October
MayPuzzling deduction
Last Friday I backed Border Rebel for Saturday at Eagle Farm with one of the corporate bookmakers at $3.50. Three horses were subsequently scratched from the race and Border Rebel was $2.90 on Saturday morning after the market was reframed.
To my astonishment, after Border Rebel won I discovered I recieved only $2.60, meaning I got a lesser price than everyone who decided to back Border Rebel on the day. I find this outrageous.
Where is the incentive to bet pre-post? Any deduction will leave you worse off.
Racing bodies need to ensure betting agencies do not short-change their customers otherwise punters will turn away from the sport.
Chris
Doncaster (Vic)
• Reply: Where bets are placed after acceptances but before the race-morning scratchings, each betting agency calculates its own deductions, but industry-wide guidelines apply to these calculations, based on the price of the horse/s scratched. Gary Davies of TAB Sportsbet explained: "Our racing people do their utmost when there are multiple scratchings to keep the deductions to a point where the final price will be as close as possible to the horse’s starting price. There are of course times where there are extenuating circumstances, e.g. where a new market is framed on the day of the race because three fancied horses come out due to a change in track conditions. In this case horse A may ease in the betting as he is less suited whilst horses B and C are well backed due to the more suitable track. In this scenario the pre-post bet the previous day will be subject to heavy deductions (because of the fancied horses being scratched), which can lead to a situation as explained in Chris’s letter. This situation would be very rare and all agencies are aware that there are strict guidelines as to the deductions that apply according to the price of the horse that is scratched."
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