Everything we know about horse racing Punters .com.au Where do you nd horse racing? “Wherever a few are gathered.” THE PUNTERS BIBLE 3 PUNTERS.COM.AU INTRODUCTION Beauty, in the eye of the punter orse racing is a complex beast. that control is forever surrendered Not complex in the manner of as the gates crash back and H nuclear science, but for a sport the hooves start to thunder. that at its barest foundation revolves Anyone who has taken the time around horses and jockeys haring to explore horse racing soon around racetracks at frightening realises just how captivating speed, it somehow qualifies. the Sport of Kings truly is. But that’s the very curiosity of I was fortunate enough to have racing: it can be distilled down horse racing introduced to me by my to just those two things: fit, fast father-in-law, John Goundrey, an on- horses; and the brave riders perched course bookmaker in Queensland. precariously on their backs. Horse racing was not then There is something so raw, so an interest of mine—my true utterly unpredictable about passion was technology and this combination that makes I was progressing through a it both thrilling to watch, and Software Engineering major. so entertaining to share and experience with others. I was 18 years old and already had spent five years immersing And that’s just the mechanics of myself in my love of programming. the races themselves. The tracks— Just as a racing diehard might some visually stunning, some less pore over a form guide, I would so, but each with their own special write code until all sorts of charm—add enthralling chapters hours, sometimes all night. LUC PETTETT: Punters.com.au CEO & Founder to the dog-eared lore of the turf. Programming involves a great deal The best way I can summarise of logic, a great working memory, tickets and taking bets— horse racing is in two words: an imagination, and an ability to I was fascinated with the data beautifully fascinating. visually conceptualise information and language of the track. It is a sport fuelled by passion, in your mind, all the while tracking I fell in love with the social but it goes far deeper than variables, names, formulas interactions unique to the a flash of excitement and and functions. Programming is on-course experience. often described as an art form. the quick thrill of a win. The trackgoers—all manner of weird And justifiably so: you really Indeed, its complexity seems and wonderful characters united can create objects of beauty. almost endless—the moment by a shared love of the punt—were you think you’ve figured out how Sure enough, the lure of horse racing the true lifeblood of the course. proved irresistible for a brain wired a race will play out, you can be “Late mail” would be passed from in the mould of the programmer. proven spectacularly wrong in a mate to mate via the corners of There were huge similarities manner of minutes, even seconds. conspiratorial mouths; each tip between the two pursuits— Hours of form study, of crunching trusted and backed for no reason in particular when it came to numbers, of monitoring betting other than the fear of missing out. comprehending form. I was hooked. markets, of detecting patterns, A winning bet shared seemed to be leads to the calculated finality of When I started working on-course worth double the spoils; a losing bet placing a bet. Yet in a flash, all as a bookmaker clerk—writing shared halved the pain of defeat. THE PUNTERS BIBLE 4 PUNTERS.COM.AU INTRODUCTION THE PUNTERS STABLE: 17 strong and growing. This shared experience in Punters.com.au employee is around asking questions about this most horse racing was the root of the 27: we hire young, enthusiastic and challenging, mesmeric of sports. passionate people who are willing sport, and it was something, I It was this thirst for information to take risks and try new ideas. realised, that was completely that spawned The Punters Bible, missing in the online sphere. It’s undoubtedly a fine line—horse a single book to guide punters Punters needed a place to racing’s history and traditions across everything that we call home, from home. command enormous respect—yet consider to be relevant to—and we continue to reimagine notions of A space to interact with fellow enjoyable about—horse racing. how the sport should be represented. racing tragics, to access cutting- A book that sparks discussion edge information and, ultimately, And it’s this approach that has made and interest, perhaps even some to laugh, let loose and lament. us the single largest horse racing more phone calls. Punters are website in the country. I’m proud to This is the context in which inquisitive types—true thinkers