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Letter of the Week

Sub problem solved

In last week’s Your Say I lamented the TAB’s substitute system for multi-leg bets, giving a number of recent examples where punters had been dudded. I now present my solution.
I believe this solution would be relatively seamless to incorporate into current processing and if punters were made aware of this option I am sure the majority would be strongly in favour.
Currently all of the monies invested on a scratched horse are transferred to a nominated substitute, based upon the TAB price for the remaining runners at jump time.
Under my proposal, for each ticket that includes the scratched horse, the investment is split among all other runners in proportion to their TAB price. This Scratching Percentage Factor (SPF) for each of the runners would be based upon the TAB price for each of the remaining runners at jump time.
Benefits of the new method would be:
• The TABs keep all the money invested so they are happy (no need for refunds).
• Punters with a scratched horse are guaranteed to be alive in the quaddie so they are happy.
• Punters who were on the winner to start with would not have to cop the ridiculous “unders” that occur when the substitute wins so they are fairly happy.
• Race callers do not have to worry about assessing tote odds and guessing at the likely sub.
To give you an example, take a field of five in the first leg of the quaddie with a pool of $118,000, of which $20,000 is on #5, subsequently scratched.
The remaining four runners are #1 at $2.50 ($40,000 invested), #2 at $9.00 ($11,000), #3 at $4.00 ($25,000) and #4 at $4.50 ($22,000).
Under the current method, investments on each runner are now $60,000, $11,000, $25,000, $22,000. Under my method the reassessed investments are $48,000, $13,200, $30,000 and $26,800.
The calculations to achieve these figures could be done by an old-age pensioner using a spreadsheet, never mind the IT professionals at the TAB and based upon this redistribution you would calculate the SPF that would be applied as a flexi to all multiples that had all other winners plus the scratching in the first leg.

John Anderson
Yamba (NSW)
Today's Racing
Friday 29 March
Saturday 30 March
Sunday 31 March