What Are Match Bets?
A Match Bet spread bet is a prediction of the distance separating two
horses when they cross the line. Sporting
Index select the horses to make up the Match Bets. The market
is a supremacy market, where the more fancied horse is listed first and
the less fancied horse second. The maximum winning distance on the flat
is 12 lengths and 15 lengths for national hunt races. The market can have
a negative result. If both horses fail to finish the race the match is
void.
Sporting
Index specify a distance they think one horse will beat another
horse by in a particular race. If you feel the first horse will win by
a greater distance you would bet high (buy) on the Match Bet market. If
you feel the second horse will perform better than their quote you would
bet low (Sell) on the Match Bet market.
It doesn't matter what position the two horses finish in the race, it
is only the distance between between the two that counts.
Example Of How It Works
To illustrate this bet we'll take a look at the York Ebor Stakes:
You'll see that in the Racing Post forecast they have Group Captain and
Minkowski at 12/1. Sporting
Index have therefore created a Match Bet market between these
two horses.
Sporting
Index give Minkowski a slight edge over Group Captain. In their
spread they think it will finish ½ to 1½ lengths ahead.
If you felt one of the Minkowski would finish further ahead you would Buy the market at the higher figure
of 1.5 quoted in the Sporting
Index spread. If you felt Group Captain would finish less ½
length behind or in front of Minkowski, you would Sell at the lower figure of 0.5. If Group Captain beats Minkowski the final
points total would be a negative amount.
Your stake will depend upon your personal circumstances and how much
you like to risk. The important thing to remember is the amount you stake
is not the amount you stand to win or lose on the race. The stake entered
is the amount per point. E.g. If you were to Buy £10 at 1.5 and
Minkowski beat Group Captain by 4 lengths you would win £25, £10
x 9 (4 - 1.5). However if Group Captain beat Minkowski by 2 lengths you
would lose £25, £10 x 2.5 (0.5 - -2).
In the actual race you'll see Minkowski finished fourth and Group Captain
was 10th. But what's important for the Match Bet market was how far Minkowski
finished in front of Group Captain. The Racing Post results show the distance
between each horse finishing the race.
We can work out the distance between 4th and 10th was made up of a short
head (0.1 length), 1¾ lengths, 3½, 1¾, a neck (0.3
lengths) and another neck (0.3 Lengths). If we add them all together we
get 0.1 + 1.75 + 3.5 + 1.75 + 0.3 +0.3 = 7.7 lengths. Of course Sporting
Index will automatically workout the distance for you.
If you'd brought on the Match Bet spread at 1.5 points at £10 you'd
have made a profit of £62, £10 x 6.2 (7.7 - 1.5). If you'd
sold at 0.5 points you'd have made a loss of £72, £10 x 7.2
(7.7 - 0.5).
Example 2
As a second example if we look at the York 3.10 Race:
You'll see that in the Racing Post forecast Silkwood was 9/4 and Allegretto
was 10/1.
Sporting
Index created a Match Bet market between these two horses. In
their spread they put Silkwood to beat Allegretto by a distance of 1½
to 2½ lengths.
In the actual race you'll see Allegretto finished second and Silkwood
was last of the 7.
The distances between the two were 5 lengths, 1¼, ½, ½
and ½, giving a total of 7¾ lengths. You'll see Sporting
Index represent this a a negative figure because on their spread
they had Silkwood as the more fancied horse.
When calculating the profit/loss on this bet you need to remember the
result went against the more fancied runner, If you'd brought on the Match
Bet spread at 2.5 points at £10 you'd have made a loss of £102.50,
£10 x 10.25 (2.5 - -7.75). If you'd sold at 1.5 points you'd have
made a profit of £92.50, £10 x 9.25 (1.5 - -7.75). |
