During twenty years of betting on racetracks on three continents, this system has proved one of the most satisfactory for continuous consecutive investment on a designated wagering 'quinella' pool.
By 1 'quinella' I refer to a pool which requires that the bettor selects the first two horses (or dogs, or trotters) to finish, whichever one winning being immaterial and having no effect on the dividend paid.
When studying the accompanying workout of results, the reader should understand the following:
TAB numbers:
simply means what it says - the TAB number of the horse which won the race and the TAB number of the horse which ran second.
Winning choice:
shows the position of the winner and the second horse in the pre-post markets.
Favourite = 1,
Second favourite = 2,
Third favourite = 3
etc. up to Seventh favourite = 7.
The "choice" number bears no relationship to the "TAB number". It means only the position of the horse in the pre-post market in your local newspaper. (If TAB number One horse happens to be the favourite 'and TAB number Seven is seventh favourite, this is purely coincidental.)
MAKING YOUR SELECTIONS
Bet on Saturday metropolitan meetings only in Sydney and Melbourne using a reliable pre-post market.
After scratchings, mark off the favourite, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh favourite. Link them as follows:
A) Favourite with Fifth choice
Sixth choice
Seventh choice;
B) Second favourite with
Fifth choice
Sixth choice
Seventh choice;
C) Third favourite with
Fifth choice
Sixth choice
Seventh choice;
D) Fourth favourite with
Fifth choice
Sixth choice
Seventh choice.
E) Box the favourite with the Second, Third and Fourth favourites in a MULTIPLE bet.
Your unit bets on A/B/C/D/E should be as follows:
A) One unit 3 units)
B) One unit 3 units)
C) One unit 3 units)
D) One unit 3 units)
*E) Two units (= 12 units)
Any two from four six bets (therefore 6 X 2 units = 12).
Total units bet are 24. Based upon a 500 bet this is an outlay of $12.00 per quinella race. (Note: I personally use graded bets which amount to considerably more than $12.00 per race - and result in greater returns, but for the purpose of this article 509 can be taken as the basic unit stake.)
In the workout of results there are two quinellas per day (the TAB extra quinella and the main quinella on the last race), so the daily stake each meeting is $24.00. If you are unable to use the system for thirty consecutive meetings or more - forget it and go back to your old method.
In the workout you can see that the profile was $119. 10 for 18 meetings - on $432.00 staked ($12.00 twice per meeting). This is a profit of 27.57% which is above what I usually expect. Normally I average an 18-20% profit with this method.
So the $119. 10 means. an average daily gain of $13.23 on 500 bets, $132.30 on $5. 00 bets and $152,9.20 on $20 bets. , Not very big, agreed - but reliable! Check your past records to confirm this - or watch the method for the next month or two. How much do you usually win per day, per month, per year? Are you in front on quinella betting?
In making your selections you may often be faced with the problem of detemining which horse will be your exact order of pre-post markets (tied positions on some market lines). I always take the pre-post markets as printed and disregard the odds. So, if two horses are tied oii the third line of betting, the first one mentioned is third favourite and the second mentioned fourth favourite.
What are the past results? (Apart from the short work-out published.) It would take several volumes to, give you workouts of all meetings I've attended, but overall I've averaged just under 20% profit on level stakes.
During the 1960's I used a modification of this plan on greyhound racing in London where they had a "forecast" (quinella) on every race. As legalised British turf accountants would take bets on what-have-you favourites - even though SP odds-positions can only be determined after the race - it was possible to use exact odds positions.
I bet on up to nine doe meetings daily (simultaneously), eight races per meeting (72 races per day) and averaged a 20% gain through a two year period.
Trotting and dog races are easy to work because of the normal ten and eight entrant fields. With horse racing it is essential to have reliable pre-post markets - especially with large fields. Large fields result in higher dividends but slightly longer barren periods. With dogs'. especially, adjustments are necessary but. the same basic principle applies.
I use all kinds of modifications and compensatory bets to substantially increase the profit - but these invoIve too much last minute calculation (essential to be oncourse) and re-evaluation to discuss in the limited space available.
I don't know if there are other systems of a similar nature being used by other professional bettors (probably there are) but this is the first time I have allowed any of my personal systems to be published anywhere.
FOOTNOTE TO WORK-OUT
The period covered by the work-out runs from 1st January through to end February 1985, for a total of 18 venue racing days. There was "action" in two races per venue.
It is interesting to note the system missed only five quinellas out of 36 - an 86% strike. There was only, one large quinella struck - "big ones" can often distort figures.
It is rare that an operator of this system gets deep in the red, but when this does happen a subsequent run of successes usually restores the average.
By Jon Hudson
PRACTICAL PUNTING - APRIL 1985