Backing a winner

The favourite in the race usually has the best chance of winning, but Thompson warns that on a day like the Met there are many good horses competing in any given race and you are more likely to do well if you look for the second, third or fourth favourites.

When betting, you shouldn't pick more than two selections per race (at the most three) because this increases your outlay (of money) and if only one of your selections comes in, you are not going to profit much.

For the novice better, a place bet is the least risky, but obviously has lower returns.

"My advice is to have a win and a place bet on the same horse in the race," says Thompson. "That way, if it wins, you get to experience the feeling of backing a winner ? which is awesome ? and if it only runs a place, you should get enough money back to cover your money that you lost on the win bet so you don't lose overall.

"Keep things simple and stick to win and place bets, bets like swingers, trifectas and quartets are incredibly difficult to win and 99 percent of the time you're going to be left feeling disappointed."

Placing a bet

So, how exactly do you go about placing a bet and what do the different bets mean?

When betting the operator needs to know the race venue, the race number, the amount of money wagered, the type of bet and the number/s of the horse/s. So you would call it like this: Kenilworth, Race 1, R10 win on Number 9.

The Place bet ? there must be eight or more runners in the race for you to place this bet. If you horse places first, second or third (and occasionally fourth), you win!

The Win bet ? this is pretty self-explanatory. To win, your horse must win.

The Swinger bet ? if you like two horses, but can't decide which one to bet on, the swinger is useful. You select two horses to fill any of the top three places in any order.

The Exacta bet ? similar to the swinger, but your horses must finish in the exact order of your bet.

Geoff Thompson's picks

"Pocket Power looks to make history again on Saturday by winning his 4th Met in a row. As hard as I have looked to find something to beat him, I just can't. The conditions of this race suit him perfectly and he should go on to make history.

"Big City life (last year's Durban July winner) must be a big runner, he is a lovely horse and should run in the places. Mother Russia is my value bet in the race, she has had a perfect preparation and definitely represents good value at 14/1."

Right! Now for step two?

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