There is no definitive answer to that particular question as there are good ones, bad ones and downright ugly ones out there in horse tipping land. My personal preference is to spend the time doing my own research and that way if my selections turn out to be duffers then I only have myself to blame. On the other hand if you haven’t got the time or the inclination then by carrying out a few simple checks you may be able to find a value for money service that suits your own style of betting, be it having a flutter on the weekends big race 20 runner handicap or a few select bets every few days.

There are a number of internet sites that run proofing services and these can be useful to draw up a short list from which you can make further checks. Have a look at the past results of each of these, are they showing a profit, or big winning months followed by big losing months? Each one of them will have losing months, or should, if they are being honest, but big swings could mean that you might need a large bank and lots of “bottle” to cope with the emotional rollercoaster. Do they detail all of their bets and recommended stakes, including the losing ones, rather than just supplying a list of the winners?

Also any credible service will have the confidence to offer a free trial which will not necessarily lead you to riches but rather give you the opportunity to see if their service is likely to be suited to how you like to bet and also if the trial selections follow the same pattern as the past results would indicate. You can paper trade these rather than using realm money and also to check that any advised prices would have been obtained and also which bookmaker accounts might be needed to place the recommended bets. If the trial turns out to record a loss do not be afraid to  ask for an extension as again a credible service will be keen to show their abilities as long term customers are the life blood of their businesses.

Over on our horse racing forum we are continually trialling both horse racing systems and tipping services to provide clear and unbiased results on a daily / weekly basis. One such trial has just been completed from the tipping service Simplebet who were happy to send me their selection after one of our members highlighted their potential. The results in summary are as follows:- More on Are Tipping Services Worth the Money?