The Essentials of Studying Form — Part 6 | Price is Best

Australian horse racing form study usually stops at picking the horse: you do the form, then walk up and take whatever price is showing on the board. In Practical Punting in October 2000, Richard Hartley Jnr reached what he called the "climax" of his Ratings Guide approach — the other half of the job, which is deciding the minimum price a runner has to be before you are allowed to back it. Three short formulas, one each for four runners, three and two, and every one of them a total percentage market of 78 per cent.

What you'll learn:

• How many horses you price, and no more — a maximum of four chances in a race, that is, the top four rated runners; you can work to four runners, three or two, and the prices needed will depend on how many you decide to price
• The three price formulas — one for four runners, one for three and one for two — each of them a minimum price set against a rank, and each adding up to a total percentage market of 78 per cent, so the aim is to beat the percentages (every price line is set out in full in the free guide)
• The rule the whole thing turns on, in his own words: "Don't bet any runner about which you cannot secure the minimum price" — your task as a punter seeking to bet in a professional manner is to obtain prices that are better than those assessed in the formula
• The worked example from end to end — the price you needed against the price actually on offer, why that gap is an overlay and gives you a bet, the two bets it produces backing to the percentages (50 units and 28 units), and the same bet scaled to a fifth: 10 units and 5.5 units (rounded), a bet of 15.5 units