30
EDDIE WOOD
RACING AHEADISSUE 178Eddie Wood extols the virtues of betting on more than one horse
You mustn’t
be scared of
doubling up
S
ome betting shop goers use
a haphazard and inconsis-
tent approach when
selecting their horses. It is a
similar story on the course,
except for extremely experienced pro-
fessional and semi-professional
investors.
Although more people have a rea-
sonable insight into the variety of
racetracks, many still do not know how
to consistently win. In the 67 years that
I have been involved in the game, most
racegoers on the course and in betting
shops still concentrate on trying to
select winners.
Many writers also place too much
emphasis on systems, but thankfully
that is starting to change as more
authors discuss the Tissue. This does
not look for a winner; you must find a
horse whose price is offered at bigger
odds than what it should be by the
bookmaker. However, many people
who become interested in what the
Tissue is do not fully realise the scarcity
of occasions that one can apply this
valuable tool.
The Tissue is not the only strategy
that can bring you a long-term profit.
Supporting two or more horses in a
race can be a very lucrative approach
when used skilfully. However, there still
seems a “I am not throwing stakes
away” mentality when 90% plus of the
time, one can achieve more winning
bets by investing in two or more horses
in a race.
The Pertemps Network Group Hand-
icap Hurdle (Series Qualifier) run on
Friday the 26th of January 2018 was a
first-class example of this. This race
caught my eye as it is a Class 2 over
(3m1f10y) 3m1f. The value to the winner
was £12,512 and eight-runners contest-
ed for this prize-money. The Nicky
Henderson trained Protek Des Flos
(FR) was the 2/1 favourite. Looking at
the “Ten-Year Trends,” I noted that this
race has only been run four times
before and the first two in the betting
have never won it. I therefore discount-
ed them from my selection process
after I read the Spotlight comments
and glanced at their form.
I moved to the third in the betting,
The Mighty Don (IRE), whose sire was
Shantou (USA). Over time, you will
learn that I am quite keen on the
breeding of the horse and the sires’
record over particular distances. It
appeared that he ran on well in his last
race and was likely to get the extra 4f
today. He was certainly on my shortlist.
It almost goes without saying that
the horse with the lowest last-time-out
figure in days will be a certain con-
tender for the fittest horse in the race.
When considering this in Flat racing, I
scrutinize any horse that has raced
within the last twenty-eight days. This
figure is also a good benchmark over
the jumps, but I am more likely to
stretch it over to forty days minus, par-
ticularly in Chases.
My eye then caught the breeding of
Taj Badalandabad (IRE,) trained by
David Pipe. This horse was the onlycourse and distance winner in the race.
Any of our equine friends with this
qualification should be seriously con-
sidered for any race. This contender
was also the fittest horse in the field
having raced only 20 days ago. I was
keen to find out what course he ran in
as well as the distance and was pleased
to note that he won this same race in
2016.
This David Pipe trained horse rapidly
gained my attention. My interest
moved to the weather forecast and
today’s course conditions as Shantou-
bred horses rarely win in
stamina-sapping ground. I was reas-
sured when the weather forecast was
given as cloudy with no more rain.
I placed two bets in the race; a one-
point win on Taj Badalandabad (IRE)
and a one-point win on Racing Post’s
third favourite The Mighty Don (IRE).
The two sons of Shantou (USA) made
most of the running between them,
with Taj Badalandabad (IRE) racing
clear and winning by six lengths from
The Mighty Don (IRE). I was pleased I
had taken the early prices of both
horses, 10/1 about the winner who
came first at 9/1.
The idea of backing two horses in a
race has been with me for many years.
The American behavioural psycholo-
gist Dr Howard Sartin endorsed this
strategy in his Sartin methodology. He
was given the task of counselling a
group of problem gamblers and took
an unusual approach. Betting on two
horses per race became a vital compo-