Perfect Test Horse

Most horse racing staking plans tell you to bet bigger after every loser. The 10K System does the opposite — one of three betting systems Peter Travers set out for Australian punters, where the sta...

The favourite looks like the safest bet in Australian horse racing, and across 660 races counted one at a time it lost 25 per cent on turnover — even though the first favourite won 174 of them, mor...

Do lucky saddlecloth numbers win? In 2007 a Practical Punting writer counted 660 Australian horse racing results — 7,363 runners, every TAB number from one to ten — instead of arguing about it. Num...

Most punters back each-way without ever pricing it. This is horse racing betting from 1988 that still holds up: an each-way bet is not one bet with a safety net, it is two bets sold in a single tra...

Most punters pick the right horse and still take the wrong odds. This is horse racing betting from 1988 that still holds up: the same selection, a better price, and the four seconds that pay for it.

Most punters read a form guide without ever deciding which parts of it matter. This is horse racing form study from 1992 that still holds up: what a formline tells you, and what it quietly hides.

Steve Ahern was one of Britain's greatest professional punters. He made a fortune in the 1940s and '50s and lived a life of luxury in Majorca. This is the final part of our series of extracts from...