Kerry Packer, the Australian media tycoon who died in 2005, left an entertaining legacy of gambling tales as one of the highest rolling “whales”” during the 80’s and 90’s. His father, Sir Frank launched his business empire on the back of some extraordinarily successful forays to the races in Tasmania and Sydney, and though conservative Australians were appalled at the way in which these moguls flung cash about, the Packer’s remained unapologetic about their extravagant gambling.
Both Packer’s believed that nothing worthwhile is accomplished without taking risks. Their wealth was based on controlling shares in Australian Consolidated Press, Channel Nine TV, property holdings and the iconic Crown Casino in Melbourne. Kerry Packer was acknowledged for his business acumen, outwitting Alan Bond in a series of corporate deals to entrench his status as one of the richest men in OZ. He was, of course, also a cricket marketing revolutionary who established World Series Cricket, which jolted the game out of its sleepy, amateur origins.
At heart, Packer was an adrenalin junkie, who gambled when bored, which was often. He had a virtually limitless bankroll so that he could afford to bet in huge stakes, and chase losses when things weren’t going well – a ruinous strategy for lesser capitalised punters. Stories abound of his generosity when winning – routinely leaving large tips, even paying off croupiers’ mortgages when especially flushed with success, but he could be fearfully cranky and foul tempered when losing.
He dropped immense sums at times yet could sustain dramatic winning rolls too, even managing to get banned from Las Vegas’’ mighty MGM Grand in the mid 90’s after reportedly taking them for USD 26 million when stopping off for some invigorating casino action with his polo team en route to Argentina! Another Packer tale relates to his laconic throw- away line to an annoying Texan oil baron who was bragging about his wealth at a casino – “However much you’ve got, I’ll toss you for it.” was Packer’s dismissively, care-free challenge.
Bruce McHugh was one of a syndicate of Sydney bookies who joined forces to take on Packer when he was really sending it at the track, loaded with ammo after selling Channel Nine for a fortune. 18 months into this head- to- head battle McHugh phoned Packer, “Kerry, Either I’m going to go broke, or you’re going to have a heart attack. Let’s put a limit on bets that only allows you to back one to win 2 Million (Aussie dollars). “
As Pat Bartley relates in his rollicking read, On the Punt, Packer agreed to this new arrangement for the next Randwick meeting. “He kicked off having 2 million to 500 000, then 2 million to 600 000 in Brisbane and an even million on a favourite in Adelaide, all of which got beat.” McHugh continues the story, “After they went down, Kerry came over to me. It was rather daunting, seeing this huge man looking down over his glasses and saying, “This is no f***g fun anymore! I’m changing the rules and want an even six million on the next favourite in Melbourne!”
Even if current trading sizes on racing in South Africa are nowhere close to those sustained by Packer when he was in the grip of the punt, Interbet followers accessing the exchange can still use volume as a useful indicator for spotting hot horses. Blonde Vision may not have shortened that much (6/1 – 5/1) but was the highest traded horse on the day before winning at the Vaal on the 8th November. Two days prior, The Dazzler, (3’s down to 16/10) was also the highest traded runner before getting home safely in Race 4.
Hudoo Magic managed to do what few younger horses can manage over ground at this stage of the year – which is to defeat their elders. The son of Choisir is obviously held in high regard by Brett Crawford as he too was the runner to attract the biggest trading volumes before scoring in the nightcap at Kenilworth on the 11th November.
Whilst the ‘trend is your friend” theory applies often enough – it’s not an infallible rule. Heavily traded horses are typically live runners sent out with serious winning intent, but there is no guarantee they’re going to prevail. Now You See Me and Cardiff Castle were actively traded horses at the Vaal on the 8th though neither came out victorious.
Zigi Zagi Zugi (28/10 – 16/10) was another steamer at Greyville on the 9th, especially after the first two favourites obliged. But he too let the side down, albeit narrowly just a neck off Carlburg and Tierra del Fuego. The following meeting at Turffontein saw Soul Of Wit smashed from 8’s into 7/2 in Race 9. However, the original favourite, Kentucky Blue proved best despite drifting out to 9/2 at the jump.
As these examples show, reading the betting moves accurately requires some dexterity. It was obvious that form horse, Bella Summer was strongly fancied to land Race 3, the opening Leg of the weekend’s Pick 6 at Kenilworth. She shortened from 3’s down to 9/10. Less obvious was subtle longshot support for Duchess of Bourbon (16/1 – 7/1), the second most traded in the race. They fought out a tight finish with Duchess of Bourbon getting it on the nod and proving the key to a nourishing Pick 6 dividend of around 90K, even with universal banker, Rainbow Bridge sauntering in as the masses expected.