Reefton Winner

[Joe Kidd]

Always interesting to hear the perspective of punters that take their betting seriously. 

I've always maintained that in most cases, the background support that young drivers receive invariably makes all the difference.

I thought John Dunn was very average early on. His M.O was to go far to early, circle the globe and then be buggered before turning in. That was routine. Other young drivers may have been shown the door but John was given every opportunity to succeed by his father and slowly improved. His skills honed and his confidence increased. Now, I rate him as a superb driver and an excellent judge of pace.

Tony Cameron was in my opinion, woeful early on. I would confidently lay anything he drove but Tony H has guided him well and routinely put him on strong winning hopes. As a result, he's improved out of sight. Still a ways to go but has shown enormous improvement. 

As for the money being on. That can be a godsend or a total pain in the arse. I've studied form for a race going back 12 months with very runner. I feel I have a good understanding of where the runners are with each other in terms of form and ability etc. I place my wager and then see a horse attracting big money very late despite considering that runner needing a lot of luck to feature. It's too late to react with saver bets. That runner goes wide, sits parked and then bolts to the front like it had a rocket propeller stuck up it's arse and wins very easily. It looks like it could then go around again. At times I'm left wondering why I even bother with form and ability. On the other hand, if you're not certain which way to go, just wait for the tote movement as your guide. It's become so reliable and predictable that you'd almost think the races were run on paper and the results were predetermined. 

Having said that, I place a very high value on what form a stable is in when placing my wagers. I ride their form. A trainer in form can almost win with a 12 year old maiden where as a trainer out of form will find a way of getting a good thing rolled.