Rounding out the podium for 2020 was pro punter Craiglewis.
Just as AlanUtterson is a WA specialist, Craiglewis focuses his craft in his home state of South Australia.
He nabbed 39 SA winners last year at a mouth-watering average price of $6.45.
This led to a very impressive 28% POT.
Tremendous tipping.
Next best media experts by POT
| Media Outlet |
Tipster |
Winning Tips |
Profit |
|
|
Craig Sant |
73 |
26% |
|
|
Colin Hodges |
141 |
16% |
|
|
Terry McAuliffe |
33 |
13% |
|
|
TheSultanOfSydney |
149 |
12% |
|
|
Chynna Marston |
107 |
9% |
There was a dominant theme among the next best media experts of 2020.
That's because four of them came from SKY's stable of racing experts.
And leading the way was the voice of racing in the Top End, Craig Sant.
Sant has long been the go-to for anybody wanting some quality Darwin tips.
And he didn't disappoint last year, after nailing 73 winners at a tremendous strike rate of 37%.
Phenomenal consistency.
Colin Hodges was another who continued to deliver the goods, after finishing up with an outrageous 141 winning tips.
The veteran race caller simply couldn't stop tipping winners in NSW's Central-West region.
Col steered his loyal followers into a bumper 16% POT, despite providing in excess of 500 tips.
Sensational work.
SKY presenter and form expert Terry McAuliffe also showed his quality on the punt in 2020.
The South Australian steered his followers into a handsome 13% POT.
McAuliffe will be looking to use this result as a springboard into 2021.
It seems only fitting that in our wrap-up of what was a crazy year, we give mention to TheSultanOfSydney.
This Twitter-based form judge quickly reached cult status in 2020, thanks to not just his accurate tipping but also his sense of humour.
Contrary to his name, The Sultan bagged his winners not just in the Harbour City, but at tracks all over the country.
We started capturing the Sults tips during Spring, and due to his high output rate of tips in the public domain, he easily qualified for Tipster of the Year.
He finished up with no less than 149 winning selections, to drive a 12% POT for his fans.
Not bad at all.
Finally, Chynna Marston delivered the goods for her followers throughout 2020.
The SKY presenter who focuses on the provincial NSW racing scene racked up 107 winners over the course of the year, yielding 9% POT.
She did her best work in the NSW South-Eastern city of Queanbeyan, where her 36 tips returned 36% POT.
A great year for the ex-jockey.
This measure ranks the highest cash profit using an even stake of $100 for all tips posted in 2020. It typically rewards tipsters who make a profit from a greater number of tips.
As mentioned in our introduction, it was a Tasmanian punter who topped the pile, after his tips generated a mammoth $24,399 in cash profit from $100 win bets.
That haul was racked up by PeterHayes, after he bagged no less than 722 winners!
They saluted a juicy average price of $5.45, with his roughest winner getting home at enormous $114.50 odds.
With results like this, it's no wonder PeterHayes sat at the summit and gave bookies plenty of headaches throughout the year.
| Media Outlet |
Tipster |
Winning Tips |
Profit |
|
|
PeterHayes |
722 |
$24,399 |
|
|
AlanUtterson |
259 |
$9,987 |
|
|
Racing Markets |
52 |
$9,730 |
Coming in next with a cash profit just shy of the $10K mark was pro punter AlanUtterson.
This Sandgroper received numerous write-ups in 2020 for his tipping exploits out west.
Clearly a WA form guru, AlanUtterson saw 259 of his tips greet the judge at a solid average price of $4.53.
And given that he placed over 1,000 tips in 2020, his 9% POT is also something to boast about.
What an effort.
Bagging the bronze thanks to a $9,730 cash profit from $100 win bets was RacingMarkets.
To really ram home just what a tipping force this lot is, they consolidatd their gold in the Profit on Turnover (POT) category with another podium finish here.
In 2020 they steered their followers into 52 winners at a bumper average price of $6.45.
This earnt them the third highest cash profit of the year, despite the fact that they only joined the site in September.
Since then RacingMarkets have shot the lights out, and are currently showing a five-week profit streak.
This group looks the real deal.
RacingMarkets are in a rich vein of form
Staking provides punters with valuable insight into the betting mind of a tipster.
It reveals which tips a form analyst is most confident on and can often prove the difference between a winning and losing day on the punt.
We capture media tipster staking statistics by doubling the stake for any tips marked as a "Best Bet."
When adjusting the horse racing leaderboard for actual stake, the biggest mover amongst the media brigade was Dylan Bairstow.
The Alice Spings based race caller's POT jumps from 7% to 11% when considering his best bets, moving him into the top 5 performers in 2020 from the media.
This suggests that when Dylan stands one out, it's worth backing him in.
The Winning Post's Tony Rickards is another tipster you want to take notice of when he declares one as his best for the day.
If you'd backed all of Tony's tips throughout 2020 with $100 bets and doubled that stake on his best bets, you would be almost $7K better off.
Cracking stuff from the Melbournian.
It takes courage to declare one as your best bet of the day, and even more so when that runner is paying juicy odds.
SKY Racing caller Anthony Manton did that in spades on October 9th, after he stood out Zelago in the final race at Canberra.
The top-weight gutsed it out down the long straight to salute at thumping $6.90 odds.
Anthony Manton big winner at Canberra
Honourable mentions
A few other pro punters also tipped up a storm in 2020, led by JustWins.
This Sunshine Coast resident came within a bees' you-know-what of standing on the podium, after finishing up with a 27% POT.
He bagged 33 winners at a meaty average price of $5.14, in what was an accomplished display of tipping.
Also falling just short with a 26% POT was Wangaratta local Sporepuff.
After joining the site in August, Sporepuff didn't take long to show his quality, quickly establishing pro punter status.
Punters will be keeping a close eye on this bloke in 2021.
The final pro punter to make a splash was Max Mills.
Also a 2020 addition to the site, this Victorian finished the year off in style.
He tipped 96 winners at an average price of $4.74 to generate a 22% POT.
