Gold in the sand: key pointers from a man who makes a living off the all-weather

It's that time of year again. It's the middle of the jumps season, but there's no jump racing and we're lost. We should be used to it by now, but the first flurries of snow are still accompanied by a mass panic among punters.

There's even a certain breed of backer who still won't bet on racing if it's contested on an artificial surface. "It's not natural," they'll tell you as they splutter and fume and spontaneously combust. "It's just numbers. And it's all Class 6 and inconsistent horses and . . ."

Which is where Dave Bellingham comes in. This man has made it his business to know more than almost anybody about all-weather racing. The one-time Racing Post tipster now has a website, sandform.co.uk, and a new book, The Definitive Guide To Betting On The All-Weather, to prove it.