Bleak mid-winter

What a poor month it's been for racing. Frost, fog, Great Leighs goes into administration then water logging. Makes depressing reading for anybody reliant on Horse Racing. Don't get too depressed though as the winter months are never a bunch of roses.

A fair few years ago I used to panic that I had lost it at this time of year, but nearly nine years worth of experience has taught differently. Winter is a difficult time for most sports and for racing its typically quite bleak. Lower quality meetings and fewer of them don't add up to great conditions. To be completely fair, I think this year is harder. I think people are finding it much worse this year due to the Betfair premium charge. That just sort of compounds issues.

Try and keep focus during these spartan times. There is no way you can do the same as you could in the summer so don't try and achieve that, it's just not possible. In contrast, now is a good time of year to have a break or to pull back on less profitable activity or experiment with new sports. When trading always focus on quality. Don't try and chase positions or make something out of nothing, because if there is nothing there. No matter how hard you push, you will probably not change that.

In short don't panic. In a few months time you will have forgot this barren period. So keep things simple and focus on quality, not quantity.