In the first of a series of articles, P.P.M's George 'Barker' Bellfield unveils the private collection of systems compiled, over many years by one of Britain's most successful greyhound punters. Further articles will appear in the July and August PPM's.

For some years now, I have been close friends with a man who - in the 1940s and 1950s - cut a swathe of destruction through the ranks of bookmakers in England. They nicknamed him Mr Money, and he was a consistent winner at tracks like White City, Harringay, Romford, Hackney Wick, Dagenham and Catford.

We haven't seen much of each other in recent years, though we have corresponded regularly. My friend - I'11 call him Alex - is now well into his 70s and still retains a lively interest in greyhound racing, although without betting a great deal (he made his money a long time ago!).

I discovered a long time ago that Alex had a private collection of greyhound systems, acquired over his lifetime, and he always promised me that one day he would release them to me.

Well, that day arrived. In the mail at Christmas last year came Mr Money's private collection-and what a bonanza file it has proven to be. There were some 150 systems in the collection, and I will be publishing a selection of them in P.P.M. in future months.

I can assure you that many of the systems are absolute dynamite. Real ' consistent winner-getters. Some aim at a bet in every race, others are much more selective, with the bets coming only every now and then. There are systems to pluck longshot winners, and systems to cash in on box numbers and favourites. Unfortunately, the 'box number' methods are not applicable in Australia, because they are based on six-dog races and not our usual eight-dog races.

Nevertheless, the private collection contains more than enough absorbing material to keep us all happy and contented for a long time to come. To kick off this series I have chosen three of the best systems in the collection.

The first is the Master Method, a carefully selective system that looks for the greyhounds that can win at juicy odds. Mr Money recommends it for eachway punters, stressing that the place strike rate is very high. So it's a selection method that doesn't throw up many bets, but the ones you get are rippers.

The Master Method initially looks for greyhounds that have been unfancied at their most recent start (priced 10s upwards), but which finished six lengths or less from the winner (excluding winners). It doesn't matter if they finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th, as long as they come within the 'lengths beaten' range.

Once you have established this fact, you back the dog each-way as long as you can obtain 3/1 or better-the longer the price the better.

I started checking the Master Method a few months back-soon after receiving Mr Money's file-and there have been some sensational results. Let me give you an example: A dog named Rambo Robert ran 6th at 20/1 at Newcastle on April 1, beaten 5.25 lengths. This made him a ripe Master Method bet next time out. He was next produced at Maitland in a sprint, started at 20/1 and won.

Another example: Peter's Dilemma ran 5th at 20/1, beaten 5.75 lengths at Richmond on March 17, and then three days later was produced at Wentworth Park for a win at 4/1. As an example of its ability to select good placegetters, let's look at the case of Harvest Quest, who ran 2nd at 25/1 at Wentworth Park on March 13 and next start finished 3rd there at 16/1. Or, Musical Maestro, 3rd at 20/1 at Wenty on March 18, and then 3rd there at 6/1 next start.

You can see the sheer simple beauty of this idea immediately. It is steering you right into VALUE bets at the dogs. They are dogs that have run well, when unfancied, last start and which now should be able to improve on that effort often once again at big odds.

Here are some other results from the Master Method:

County Gossip 2nd 1.25 lens, 14/1 WP then 2nd WP 12/1.
Major Remark 3rd 3 lens, 20/1 WP then lst WP 16/1.
Ginger Appeal 2nd 4 lens, 25/1 WP then 2nd WP 5/1.
Glider Boy 2nd 5 lens, 12/1 Dapto then Ist Dapto 7/2.
Sarah Vane 2nd 3.5 lens, 10/1 Gosford then 1st Gosford 15 / 1.
Kickalong Kate 3rd 4.75 lens, 12/1 VC then 3rd WP 33 / 1.

Get the picture? I regard this as a most exciting method of following up on unfancied greyhounds and being able to take fullest advantage of their next start usually when other punters have discarded them. The winners come up at good odds, and the placegetters roll in at huge prices.

The second method from Mr Money's private collection is one he calls The Octopus. I reckon I know why he calls it that-it pulls in so many winners that it seems they come from all directions!

It works on box numbers, and you operate it very easily by just scanning your formguide. My checks have all been at Wentworth Park and many of the N.S.W. provincial tracks, mainly because the Greyhound Recorder provides such a fine form guide service for those tracks.

The Octopus looks for value dogs that are racing in a WIDER box than they were at their previous start. Once more, we are going to back these dogs on an each way basis. This method gives a lot more bets than the Master Method, and this, I'm sure, will please many dog punters. I find they are a punting breed that desires plenty of action.

Let's look at some examples: Frosty Park started from Box 6 at Moss Vale on March 25 and won from Box 7 at 7/2 there at his next outing. Agnus Gray won from Box 2 at Nowra on April 4, then ran 3rd at Dapto at 15/1 next start. Caruso won from Box 3 at Bulli on March 29 and won there from Box 5 next start at 6 / 1.

These are just a few examples. How many qualifiers are you likely to get at a meeting. My checks show the average is around 20 to 25. Obviously, you can't back them all.

The breakdown is, however, quite easy to accomplish. All you do when there is more than one qualifier in a race is back the one that is most fancied in the pre-post market.

Mr Money's added recommendation is that you never accept cheap odds. That is, don't back a dog just for the sake of it when the price is short. His own philosophy-and he played this method over a number of years at the London tracks-was never to take less than 5/2.

His statistics show that with the shorter priced dogs the risk outweighed the returns-yet the 'value' dogs often came up trumps.

Finally, a 'quickie' system that Mr Money says rarely fails to produce several winners per meeting. The idea is to check out the best three boxes at a track, and then back the best-fancied runner of the trio.

For instance, at Wentworth Park, the best three sprint (520m) boxes are 1, 2 and 3. Example: Wentworth Park, April 7: WON 4/7, Lost, WON 11/4, Lost, 2nd 5/4, Lost, WON 5/2, WON 4/5, WON 5/1, Lost. The selections were obtained by taking the pre-post market in the Greyhound Recorder as the guide to the betting. There was, then, a strike rate of 50 per cent and a very good level stakes profit.

COMING UP: In the July issue of P.P.M., George 'Barker' Bellfield will reveal another three systems from Mr Money's private collection.

Click here to read Part 2.

By George ‘Barker’ Bellfield

PRACTICAL PUNTING - JUNE 1989