Everybody wants to win a big trifecta, and it’s possible.  I’ve successfully picked some large trifectas, up to $8,000 plus, in fact, but I haven’t always been on them.  To do any good at all with the exotic type bets you have to be consistent.  And to be consistent means that you must have a separate Bank.  In fact you need a Bank at least equivalent to your main Bank.  The reason for this should be obvious.  If it’s not then let me explain it to you.  You are in for long strings of losses.

There are many methods you can employ for winning trifectas, quinellas, doubles, Pick4’s, Superfectas etc.  I’ll take you through each form of exotic betting one by one and do my best to either talk you out of it, or alternatively set you in the right direction.

Doubles

At the back of the book you will see a doubles chart.  The idea here is to back each combination for the correct amount and hoping for a good overlay result.  The drawback to doubles is that if your selections win with a sufficient average to make a profit your doubles profits will not be any greater percentage wise but because you cannot cover every possible double there is also the possibility that your strike rate will be below the required average to make a profit.  I restrict doubles betting to those races where the possibility exists of making larger than average profits as in feature races.

Quinellas

Next to the doubles charts you will see the Quinella charts.  The advantages you have with quinellas is that you only have to pick horses to run first of second in any order.  The charts will enable you to put the correct amount of money on your rated combinations.  Quinellas, provided you run a separate bank, can be a source of extra income.  You can also bet quinella combinations in which you do not have a single standout selection horse and still expect to win.

The disadvantages of quinellas is that the pools are often raided by professional punters armed with computers to take advantage of all the over value combinations.  The pools may also be too small to win big amounts of money.

Forecast

This style of bet is to be introduced in NSW in 1992 and could be a good source of income as the majority of punters will continue to box their combinations. as they do now with quinellas.  You can standout your Top Rated horses with a number of other chances for little money.  The returns could be rewarding for the informed punter like ourselves.

Trifectas

The Trifecta is the most popular and sought after exotic bet as big rewards can be obtained for relatively little money.  I have used a number of methods over the years but it is only recently that I have hit the nail on the head.

In making our assessments we give certain horses no hope of winning because of coming back in distance, not quite fit, stayer in a sprint race etc. etc.  The plain truth is that many of these horses can and do run placings.  To perfect true value trifecta combinations we would need to completely redo our ratings and reassess the situation.

Clearly this is too much trouble and unjustified.  When years ago there was only one and sometimes two trifectas a day I used to box the top six horses in the prepost market and hope for a good mix in the trifecta.  I won fairly regularly.  Later when the trifecta spread to all races at all venues the average pool was too small to guarantee a profitable result and I dropped the method.

These days the trifecta pools are the second or third biggest out of all the raced pools.  Whilst we are all educated enough that we don’t have to worry about boxing prepost horses we can use the prepost assessments to profit from our selections.

A good method of attacking the trifecta is simply to standout your Top Rated selection with the first six horses in the prepost market.  The total cost is thus just $15 per trifecta (50c bets) a little more in larger fields than 10 in which you could take the next seven in the market.  In addition I add any selections that I have rated which are lower in the market order than this.

When your Top Rated selection wins you will find yourself winning 90% of those trifectas, or taken on an across the board basis, you will win about 20 – 25% of all trifectas attempted.  This is good betting provided you only take it in small doses.

What you must be careful of is too many people going for a good thing.  You will still have runs of outs.  You will still get upset the day you land a winner at juicy odds and your market horses don’t quite make it up into second or third place.  To date I am fining that the profit on turnover is around 50% but I have limited my bets to $1.  It can be quite a lift when you strike a good one.  In Late March I scored when Ali Boy won, Golden Step my second rated horse ran second and one of the market horses (but not a rated selection) ran third.  The dividend of $1124 was not bad for a $56 outlay.

In this trifecta pool I estimate that around 250 people scored with the win.  Had I outlaid $560 the dividend would have been reduced to $1080, but if fifty people all had the same idea the dividend would have reduced to around $375.  Of course all those extra bets added to the pool would have been worth a few dollars, but you see what I mean.  If you use this method then stick to relatively small bets and accept the reward.

The Pick4

This style of bet is not available in all states of Australia, but I would almost be prepared to bet that a strategy similar to the above would work.  The pools are on only a few races which means that there should be plenty of overvalue betting available.  In seeking to win the NSW Superfecta again I have frequently struck the first four.  I would only attempt this bet though with spare money as you may go many weeks without a pay.

The Superfecta

To pick the first six horses in order is no mean feat.  I have won it once with a first 4 any any consolation dividend but once again this is a spare money bet.

there are a number of ways of attaching the Superfecta with small amounts of money.  I often take three horses to run first or second, add the best of the rest for third along with those three.  I then take the worst of these top three for fourth along with my extra third horse and the last three for fifth and sixth so the combination looks like this..

You can also throw in another horse to run sixth and your outlay will remain under $30 for a 50c serve.  As the Superfecta is often not won your 50c is just as good as a dollar if yours is the only winning combination.  But do remember Spare Money Only.

Quadrella

This style of betting is extremely popular in Victoria.  The ain is to back four winners of selected races for which the rewards are good to ordinary.  Because many selections are bracketed you will see some poor dividends returned if a long priced horse wins but is bracketed with a favoured horse.  Of course this can work out to your advantage too, especially if two of your selections are in the one bracket.  Just to demonstrate the difficulty of selecting four winners in a row let’s assume that by combining say three horses per race we win 60% of all races run.  What is the chance of winning a Quadrella?

On your calculator multiply .6 x .6 x .6 x .6 = .13 or 13 chances in 100, now the number of combinations is..

3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 81.  Multiply 81 by 100 and you can see that you will outlay $8100 for every 100 attempts.  As with doubles betting you cannot possible cover every four race combination so it is possible to take the Quadrella twice every
Saturday for 12 months and only striking the odd dividend here and there.  Even if luck is with you and you strike 13 winning dividends you then have to average over $800 per pay before you get ahead.  The Quadrella then is another Spare Money Bet.

So what are the best chances of making money from the exotics?  Apart from the Superfecta, the vest chance of making money is to restrict yourself to Single Race exotics, i.e. the Quinella, Forecast, Trifecta and possibly the Pick 4.  In each case you only have to pick one winner.  All possibilities are covered in each single event and you can make a reasonable attempt to pick from then between your own ability to analyse the Form and the Market.  The Forecast where you have to pick the first two horses in correct order appeals to me as a good opportunity to make money.  When you have assessed a horse to beat the favourite you will get far better odds for this horse winning and the favourite running second than you will for the current Quinella where the finish order is irrelevant.  The Trifecta is Australia’s fastest growing bet type and also offers the best opportunity to get over the odds on your selections.  There is also the thrill of the occasional Big Dividend.  A separate Bank is kept strictly for your choice of the Exotic bets but one which does not exceed 10% of your ordinary Bank is a must if you wish to enter this field.  So good luck.