GUIDE TO LAYING HORSES

*GUIDE TO LAYING HORSES* The traditional method of betting on horse racing involves backing a horse, or horses, to win. Betting exchanges, however, offer punters the opportunity to turn bookmaker and lay bets on horses that they believe will not win, or whose price is too short. The advantage that betting exchange punters have over regular bookmakers is that they do not need to lay every runner in a race; they can lay just a single runner that they believe will lose and effectively have the rest of the field running for them. Laying favourites is a popular form of lay betting. In the last 10 years, approximately 32% of all Flat races were won by the favourite, which means that in 68% of cases laying, rather than backing, the favourite would have resulted in a profit. It is therefore easy to see the attraction of lay betting on favourites. Many punters can find a favourite that they think will be beaten, but instead of backing one of the runners to beat it, they can effectively back all of the runners by laying the favourite.. Of course, laying horses, especially favourites, is not quite as simple as that. A run of winning favourites can dent a punter`s confidence, not to mention his or her bankroll, so it is important to be selective in the type of races in which you choose to lay horses. The handicap system is intended to give every runner in a race an equal chance, so one lay betting system involves laying all odds-on favourites in handicaps. Others involve laying the favourite in all races confined to lady amateur riders or selling, claiming or low grade stakes races. These races often feature horses and jockeys, of modest ability and their outcome is often unpredictable. There will be inevitably be occasions where a punters lays a winning horse and, just like a bookmaker, has to pay out at the odds he or she has offered. For this reason, many layers look to lay a selection at one price at back it a higher price - or back it at one price and lay it at a lower price - in order to guarantee a profit whatever the outcome of a race. This process is known as "trading". Punters must, of course, have sufficient funds in their accounts to cover all liabilities; laying a bet of £10 at 2/1, for example, creates a liability of £20. A more detailed approach involves investigating a horse`s distance and going preferences, the weight it is set to carry, the class in which it is competing, the number of days since it last ran and so on. Horses running over an unsuitable distance or on unsuitable going, carrying more than, say, 7lbs than they did in a previous race, raised in class or which have been off the track for more than 6 weeks could all be possible lay selections. Identifying these horses require access to detailed form and time, so many lay punters prefer to rely on http://www.freeracingtips.co.uk/">free racing tips available in racing publications or on the Internet.

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