Horse racing alerts on Telegram: setting up RaceWatch

What do I need to get RaceWatch alerts on Telegram?

You need a RaceWatch membership, the free Telegram app and a Telegram account. Channels are joined in the RaceWatch app, and their alerts are sent to Telegram.

Telegram is a free messaging app for phones, tablets and computers. Because it syncs across every device signed in to the same account, alerts can be followed at a desk as well as on the move, and the chat keeps a history of what has been sent.

Channel alerts are part of the RaceWatch membership. Join the channels you want in the app, check that your phone allows notifications from Telegram, and alerts will reach you as the channels send them through the day.

What alerts does RaceWatch send on Telegram?

Alerts come from the channels you choose to join in the app. Each channel applies its own rules to the day's racing and sends the runners that qualify.

Channels come in three families, and each family draws on a different kind of evidence. Joining channels from more than one family gives you different views of the same day, while several channels from one family can end up pointing at the same runners.

C channels are built on form and edge, G channels on market and gamble moves, and F channels on going and conditions. Each channel page shows its strike rate, profit and loss and recent form, so you can judge a channel on its record before joining.

How do I mute and unmute RaceWatch alerts?

Send /mute to the RaceWatch bot to pause alerts, and /unmute to turn them back on. The command is there for a break from alerts rather than a change of channels.

Muting is the quick option for a day away from racing. If you want fewer alerts in general, the better route is to look again at which channels you have joined in the app, and keep only those whose records and rules you understand.

The My Alerts feed in the app keeps a record of alerts from the channels you follow with their results and profit and loss, so you can catch up in the app after a break from your phone.

What should I check if alerts go quiet?

First check whether alerts are muted, and send /unmute if they are. Then check which channels you have joined in the app, and whether your phone allows Telegram notifications.

The most common reasons for silence are simple: a mute that is still running, a quiet day with few qualifying runners, or phone settings that silence Telegram. A new phone is another, because Telegram must be installed and signed in to the same account before alerts appear there.

The My Alerts feed in the app is a useful check. If alerts are appearing there but not on your phone, the problem is likely to be on the Telegram side, such as notifications switched off for the chat.

What should I do when an alert arrives?

Treat an alert as a prompt to look, not an instruction. Open the race in RaceWatch and read it properly before forming any view.

An alert can be read in a few seconds on a lock screen, but the decision it prompts needs more than a few seconds. The next step is always the racecard: the price on the Odds tab, the going, the draw and any other runners in the race that matter.

Channel pages in the app show how each channel has performed, so an alert can always be weighed against its source's record. A channel on a losing run is not necessarily broken, and one on a winning run is not necessarily sound, so judge it over a decent sample.

How do I get the most from RaceWatch alerts?

Join a small number of channels whose rules you understand, and check each alert against the racecard before forming a view.

Alerts are prompts to look, not instructions. When one arrives, open the racecard, check the price, the going and any late non runners, and read why the runner qualified. A channel's record, shown on its page, tells you how its alerts have fared over time, which is the fairest way to decide which to keep.

Too many alerts become noise. Start with one or two channels, and add more only when you have a reason. It also helps to turn on Telegram notifications for the RaceWatch bot only, so alerts stand out from group chats, and to check the My Alerts feed at the end of the day to see how each alert turned out.

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