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There are two groups of punters who invariably go to the races, or their TAB agencies, with the percentages piled high against them. They are the backers of favourites and longshots. No matter wh...
There are many problems associated with beating the trifecta. Punters probably don’t realise the task they are taking on when they tackle this bet. Question 1: Can you predict the 1-2-3 finishin...
Greyhound racing is probably the best system under which a punter in Australia can risk - or rather, invest - his hard earned dough. To my way of thinking there is nothing so good as a standout "...
You would like to back a winner every two selections? That’s a 50 per cent win strike. Some dream! But maybe it’s not so crazy. After all, picking two horses a race and making a ‘book’ by savin...
PPM reader Kerrin Brown has been enjoying success as a “lay” operator on Betfair. In this article he relates his personal story, and how he makes money from his operation. The first time I w...
The late Don Scott once wrote that the best form of exotic betting is the trifecta. I think he was right. Don said picking a trifecta winning bet was a test of skill rather than a game of chance. ...
The shortest way home is always on or near the inside rail. Well, that's technically true, as we all know, but we also know that many times it doesn't find you the winner of a race. Especially whe...
I’ve spent years trying to beat the TAB and bookies and I’ve lost my bank more times than I can remember. There have been a few big wins; as many as a man with only three fingers could count on ...
It doesn't matter if you are an intellectual or a fifth-form dropout, a form guide can bring you together on equal footing. Because form is the great leveller in racing. Each man can make of it...
Fitness plays such an important role in horse racing, and so few punters really know much about how to assess it, that we assigned Statsman to set out in detail his own expert views on this import...
Psychologists call it 'patterns of behaviour' and, of course, they're talking about human beings and the way that 99 per cent of us adopt a rational lifestyle with predictable behaviour. But what...
The fitness of a racehorse, as we all know, is of paramount importance when it comes to determining how it might run in a given race. Fit horses win races, goes the old saying. When I lived in Am...
0ne thing that is constant in the world of punting is that we need to explore new angles to either enhance our selection process or improve our ability to eliminate losers. An angle that has been ...
Fitness - as far as off-course punters are concerned is very much a mystery. TAB punters haven't a clue as to whether a horse is fit or otherwise as it lopes off to the starting gates. We may see...
Few horses manage to win immediately after returning from a spell-a rest from racing of two months or more. Some manage to win after a let-up, but the odds are pretty much against any horse coming...
There are, I believe, six 'basics' in horse-racing form assessment. After experimenting with real money for the past three years I have formulated the following list: A fit horse One of the ...
There were a number of horses racing second-up from spells at Eagle Farm on December 5. All lost. At Sandown that day, there were 11 horses in that category. All lost. At Rosehill, there were six....
We hear a lot about the 'second-up syndrome'. Those who believe in it make the sweeping generalisation that horses racing second-up from a spell never win. They avoid them like the plague. But wh...
In his fine book The Key Factor Is Fitness, Queensland racing analyst Barry Blakemore provides some classic examples of how the power of the form book can guide you to winners. The Chester Manifo...