What a whirlwind fortnight for the Target Betting experiment. What I thought would take a bit longer, that is, a really bad run, descended upon us like a swarm of locusts. After a completely disastrous June 13 the terrible run continued yesterday with the first eight, yes eight, selections running unplaced.Finally there were some collects with a very good run towards the end of the day but it was what happened along the way that should show all punters what can happen with Target Betting when th

What a whirlwind fortnight for the Target Betting experiment. What I thought would take a bit longer, that is, a really bad run, descended upon us like a swarm of locusts. After a completely disastrous June 13 the terrible run continued yesterday with the first eight, yes eight, selections running unplaced.

Finally there were some collects with a very good run towards the end of the day but it was what happened along the way that should show all punters what can happen with Target Betting when the selection process is wild and wobbly.

Along the way the bet size rose from the last wager of $25 on June 13 to a massive $178 on Mr Unforgettable in the last at Randwick. The total outlay for the two weeks has been $3728.00 for returns of $3566.60 which equates to a loss of $161.50 or 4.33% Loss On Turnover. On a flat stake basis 81 bets returned 55.7 units for quite a substantial LOT of 31.23% and quite a difference between the flat stake and target betting percentages. Don't get me wrong here. I am not making a case for Target Betting versus Flat Stake betting at this stage based on a miniscule sample of just 81 races.

So what do we make of the experiment, so far. Firstly, even after only 81 races it is quite apparent the relationship between selection process, betting bank, objective and divisor must be so harmonious it defies description. I believe the one section that has failed us miserably is the selection process and that is absolutely no surprise because I did call them "wildcat" selections. I warned readers NOT to bet on them as it was the staking plan I wished to test.

Although the bets became astronomical, I believe the staking plan has delivered what it could based on a terrible set of selections albeit by betting in huge amounts. All things considered the largest bet is still only 3.14% of the bank!

With any staking plan you really need to have a flat stake loss of no more than about 5%, maybe a little more, before you can contemplate using Target Betting. Each week I will still be making the basic wildcat Plan A selections to provide 40 selections per week and by the end of this calendar year we will have approximately 25 weeks times 40 worth of selections logged. What we must do is list several rules where we eliminate original Plan A selections that face a tough task. I will have a column for each and by the end of the year we will be able to see the value of each individually and then as a combined unit.

Now I am well aware this is "backfitting" in one sense BUT in another sense it is just sensible attention to basic form.

More soon.