Although we have no racing at Taunton this week we look forward to welcoming you to our Easter Family Raceday next Thursday, writes Martin Higgs.

We have only two meetings left, the aforementioned and our Ladies evening meeting on the 24th April which is a chance for you to dress up and win a weekend for two in Paris, courtesy of Dave Criddle Travel.

Taunton then goes on Summer break and the Flat racing season will be in full swing. It’s a different offering completely with younger horses, mainly different owners and jockeys. From a betting angle there is usually little history (form) to go on and here are a few pointers to consider when investing some of your hard earned millions..

Firstly, Look for a horse, trainer and jockey in form. I find this is really important on the flat, confidence is everything and winning/success becomes a habit. They don’t all have to be winning, just running and riding well.

Secondly, conditions, a number of these inexperienced flat horses will come up against conditions (ground & distance) for the first time and therefore not proven. Avoid supporting them at short odds, trust me you will lose more than win as the odds are not in your favour, indeed if you have a horse at short odds and a horse in the race that is proven, then go for it, that horses’ odds are in your favour.

Lastly..it’s all about timing! When the weather/going changes. ie.the wet Spring hopefully becomes a dry Summer, take a step back, the form you are working on was created in a different set of circumstances than where you are now. Time for a breather and let it all settle down, you will watch and see some pretty strange results.

It’s not easy, but doing your homework, working it out and finding a winner is rewarding and that doesn’t have to be purely financial, it’s all about solving the puzzle in front of you. 

As mentioned earlier, we race next on Thursday 11th April with our Roarsome Easter Holiday Family Raceday when we will have a Dino Race with a number of Dino related activities - early bird discounted tickets for adults are available at www.tauntonracecourse.co.uk and ALL CHILDREN ARE FREE!

For those of you looking to use our courtesy coach service, it will depart from outside platform 5 at Taunton Railway Station, 90 minutes before our first race time and return half an hour after the start of the last.