It was Boxing Day 2006...

...and for the first time in our relationship we were spending Xmas with Mrs NTF's family...

...Boxing Day afternoon was earmarked for a bunch of us to go visit her granny... which naturally was a bit of a concern for me... as Boxing Day afternoon means only one thing for racing fans... King George Chase time... (p.s. I've some King George Trends for you further down this email)

...still I thought it best not to rock the boat... and didn't put up a fight... so off to visit granny for Boxing Day grub we went...

...but I REALLY wanted to watch the King George... there was a certain KAUTO STAR having his first crack at the race and I REALLY didn't want to miss the action...

...so I decided to put an early marker down... if this was going to be my new family for the rest of my life they were going have to deal with the fact that when there's a big day of racing on, I'm going to be wanting to watch it!!

...once greetings were out of the way I tentatively floated out that I was really wanting to watch the big horse race of the day... there was this potential superstar running and I've been looking forward to it for weeks... so... you know... if it's not too much bother... do you think I could have the TV on Channel 4 Racing for like 20-minutes... 

...to my delight it was an instant... 'absolutely, of course you can, we've been made well aware that you are obsessed with horse racing... so no problem, stick the TV on when you need it'...

... which was quickly followed by... 'actually let's do a sweepie for the race, then we can all watch it and have a bit of fun'... this was Mrs NTF's granny by the way... not me... she was straight in there with the sweepstake idea... and I was all for it... let's pull these people into my world for a bit I thought...

...she then followed up with... 'there's 9 of us here and you said there's 9 in the race... so let's put in £1 each and the winner keeps it all'...

LOVE IT I thought! This is my type of granny!!

...although then I started thinking... 'hmmm... maybe a bit pointless as Kauto Star is probably going to win this easily... so whoever pulls him out of the hat has almost certainly won before the race has started'...

...and I did float those concerns out to the family... but it was too late... a pen, paper and a hat were thrust my way and I was tasked with getting the sweepie up and running... which I did... the runners written down... folded up... stuck in a hat... which Mrs NTF's granny insisted she give a good mix around so that there was no cheating (from me!!!)... which is a fair point... I had considered it... there was only one horse winning... and I wanted to be pulling his name out of the damn hat!!

Anyway... granny was onto that plan... so she shuffled things around... and got the process running... everyone put their £1 in and then the picking begun... me first... and I pulled out...

BALLYCASSIDY!! 100-1 shot!! Jeezy Peeps man!! Game over for me...

The hat went round everyone until there was one left... granny was picking last... guess which horse had still to be picked out of the hat? 

Yep... it was only KAUTO STAR!!!

She may as well have picked up the £9 winnings right there!

But she kept level headed and was like... 'well you never know... he might fall or something...' which is true... but I felt that was highly unlikely given the form he'd shown that season... and I also felt that somehow we had all been fleeced by granny!!!

To be fair to Kauto Star he did try and make it exciting for everyone by blundering the last fence... but that £9 sweepie funds were only going one place... in granny's pocket!!

Good fun had by all though... although we've never done a sweepie again... I wasn't the only one who thought granny had well and truly fleeced us!!!

The King George is one of many races I'll be covering for full NTF members over the Festive Period... and you can get your hands on that analysis by hooking up to NTF over the Festive Period on the special NTF Festive Ticket option...

Here's what you get for your £14.99 festive ticket...

✅ Access to ALL analysis full NTF Members will receive during the 21st - 29th Dec
 

✅ Including full RACE TRENDS coverage of ALL major races during the Festive Period (King George... Welsh National... Rowland Meyrick Chase... Savills Chase... there's plenty!)
 

✅ NTF Stats Sheets (Prime Condition Horses, Noted Horses, Angles, Systems...)
 

✅ In-depth and detailed Weekend Notes for Festive period (emailed to you once your ticket period is complete)

Over the next few days I'm opening the doors with this Festive Period ticket option, for those who want to get a proper feel for the full NTF service... or maybe you just want someone to do all the hard data digging for you while you slam down another mince pie (washed down by your beverage of choice!)...

Whatever your reason, just make sure you grab your slot on the NTF Xmas ticket before I close the doors...

I'll be covering a ton of races/meetings for my full NTF members over the period of the 21st to 29th of December... so this is an excellent opportunity for you to get a great feel of what I do on the full NTF Members Service...

And here's a few Race Trends for the King George... to help you with your own narrowing of the field...

15/15 rated OR 160+
15/15 won or placed on 1 of their last 2 starts
15/15 previously run over at least 3m
15/15 completed race LTO
14/15 previously won at Grade 1 level

Or you can just ask Mrs NTF's granny and find out who she has picked out of the hat for the race!!!

Cheers and best of racing luck - Ben (NTF)

>>>Grab your £14.99 NTF Festive Ticket

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