Place betting demands patience, care and the ability to accept small returns. It also calls for a punter to show extreme skill in making the right selections - because losing runs have to be avoided.

The stronger the horse is in the market, the better its chance of filling a place. Alas, the better its chance, the worse the price.

In the first part of this series (November P.P.M.) I talked about various approaches. There was an immediate response from one reader who claimed he followed the Plus 15 system for 12 months and ended up with a 62 per cent strike rate and a loss of just over 10c in the dollar!

Well, despite the loss, I guess this isn't such a bad result, but it does conflict with earlier assessments. With this method, much depends on the efficacy of the tipsters you choose. On newspaper they do tend to change around a lot, and this could probably have led to a decline in the system's fortunes.

But I still maintain the Plus 1 system has enormous potential and it could be that a sensible staking plan, or target approach, could lift the profits it is capable of achieving. All up betting could be one approach.

But moving along here are four plans which should enable you to haul in lots of place profits: THE INSIDER


  1. Consider only Open, Welter and WFA races.
  2. No more than 14 runners.
  3. The selection is the No 1 horse, provided it has a win strike of 25 per cent. If the No 1 horse is scratched then No Bet.
  4. If the horse qualifies on the win strike rule, it must also show a win or a placing within its last 3 starts.
  5. If it passes rules 3 and 4 it becomes a bet.

You can secure some terrific place bets, often at long odds, with this plan. It steers you onto a good horse which has proved its consistency and which has shown strong form within its last 3 runs.

THE SMOOTH HORSE PLAN

  1. Operate only on Open and Welter handicaps on city tracks.
  2. The only horses to be considered are those resuming from a spell of not more than 200 days.
  3. Horse must not be carrying 55 kg or more.
  4. Horse must have won over the distance of today's race.
  5. Horse must have run a placing within its last 3 starts (that is, at least one 1st, 2nd or 3rd).
  6. Horse must be at 7/1 or lower in the pre-post betting.

This is another method which can rake in some lovely placers - and you don't get a lot of bets. But those that do crop up can be good little earners.

You are looking at well-weighted runners who are distance winners, who had shown form before being spelled, and who in today's race are pretty well fancied by being at 7/1 or lower.

LAST START WINNERS PLAN

  1. Operate only on Sydney and Melbourne tracks. Operate on any races.
  2. Consider only last start winners.
  3. Horse must be in the first 3 in the pre-post betting.
  4. Horse must be drawn between 1 and 5.
  5. Horse must have had its last start within the previous 21 days.

With this method you are looking at horses which are in top form, and which are again strongly fancied for today's race. They also are nicely drawn and they should be fit because of the 21-day recency rule.

A friend of mine tipped me off about this plan some months ago and I've watched it do well in both Sydney and Melbourne. The strike rate from leading stables is high.

THE FEMALES PLAN

  1. Operate on Sydney and Melbourne meetings.
  2. Consider only races for fillies and mares (either separately or linked).
  3. Only those runners with a win and a placing within their last 3 runs are considered.
  4. Contenders must be drawn in barriers 1 to 7.
  5. Contenders must not be carrying more than 54 kg.
  6. Contenders must have been at 10/1 or lower at their last start.
  7. Win strike rate must be at least 25 per cent.

This is a selective plan in that it will not have more than one or two, sometimes three, bets per meeting. But it has proved an effective weapon for securing value place bets.

The rules zero you in on strong performers who are fit, drawn well, consistent and who are strongly fancied to run well again. They also are not harshly weighted.

What more could you ask from a place system?

Remember, then, the advice from the experts:

(a) Choose your 'spots' carefully.
(b) Try to stick with good horses, good jockeys, good trainers, good races.
(c) Never shoot for the moon - be content with regular, small returns.
(d) Concentrate on consistency.

Click here to read Part 1.

By Peter Travers

PRACTICAL PUNTING - DECEMBER 1994