Having followed horse racing since the age of 16 it was clear as soon as Andy was old enough to place bets legally this was going to be a passion for life. With his bank manager dad based in the racing town of Epsom and the advice of plenty of the local trainers at his disposal it was the Epsom Derby and Oaks Meetings that really catapulted Andy’s racing knowledge and interest to where it is now.
His association with the Derby continued into his working life with Vodafone, where Andy spent 10 years, sponsoring the Epsom classic for many years, while having attended all the main racing festivals through the year he got a taste for big meetings.
Being a keen form student in his early days Andy’s main speciality was each-way accumulators, looking for big wins from small stakes. Plenty of success followed, with notable highlights being a £1,500 payout from just a 40p stake after ten horses in an acca all won! While Balanchine’s 1994 Oaks win was the last leg of a £3 each-way acca that scooped just over £4,000!
After Vodafone Andy spent a year as a professional trader, but in 2005 was asked by easyodds.com to be their sports editor, where along with his wealth of betting and sporting knowledge created his popular horse racing laying feature – NewtsDailyLays – where each day he highlights fancied horses that might not run as well as expected.
Andy also specializes in looking at the big horse races from a trends or past stats angle and with massive success too – He firmly believes that if a certain type of horse, running over proven conditions has won a big race in the past then there’s good chance history will repeat itself! Over the years followers of Andy’s trends pieces have been rewarded with plenty of winners, but Caracciola’s Ceasarewitch win at 50/1 and Tominator’s recent Northumberland Plate win at 25/1 are two highlights.
Andy is a member of the Horserace Writers’ Association and has a regular racing trends column in the industry magazine Gambling Online, while was also one of the featured tipsters in the 2011 Weatherbys Official Cheltenham Festival Guide.
Outside of horse racing Andy still plays vets (no not animal doctors) football for the club he’s been at since he was 11 and also dabbles in the odd game of cricket – and at the time of writing he’s never lost a game with the bat and ball, okay – he’s only played three!
However, tennis and golf are the main sports he still plays, having reached county level with the racquet in his younger days, while Andy is a member at West Kent Golf Club where over 18 holes his handicap is currently 12........and rising!