Punting is a mentally draining experience, at times, especially when a horse you have followed for a couple of runs wins at good odds and you have not backed it. Alas, Duporth did this to me on Saturday when he beat Bank Robber and Apache Cat in the wfa 1200m BTC Cup.I thought he was very unlucky not to finish much closer in the Newmarket as a run he went for at the 200m closed and he had to be stopped in his tracks yet rallied and ran on strongly. Naturally, I moved in for the kill at his next

Punting is a mentally draining experience, at times, especially when a horse you have followed for a couple of runs wins at good odds and you have not backed it. Alas, Duporth did this to me on Saturday when he beat Bank Robber and Apache Cat in the wfa 1200m BTC Cup.

I thought he was very unlucky not to finish much closer in the Newmarket as a run he went for at the 200m closed and he had to be stopped in his tracks yet rallied and ran on strongly. Naturally, I moved in for the kill at his next start against his own age in the Phar Lap Stakes and was left with some expensive pieces of paper. He was checked in the run but I thought he had his chance. Not to be denied I backed him again in the Galaxy and although he ran on strongly he did not give enough for my liking, again.

So, here he was 28 days later up against the likes of Apache Cat and Swiss Ace, whom he had not finished far behind in the Newmarket and the Galaxy. Although I did mention he was going to be a better chance on the good track in my podcast on the race I decided to concentrate on Swiss Ace and you know what happened!! Never mind: that's the punt.

The win by Ballack was excellent as I thought he would struggle second up over 2000m and I was worried about the breaks he has in between runs. I did notice his second up run after five weeks when he ran 3rd in the Perth Cup but this time the break was 16 weeks. It just goes to show you what an excellent trainer D T O'Brien has become in recent years. He is always worth following when he ventures interstate.

The wins by Duporth and Ballack prove that good horses have the ability to turn the tables on the form guide and along the way strengthens an idea I mentioned recently where the construction of what the UK punters call a "universal handicap" might not be such a bad idea. This is where all horses of ability are given a rating and the punter just backs whatever the ratings decree has the best chance when compared with todays weight. Although quite a job to construct initially this method dismisses the time taken to pour over the form guide each week as only updating or adding new horses needs to be done.