19/02/2014 Greyhound Racing Tips

Every punter can tell you a betting story. No matter where they're told the room will quieten down and every ear will listen to the tale of fortune, or in some cases misfortune. The series of events that lead to a punter's bonanza seems to have that magical thread that entrances every punter listening to the tale. It's these types of stories that surely led screen writers to pen the Richard Dreyfuss classic Let It Ride. The story of Jay Trotter who experiences a series of events that leads him to the ulimate multi bet tale of fortune which has every racing patron at Hialeah Park Race Track giving him a standing ovation as he makes his way to watch the final race. In the spirit of Jay Trotter we have got a few stories to share from as far back as the 80's and as recent as last Monday night.

Greyhound Glory

Back in the 80's I was a regular at Gosford Greyhounds on a Tuesday night with my $10 bucks I had a tidy sum of one dollar to spend on each race on the program. My fondest memory is when one of the greyhound trainers that I got to know well backed his dog with a bookmaker concession (money back for second). After it got beat by a nose for the win he threw his ticket away forgetting that he had a collect to get his money back. It was the second last race and we decided to call it a night. As we were walking out the gates the old trainer remembered he backed his dog concession. Looking down at me he described roughly were he discarded the ticket and told me that if I found it it was mine to keep. With the name of the bookmaker, the initials of the dog and the collect amount tattooed to my brain, I scanned every ticket in a 50 metre radius of the spot he described until I found it. The collect was $100 and I was on a roll even though I hadn't backed a winner all night.

I had had my eye on the Number 1 in the last all night. It was second favourite but it was an improver. I remember not even hesitating for a minute when a got a regular to collect for me. I turned him around, pointed to the bookie with the best price and told him to get it on for me. I got '3 to 1' which  $4 in today's decimal odds.

As the field turned around the final turn, One the Red was increasing his 2 length lead. At the finishing post he ended up winning the race by 4 or 5 lengths making me the happiest lad in town. In the space of half an hour I had gone from zero to hero, starting off with a bit of luck followed by a good bet, $400 had found it's way into my pocket.

Menangle Magic

Greg is a mad punter who loves the gallops and harness races. He has recently graduated from phone betting with the TAB to using the betting mobile app on his new smart phone. He was punting last Monday night at Menangle and was a little behind coming into the eighth race. He was very keen on the favourite Callofduty and backed it on his phone. Now Greg's eyes aren't traveling too well these days so mistakenly he managed to check the Number 1 Wicker Maister without knowing. He confirmed the bet then learned on the summary that he placed two separate one hundred dollar bets including the $53.40 rank outsider Wicker Maister. As the starting gate car pulled away from the field to mark the start of the race, Greg was in foul mood, he was convinced he had done his cash cold on the one and stood to win a pittance if the favourite won. Coming into the straight Callofduty was in front on the inside rail but the long Menangle straight meant that it was too early for any relief just yet. Sitting behind Callofduty sat his rank outsider. Very quickly the favourite began to weaken and as it did it drifted towards the middle of the track. Wicker Maister quickly took the lead over but surely at those odds it was going to get caught by the swoopers that were quickly mounting a challenge out wide. With every stride Greg clenched his fist and begged the toppy to hold on. Despite some flashes of speed out wide the $53 chance got up. A pair of dodgy eyes, a goofy finger and some technical illiteracy brought home the bacon. You couldn't wipe the smile of his face until I alerted him to the fact that he could have collected one thousand more if he took middle tote from any online bookmaker.