THE RACING POST FRIDAY OCTOBER 21st 2011 RODNEY MASTERS (The Punters Champion) KING OF THE NAPS FLAT 2011

THE RACING POST FRIDAY OCTOBER 21st 2011.

RACING POST WEEK MONDAY OCTOBER 17th TO SUNDAY OCTOBER 23rd 2011

RACING POST TROPHY DONCASTER 3.00 SATURDAY OCTOBER 22nd 2011

RUNNERS AND RIDERS

RACECARD INFO CLICK HERE:

http://www.racingpost.com/horses2/cards/card.sd?race_id=536830&r_date=2011-10-22#raceTabs=sc_

TODAY'S CARDS: Doncaster, Newbury, Fakenham, Wolverhampton, Dundalk and Moonee Valley.

THE MAN WHO SAVED THE GRAND NATIONAL

"OUR Legendary Bookmakers series concludes with CYRIL STEIN, the architect of the modern-day Ladbrokes who rode to the rescue when the Aintree showpiece looked doomed in 1975.

TROPHY HUNTER "Stats boffin JAMES PYMAN crunches the numbers and comes up with an intriguing value bet for tomorrow's Racing Post Trophy, to be run at Doncaster 3pm tomorrow.

CONGRATULATIONS TO  RODNEY (The Punters Champion) MASTERS

KING OF THE NAPS The Post's Lambourn correspondent RODNEY MASTERS was last night crowned the nation's top tipster for the 2011 Flat season.

DAVID BAXTER "The Racing Post's Lambourn correspondent RODNEY MASTERS was crowned the winner of the Coral/Racing Post-sponsored £6,000 naps competition, bagged himself the £4,000 first prize.

"Masters had to wait for the 6.10 at Wolverhampton for victory to be sealed, with third-placed Racing Post Ratings putting up 33-1 chance ADMIRABLE DUQUE, but when that failed MASTERS was victorious with a £1 level-stakes profit of £31.21 after his final selection GUAVA finished third.

"MASTERS said last night that the win underlined the ongoing resurgence of Lambourn as a training centre.

"As an illustration of that my most successful contributor to the profit was Jamie Snowden's handicap hurdler IXORA, a 20-1 winner at Ffos Las in the summer and again when 9-1 at Cheltenham last Saturday.

"She was Snowden's first runner from Lambourn following his midsummer move from Salisbury , I'd been confident his horses had benefited considerably from working on the excellent gallops on Mandown."

"MASTERS had been placed in the naps table on a couple of occasions since taking up

the Lambourn job with the Post 13 years ago.

"Previously he was a member of the Press Association team in Fleet Street which won the jumps table under the banner of the Liverpool Daily Post.

"He said: "Several in that team also moved to the Post but sadly one of them Vic Woodman is no longer with us. Vic was my early tutor at the PA and became a good mate. Lambourn stalwart Nick Deacon, twice a winner of the naps championship in its Sporting Life days and one of the best judges I know, has been a massive support throughout the season and as always he fired in some smart winners during my holidays. A big thanks to him."

"MASTERS added that while he was thrilled to top the table he regarded himself as a 'hack' rather than a specialist tipster and he had gained a bigger kick out of his exclusive story of Barry Hills retirement a few weeks ago.

"Much of the credit for the win must go to the team behind the scenes at the Racing Post HQ in London who work their socks off every night to get the paper out. I've huge admiration for them. Our readers will never know what a massive effort they put in."   END

IN TOMORROWS RACING POST

UNEARTHING A FUTURE CHAMPION?  IT'S RACING POST TROPHY DAY and we look at the contenders plus PRICEWISE names his best bets on a great day that also features MASTER MINDED at Aintree.

http://www.racingpost.com/horses2/cards/card.sd?race_id=536830&r_date=2011-10-22#raceTabs=sc_

Plus  RICHARD HUGHES don't miss his exclusive column as he reflects on a self imposed week on the sidelines. Fighting for Justice in and out of the saddle in an historic bid over whip tactic problems caused by bloodhorse illiterate regulators stifling the living daylights out of any and all equine progress within British horseracing over decades.