One of the most vexing arguments in racing today is the impact of weights on a horses chances of winning, the old adage of “Weights stops trains” seems to be vehemently rejected by a large swathe of punters in the modern landscape. Some people when they see a horse on the limit, 54kg with a 3kg claiming apprentice taking the ride will literally jump out of tree’s to get on, I must admit I am one of those people, especially on a heavy track a big go to for me is weight relief, so I have given up my position on the matter I think it may be cognitive bias but I am convinced weights play a massive part.

By Nic Rees

Are you a punting rookie? We get it you’ve stumbled across our page or had a degenerate mate share it with you. You like the videos, tips and everything else we’re about (you’re only human). But the idea of going down to the pub with the boys and throwing on a few bets makes you a bit nervous!

First and foremost – your mates who bet already are going to be a big help when it comes to actually placing the bet. You can do this in venue using the TAB or UBet EBT or download an app from one of the Corporate Bookmakers and go down that route.

So, what do you look for? There are several factors here, Trainer, Jockey, Form and Price just to name a few. Now if you’re having a punt on Group One races at your bigger tracks across the country then certain trainers and jockeys will be more recognisable . Names like Waterhouse, Lees and Waller for trainers and Oliver, Williams and Bowman for the jockeys will jump off the page at you. When betting on your Country or Provincial tracks it pays in the long run to research and become familiar with the leading trainers in each region. Same with jockeys, research who is riding your nag as this can be arguably one of the biggest and most influential variables when trying to find winners, the good jockeys ride more winners than the average jockeys it is as simple as that.

Information about the jockey and trainer standings and statistics are easily accessible from a multitude of places online, a quick google search is all that is needed – eventually we will have a part of this website dedicated to to the top 10 trainers and jockeys in each region according to strike rate. Statistics don’t lie and essentially they will tell you who are the contenders and who are the pretenders. If you’re punting at a certain track keep and eye on betting trends and who took the lion share of winnings over the day – when you’re on you’re on and momentum is a big thing in horse racing!

In a perfect world you can prepare and do a bit of research before having a lash but lets face it sometimes you end up at the local , its your shout AND your bet! Don’t panic and don’t rush! if you have got a betting app on your phone you can pull the form for the race up and have a quick look over it, if not the digital TAB form guides will have information on the horses last 6 races. The theory is that the better the form a horse has the shorter it is in price, thats reducing down to its more basic form but essentially thats the idea behind odds, the shorter in price to $1 a horse is the more favoured the horse is to win the race by the market. The reverse being the case for roughies, the roughest horse in the race will have the highest price. If a Favourite is paying $2.60 and you have $100 on it and it wins your payout is 100 times 2.6 therefore $260 return. If you have $100 on a $124 pop your payout is 100 times 124 therefor $12,400 return.

In saying that bet what you feel, when betting on horse racing the main variable a punter should take into account is WHAT THEY FEEL, don’t listen to and follow other peoples opinions blindly, BACK YOURSELF. If you like the favourite, back it, no harm in that, if you are searching for slightly more value with a $5-$10 pop thats fine swell, there is no set way to bet. Hell if you see a $61 pop with your partners name in just jump on!!! its only money!

Lastly before you let loose, the type of bet you place is also a key part you have to get your head around, as in exactly how exotic bet types (Quinellas/Exactas/Trifectas) pay etc. To be honest there are a heap of differing bet types but we will cover the most common!

WIN – Pretty self explanatory – if it wins you get paid. If not you get zilch in return.

PLACE – A place bet pays a return if your horse runs 1st-2nd-3rd.

EACH WAY – You like the horse as a winning chance but you want to cover yourself if the horse doesn’t win but runs 2nd or 3rd.

TRIFECTA – My personal favourite – You pick the horses in order to run 1st-2nd-3rd.

FIRST FOUR – You pick 4 horses to run in straight finishing order from 1st to 4th.

BOXED TRIFECTA/FIRST FOUR – Slight variants on the above two – You pick the horses but don’t need the correct order for a return. You can pick more than 3 or 4 horses too, I would assume that the most common Box Trifecta by your run of the mill $5 punter in Australia would be a 4 horse $5 Boxed Trifecta which returns 20.83% of the Trifecta dividend. Put simply the more horses you box the lower the % returned of the final dividend.

There you have it! You’re now armed with enough info to be dangerous. Happy Punting and Gamble Responsibly. And last but not least, It only takes one bet to go from the Gutter to the Penthouse!

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