Pinj Jock Challenge Results and some friendly advice

Results of todays Jockey Challenge at Pinjarra were

Pike - 6
Diener - 6
Any Other - 5
Turner - 5
Meeres - 4
Knuckey - 4
O'Donnell - 1

Interestingly I assessed Pike at $4.20 and thats exactly what price was available. The Dead Heat with Diener means we lost $86 on our challenge today and the bank drops to $885. Disappointing a bit especially after Pike had a big day on Sunday at Northam when we had him at $2 and $3.50 was available but couldn't play due to other committments.

A few people have asked me some advice on the Jockey Challenge and whilst I'm not gonna give away how I work out my ratings I will give some friendly advice.

1. The important factors to consider are the amount of potential point scoring rides and the associated prices and ranges of scores they can produce. A Jockey with 4 rides at $1.50, $41, $51 and $101 is likely to score 3pts quite frequently but not many more whilst a Jockey with 4 rides at $5, $6, $7, $8 could potentially score 0pts but also has the possibility of scoring 8,9 10 or more so is much more favoured. Jockeys with more rides in the betting will consistently win the Challenges a lot more often.

2. Always check TAB websites for rider changes and late scratchings thoroughly and consider betting in the window 45-25mins before race 1. There are a few reasons for this.

a) Jockeys and Horses and required to be oncourse atleast an hour before the race they are engaged - so for the majority of Jockeys if they are going to be late withdrawals they will have notified stewards by then as they risk a fine within the hour. Similarly trainers with horses in race 1 are also likely to have bought the rest of there team along. Any traffic accidents or float breakdowns resulting in late scratchings should in the most part have been notified.

b) Prices will go out as TAB's and Corporates try to attract money - this is similar with a normal race betting pattern. Also once books begin to fill out the bookie can widen his range and offer more competitive odds.

c) Once betting begins on Race 1 (approx 25mins before start time) any firmers will increase a Jockeys overall chances and that may start to become incorporated into the market. If you think the horse your Jockey is on will shorten then you should be betting before then, conversely if you think if may drift (which is likely to be rare) you could take the option of waiting to see if his price moves out.

3. There are a number of things that can go wrong - your Jockey could get injured or sick or his main key scoring ride could receive interference. Just remember if you are playing don't risk too much of your bank on any one rider and consider the bet seperate from your other normal investments - the only possible exception might be in the last race of the day if you already have some risk attached to a horse who needs to win for you to collect the bet.

4. Also remember to shop around. Most betting agencies run this market at an opener of 135-140% which can reduce to around 125% by my suggested betting time. However by holding accounts with many agencies you should find the best value market is around 110-120% which is very workable especially given the level of inaccuracuries I've noticed over the years.