Books & Videos: Juvenile approach has serious scope.

Byline: Daniel Hill 

Two-Year-Old Racing - An Essential Reference Guide to 2004

Peter May (Raceform, pounds 9.99)

Peter May's approach to making money on horses is a serious one. There's no messing about, no flowery prefaces, colourful introductions or amusing anecdotes. After two paragraphs, we are confronted with the first of many tables.

May, a columnist for Raceform Update, has done his research very thoroughly, and here you can find all the two-year-old stats you could want - sires, trainers, courses, times of the year . . . everything to keep the juvenile anorak happy.

It's a handy reference, but those who accumulate an intimate knowledge of the contents may well want to keep the information to themselves when in the pub or at a dinner party.

How's this for starters?: last year Michael Bell's juveniles showed an average pounds 1.14 return for every pounds 1 bet; Barathea's progeny has a 29 per cent strike-rate during March to May. Those sired by Turtle Island have a 15 per cent strike-rate on soft/heavy; Daylami's fillies are far superior to his colts. I could go on .

Daniel Hill

nAvailable from Raceform by telephone [phone]) and online (www.raceform.co.uk) for pounds 10.49 including postage and packing