All over the world people are grappling with an unprecedented public health crisis and a dramatic decline in economies curtailed due to the Covid -19 pandemic.
Racing fans are hoping that their favorite game will resume in early May when the extended national lockdown might be is lifted. SA Government approval is still required – if racing gets the thumbs up it will be with rigorous restrictions, held behind closed doors and at halved stakes.
The Australians have been able to juggle things around to keep racing underway in certain states, with stay safe rules rigidly enforced. “Strict” in Oz means seriously “strict” – Jockey Tom Marquand was fined 23K for breaching social distancing regulations when quickly hugging his mounts groom after winning a G1 on Addeybb at Randwick in Sydney!
The popular Champions Season in KZN has been pushed back about a month. Note these key revised dates, fingers crossed racing gets the go ahead from government:
Sunday 28 June:
Daily News 2000 (G 1) Woolavington 2000 (G 1) Gold Challenge (G 1)
Saturday 4 July:
Golden Horse Sprint (G 1) SA Fillies Sprint (g 1) Golden Horse Medallion (G 1) Allan Robertson Fillies Championship (G 1)
Saturday 25 July
Vodacom Durban July (G 1) Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes (G 1) Durban Golden Horseshoe (G 2) Golden Slipper (G 2) DSTV Gold Vase (G 3)
Saturday 29 August
Gold Cup (G 3) Champions Cup (G 1) Mercury Sprint (G 1) Premiers Champion Stakes (G 1) Thekwini Stakes (G 1) Gold Bracelet (G 2) Umkomazi Stakes (G 2) The Debutante (G 2.)
Interbet continues to offer betting opportunities from Hong Kong, Sweden, Australia and a few parts of America. An e-mail is sent out twice a week featuring Best Bets and Value Plays for Hong Kong Racing.
A simple method to quickly define the contenders at any track is to concentrate on the best jockeys. A case in point – the top five hoops currently account for 74% of winners at Happy Valley and Sha Tin. Moreira and Purton are both 20% riders who rule the roost in HK, Teetan and Ho click at 12% each with Chad Schofield a 10% merchant.
Just betting blindly on the top guys is not going to cut it. You’ll need to be creative when betting to actually make money from these stats. It’s still a good starting point though; even without knowing the ability and quirks of individual horses you get in the right hitting zone focusing on the mounts of the most adept riders who have the best opportunities.
The trainer rankings are less distinctive with the majority of HK conditioners sending out around 10% winners to runners. Nothing notable there. However, a potentially useful angle combining the jockey, trainer and class factor is to support a horse when it drops in class and gets a rider switch to one of the top five jockeys.
Big samples from tracks around the world show it to be a consistently profitable play, at the right odds. It’s an elegantly simple system that makes sense. Class droppers win more often than class risers, smart trainers use the top riders when their well-meant horses are in peak condition and teed up to run huge races, and the best hoops win more often.
Maybe, after doing further research, you can even incorporate this easy- to- apply golden nugget spot play into your array of betting tricks for the chariot racing in Sweden!