That may have been true in the past Darky when bookies actually attempted to make an overround book, but it's not now, when most bookies set their prices according to the opening totes adding a few percentage points so that they invariably go up at 140% plus.

About five to seven minutes before the jump is now when bookies prices are meaningful but without a doubt, the most powerful ratings indicator are the prices on offer on Betfair with their 103% to 105% markets.

Hi LA MER.
Not all bookies are gutless wonders opening their prices to the tote odds and its these bookmakers I am interested in betting with.
Market forces at some stage of the betting will allow me to gain an added advantage price wise.
Gaining the best odds makes the difference between an average year and a great year.
Cheers.
darky.

Watch the IAS fixed odds. They tell you what is going on at the track.. But totally agree, Betfair is the best indication. You can guarantee that if you can get better value on IAS than Betfair on a horse, the odds will shorten very shortly....

Jose'
Thanks for the offer and I can guarantee the ratings are genuine, but I may hold onto them for myself for a while yet. But my point is if I can produce ratings with a strike rate this high, anyone can. I can also guarantee I am no one special.
For that reason I am sure others on this forum would be able to tell of similar results, Sportz had a great strike rate through the Ratings Challenge and was kind enough to tell how he achieved it. For me it is about finding the right races. That generally means looking at only approx. 4-5 races on a Saturday over four states.

Jose keep at it, you can do it. Perserverance.

Good Punting

I agree with the comments regarding betfair markets. If Im up late like last night i will have a bet on the sth african racing. I keep an eye on their tote price fluctuations and if there is a significant shortener I will have a dip at it if the odds are at least 1.5 times better than the tote. Last night there was one thta sat at about 11 or 12 on the tote at the start and then kept coming in. When it got to about 6.50 I grabbed it on betfair at $13.50 just for a few dollarsas an interest, well it won and ended up paying $4 on the tote. Dosent happen all the time but at least once a night whenever I m on. dont always win but seem to place most of the time. Since I started with b/f I have turned a small but consistent loss into a small profit which I put down purely tothe better prices. I no longer even bother with form. I let the herd sort them out for me.

Well here goes fellas.
I shall have a bash at backing the pre-post favourite (from Fridays Courier) so long as it is down in prizemoney from it's last start.

DOOM R6 H4 SHADY BRADY
GOLD CST R6 H1 GOING SOLO
MORPH R2 H4 SOUTHERN CLASS
MORPH R4 H1 TAOS PLEASURE
RAND R1 H4 SHANNON BANK
RAND R3 H3 FORCE APOLLO
RAND R4 H1 EREMEIN
RAND R7 H1 GRAND ARMEE
RAND R8 H5 MAHTOUM
RAND R9 H8 FOUROFAKIND

May God give them strength.
This post probably should have been in the racing section but no matter.

__________________
Jose'.

Hey Top Rank, thanks for the kind reply, but I have too many time constraints to be trying to rate them myself, just looking for an easy out I guess.

I may have a look at the first five lines of the opening market on Sportsbet tomorrow and maybe back the one that is dropping the most in prizemoney.
Will see how it goes.

__________________
Jose'.

Why would anyone subscribe to a rating service when we all know the 'public' are better at it than anyone else and their 'service' [via a tote board 5/10min. to jump], is free ?

No offense to Management, [if they enter a thread to give an opinion, their opinion on the topic becomes fair game] but why should any punter subscribe to any rating service that is inferior to info. available for free ?

The "public" generally does not know what odds should be backed about selections.

The "public" does not adequately distinguish between true and false favourites, nor does the "public" know when a true favourite is under or over the odds.

The "public" consistently loses when horses at double figure odds win races.

A good ratings or tipping service can alert people to when some of these horses are value - that is well over their true winning odds.

You can compare the "public" plunging into many horses and betting them well under their true winning odds with the "public" plunging into internet stocks at the top of the internet bubble.

Put simply, the "public" are losers.

Cheers,
Neil.

The " public' only become losersbecause that are betting into pools that are 15-30 % against them. The public on average lose 10-15 % backing favourites. If they were betting into 100% markets they might actually show A SMALL PROFIT ON THE FAVOURED RUNNERS so to call them losers is inaccurate. It is only the greed of the governments and bookies that keep them down. I agree with crash, Ive tried various rating systems over the years, they all through up thefavourites and only rarely something at half decent odds. They dont want to ruin their " amazing strike rates" giving you too many roughies to back. And when you ask about why your still losing $ they tell you your not backingthem correctly. ( their world famous staking plan). At least with betfair I have turned small losses into small gains by increasing the odds I get by about 20% on averag, compared to other betting organisations. Neil. please dont term the public losers in order to indirectly promote your products.