The Flockton Grey Affair
The so-called Flockton Grey Affair was a notorious racing scandal, in which a modestly-bred, unraced two-year-old, trained by an unfashionable trainer, was replaced by an experienced three-year-old in the Knighton Auction Stakes at Leicester on March 29, 1982. Pre-internet age, and long before todays top online casino betting environment. The horse purporting to be Flockton Grey was, in fact, Good Hand, who had been claimed on behalf of the owner of Flockton Grey, Ken Richardson, after a series of decent performances for Nigel Tinkler the previous season.
Unsurprisingly, Good Hand won easily, in fact, by an extraordinary twenty lengths, at odds of 10/1 and, in so doing, landed bets reportedly worth £200,000 placed all over Yorkshire. In this day and age we’d no doubt be taking that money to new casinos. However, bookmakers refused to pay out and the Jockey Club launched an investigation. A visit to winning trainer Stephen Wiles at Langley Holmes Stables in Flockton, West Yorkshire revealed a two-year-old with the same pedigree as Flockton Grey, but missing a conspicuous scar on its left fore, as described in his equine passport. Meanwhile, the Jockey Club examined blown-up photographs taken, purely by chance, by the official racecourse photographer, of the Leicester winner with his mouth open. They concluded that the horse was, unquestionably, a three-year-old and, after an exhaustive search of naming documentation, identified Good Hand.
Richardson was subsequently charged with conspiracy to defraud bookmakers and appeared, with co-defendants Colin Mathison and Peter Boddy, at York Crown Court in May, 1984. All three were found guilty, by majority decision, and Richardson was given a nine-month prison sentence and fined £20,000, plus costs. Two years later, his appeal was rejected and he was ‘warned off’ by the Jockey Club. For his part, Stephen Wiles also appeared before the Jockey Club Disciplinary Committee and had his licence revoked for five years.
Ironically, the horse at the centre of the Flockton Grey Affair never raced. He was kept in police custody until 1986 and, in 1989, sold to Sharon Dick; he lived at her stables near Worksop, Nottinghamshire until his death, from a heart attack, in November, 2008, at the age of 29.
Most Profitable Betting Types in Horse Racing
Maybe you find it hard to choose which type of betting you want to place your bet on horse racing. Of course, given the many betting types available, you can have many choices. Well, that’s the good thing about horse race betting. The more choices, the more the best winning odds you would have.
But if you want the best winning odds, you must know which horse racing betting types are profitable. It may sometimes depend on your strategy. However, the betting type in horse racing that you choose is a massive factor for profitable betting. Now, let’s go through the most profitable bet types in horse racing.
Why Are Exotic Bets More Profitable?
It has always been the norm to say that the higher the risk, the higher the profits. Well, this is also true in horse race betting. Exotic bets have a meager chance of winning odds than straight bets; thus, high profits are likely to be found in exotic bets.
That’s why exotic bets are popular among horse race bettors because they allow you to make loads of money in a short period if you make it right.
Across The Board
In across-the-board betting, you will have various bets combined in one single bet. These various bets are typically the win, place, and show, or known as straight bets. If your horse wins the race, you get all the payoffs for the three bets.
If second, then you will get the payoffs for the place and show. In betting across the board, you can have more chances of winning, and at the same time, you can have bigger payoffs than the other straight bets. This bet is a good choice for beginners.
Exacta
Exacta is the favorite bet of many horse bettors. If you are not confident enough to place your bet on a single odd, then exacta is a good bet for you. Betting in exacta allows you to gain big profits while having only a small wager.
To win in the exacta, you must choose two horses to finish the race in the exact and correct order. However, it has a low chance of winning odds. Thus, you need an excellent strategy to win your bet.
Superfecta
Superfecta is one of the most popular betting types in horse racing. It is popular because it indeed gives off enormous profits. However, you must brace yourself as it is an extremely hard wager to win. In winning the superfecta, you must accurately predict the first four horses to reach the finish line in the exact order.
If you are confident to bet on superfecta as you know the participants and other aspects of the race, then taking the risk could be a good decision and bring you huge payoffs.
Daily Double
In daily double, you will not only pick a single horse to win the race, but instead, you will be choosing horses that will win in two consecutive races. With daily double bets, you will get to experience more fun in horse race betting.
The daily double is one of the most profitable betting types in horse racing, especially if you hit that bet. However, daily double is quite a high-risk bet which is very common with lucrative bets making the daily double available in many horse racing bookmakers.
Trifecta
Trifecta could be one of the oldest betting types of horse racing that is offered. Usually, the more risky the bet is, the higher the payoff would be given. Trifecta is quite different from other types of bets because it is challenging to do yet more profitable.
Because in order to win the trifecta, you must have to pick horses that you anticipate to finish in first, second, and third place. Also, the chosen horses must finish in the same order.
There are several variations in playing this type of betting, such as Trifecta box bet, Trifecta wheel, Banker, and Roving Banker.
Conclusion
Besides picking the most profitable or the most accessible betting types in horse racing, you can also beat the odds if you know what you were doing. Most importantly, in betting on exotic bets. Like the other kinds of betting, taking such risks requires a lot of understanding about how the system in horse race betting works for you to become profitable.
Who is set to win the Grand National 2021?
Katie Walsh knows a thing to two about the Grand National. Above in partnership with Betway, she details the tough path that women jockeys have had to even gain the opportunity to participate in the event. Consequently the history of female jockeys in the sport only goes as far back as the late 70’s. Even with that being the case though, Walsh herself came an impressive third on Seabass in 2012, and so without a doubt the first female jockey winner of the Grand National is out there somewhere.
As for the 2021 race (which itself has three female jockeys taking part) current betting odds would suggest that Cloth Cap trained by Jonjo O’Neill and ridden by Tom Scudamore is head and shoulders above the rest, at 4-1 at time of writing. In looking to be one of the shortest priced winners in the history of the race, he has to fend off the likes of Burrows Saint and Every Second now (both 10-1). Whatever the eventual outcome it’s great to have the Grand National back!