Dog Racing

jimb0d1

Do you bet on greyhounds Neil? Can you assess the races in a similar way to horses?

Ive been to a racing night at Newcastle before but the races were frantic and very competitive. The only knowledge I managed to pick up was that "It used to be mint when they put monkey jockeys on them"   I checked on the internet and they actually did train capuchins to ride the dogs!

Glenelg

In Response to Dog Racing:

Do you bet on greyhounds Neil? Can you assess the races in a similar way to horses? Ive been to a racing night at Newcastle before but the races were frantic and very competitive. The only knowledge I managed to pick up was that "It used to be mint when they put monkey jockeys on them"   I checked on the internet and they actually did train capuchins to ride the dogs!
Posted by jimb0d1

That didn't last too long as they paid them peanuts.  ;-)

NChanning

 I used to love going to the dogs. I was a regular at Reading dogs as a teenager before I ever went to the casino to play poker...I sort of thought my family would be more ashamed of me for the former than the latter. By the time I went to university I was going to Wembley, (the old stadium so gone now), on a Monday, Reading on Tuesdays and Thursdays plus some Saturdays, (gone now), Portsmouth some Fridays, (gone now), Wimbledon if it was the Greyhound Derby, (maybe going soon) and Exeter when I was a bookmaker at the dogs at the age of 22 (They ran around the rugby pitch...great fun).

 It's definitely possible to assess dog racing in the same way you assess horse racing but the problem you have is that the bookmaker overround, effectively their profit margin, is very high, often 140%+. If you bet on a football match the overround is often 110% so you have less to overcome. The reason that bookmakers are very cautious with prices on dogs and operate with a higher profit margin is that they are worried about inside information and maybe some corruption in the races. For the normal guy who doesn't have inside information the high margins are impossible to beat.

 If you focus on meetings that are on TV though, the Sky dog nights, you can definitely win. The bookmakers are very competitive in their morning prices on these...Sky Bet often go best price every favourite for example. The overround between the big bookmakers is very low on these and it is much easier to win.

 I still love the dogs but there are easier things to win on for sure.

Goody_Ace

I own a racing greyhound............or to be more exact a share in one (we are a syndicate)

Had him for three years now and he has won a lot of races and us a lot of money (not the prize money but with betting)

It's his last season this year (probably) so we have bought a new young un.

I've been on the telly twice (SKY greyound racing) in the winners enclosure at Sheffield while we were interviewed.

Only trouble is, we have all had a few sherberts by the time the camera and interviewer gets to us.

He was entered into a few Derby's but as with dog racing he was hampered when he was favourite and confidently expected to win.

Here he is (and us being interviewed) on Sky TV No 2 dog Calco Flyer.......... a poor price that day

but a cert without being baulked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rc8iUS5iDU

and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guVrQvSWgYc

If he gets alloted trap 1 or 2 he isn't beaten

Goody_Ace

To be fair chilling, the trainer Mark Wallace does all that and lets us know how it's going.

He has a set of traps and a mechanical hare and he gets them used to trapping.

He told us early on that Calco flyer is so fast out of the traps that he must have trap 1 or 2 in a race

otherwise he comes straight across to the rail in front of the other dogs and gets barged.

In trap 1 or 2 he is already close to it and away from trouble.

The trainer (and timeform backs it up) always says he is the fastest dog he has trained (hence being entered into the big competitions)

If he gets to the front he doesn't get passed by anything.

Only once has he come from behind to win (I'd nearly torn my ticket up lol)

But to expand; A night out to see your own dog race is fantastic. 

We hire a mini bus and book the tables in the restaurant opposite the winning post.

A night of ale, food and merriment all paid for hopefully by that one dog. 

Here he is in trap 4 coming across all the dogs but stays out of trouble. And he is behind until.............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h4F5_3B1xc

NChanning

 I have had a couple of meals with Mark in Vegas. A very nice guy. He goes to the WSOP most years. One of my oldest friends has a couple of dogs with him. He currently has a good one that went quite deep in the Derby last year which he owns with some poker players.

 Mark loves a bit of poker.