Can Michael Dods make 2006 a year when all the prize-winning sums add up? Colin Woods investigates.

TWELVE months ago, Michael Dods handed Racing North a gilt-edged opportunity by telling readers to back Bingo One, money-spinning advice which proved spot-on as the two-year-old obliged second time out at odds of 14-1.

It was very kind of him to let us all in on the secret and, by the looks of his 2006 team, there are plenty of other gems waiting to be unearthed during the coming weeks and months.

But before we highlight some of the stable's up-and-coming inmates, it's worth reflecting on just how consistently his horses performed last year, when he notched 23 winners, plus 49 seconds and 42 third-placed finishers from a total of 320 runners.

Even my shoddy arithmetic can calculate that well over a third of the horses Dods sent to the racetrack ended up by bringing home a proportion of the prize money for their respective owners, a fantastic achievement on his part.

Not many trainers are able to boast such impressive statistics, although, equally, it was frustrating that more of the seconds were not converted to winners, a problem the Dentonnear-Darlington handler is determined to address with a canny change of strategy.

"Although prize money (£200,727) was up on 2004, basically we had too many seconds. The way races are being run these days, with riders going slow early on and then quickening up in the latter stages, means you nearly always need to stay handy.

"Unfortunately, it's sometimes hard to persuade the jockeys that these are the correct tactics.

"Last year, we were also weak in the three-year-old department, whereas this season I feel we have a strong batch in that particular age group. They really are quite a nice bunch so, hopefully, we'll do well.

"In addition, we've expanded and should have about 50 horses, including 18 two-yearolds. With a smaller stable like ours, it's nice to have a good spread, and we have winners from five furlongs, all the way up to two miles, which again is good for our owners.

"About half of the two-yearolds will be sharp types, while the other half are more latematuring sorts for the backend of the season, or alternatively to make up into decent three and four-year-olds."