say that our apps and website are our journey at Punters.com.au and students—after all! visited by more than two million began. And here we are today. No matter who you are, I truly hope Australians every year. And given my that reading this book brings you Having sprung the barriers as love of the social aspect of racing, it is to the same firm conclusion as us: “Punters Paradise” in 2009, also a source of great pride that we’ve horse racing really is beautiful, we renamed to the cleaner been able to connect more punters and it’s absolutely fascinating. Punters.com.au in 2014. than any other website ever has. Enjoy! We’re now a team of almost 20 Over the past few years we have highly talented racing experts and had thousands of people phone Luc Pettett, technologists. The average age of a us, email us or write on our forums CEO of Punters.com.au THE PUNTERS BIBLE 5 PUNTERS.COM.AU CONTENTS The Punters Bible Introduction 4 Chapter 4 Chapter 1 Betting 65 Bet types 65 The origins of the thoroughbred 7 Where to bet 67 The thoroughbred—the perfect specimen 8 Understanding the basics 69 History of racing in Australia 9 Key events 10 Chapter 5 Professional punting 71 Chapter 2 The diary of a pro punter 71 Legends of the turf 14 Framing markets 73 Horses—the magnificent seven 14 Ratings 74 Trainers—10 of the best 22 Staking plans 75 Great jockeys 34 Arbitrage 78 The money men either side of the ledger 46 Profiling 80 Famous punters 46 Famous bookmakers 48 Chapter 6 The tote and the bookies 50 The horse racing industry 81 Totalisator/Pari-mutuel betting 50 The breeding game 81 The bookies—on-course and corporates 51 Pedigrees 84 SP bookmaking 52 Yearling sales 86 Rags to riches 88 Chapter 3 Expensive flops 91 Horse racing form 53 Racehorse ownership 93 How to read the form guide 53 Basics of racing 54 Chapter 7 Key components form analysis 58 Glossary 95 THE PUNTERS BIBLE 6 PUNTERS.COM.AU The origins OF the thoroughbred The origins of the thoroughbred ake a deep enough look into any The Darley Arabian covered strong in Paris, half-starved and pulling a water racehorse’s pedigree, and the books of English mares between 1706 cart, before being bought for T meandering road of champions and 1719, with feted descendants a song by Englishman Edward Coke. and battlers long gone will eventually such as Flying Childers and Eclipse Another story implies that the come to a dead end at one of three (champion horse and forefather Godolphin Arabian was afforded signposts: Darley Arabian, Godolphin of Carbine) ensuring his legacy his “big break” at stud only when Arabian or Byerley Turk. The blood of into the modern thoroughbred. a mare named Lady Roxana rejected at least one of these three foundation her intended mate Hobgoblin in favour stallions is carried to some distilled Byerley Turk of this most exotic of teaser ponies. degree by every thoroughbred. The Byerley Turk came to England as a The union proved a fruitful one, with Horse racing is intoxicating partly direct spoil of war. At the siege of Buda the Godolphin Arabian and Lady because of the remarkable stories in Hungary in 1688, Captain Robert Roxana producing three champion of its participants. In this regard, the Byerley of the Sixth Dragoon Guards racehorses—Lath, Cade and Regulus— foundation stallions set the standard believed a captured Turkish officer’s stamped in their father’s flashy image. early, with their own dramatic journeys cavalry horse to be so fine a specimen The tales don’t end there. A companion to the breeding barns of England. that it was worth keeping for himself. stable cat named Grimalkin, in the Godolphin Arabian’s barn at Gog Darley Arabian The stallion, then about eight years old, served with distinction as Magog, near Cambridge, was so The Darley Arabian was smuggled Captain Byerley’s warhorse at several attached to the horse that it reportedly out of the Syrian desert under cover battles—including the famous Battle died of grief within days of the of darkness after his owner Sheikh of the Boyne at County Meath, mighty stallion’s death in 1753. Mirza II had reneged on a deal to sell Ireland, in 1690—before going to Astonishingly, the Godolphin Arabian the horse for 300 golden sovereigns stud in Yorkshire in the 1690s. features in the pedigrees of the to British Consul Thomas Darley. A dark brown with a distinct Arabian first 76 British Classic winners. Darley was so taken by the bay colt’s appearance, the Byerley Turk went impressive looks that he arranged on to become a hugely influential for a group of sailors to steal him and sire of broodmares despite being the pure Arabian eventually found his mated with largely inferior stock.