Starting Prices: New model revealed By Sporting Life

Sure will, atm I keep seeing SP shaved from the last available price from my bookies.
 
The old system needed to change, it didn’t make sense any more. I’ve been to meetings where there were not more than 200 people and maybe half a dozen bookies, and in theory they were supposed to be forming the market, on every horse in each race, for tens of thousands of people to bet on.

It seems that the new system introduced during Covid gives a slightly lower over round than the old one. But it does this by offering better prices on outsiders, and therefore the improvement is mainly theoretical. Generally speaking, bets are disproportionately concentrated on the most fancied horses, and the new system offers lower odds on such horses than before.

But the biggest problem with the new system is its lack of transparency. If the on-course odds reporters are being made redundant, what monitoring system has replaced them, and what are the protections against manipulation? What indicators should be used to ensure that punters are getting fair value?
 
The 'old system' doesn't necessarily need to change, and has functioned adequately at busy meetings for a great number of years, How does the SPRC propose to regualte prices foisted on punters by an avaricious industry, for instance, when the only cash balance of that figure to measure against would be that provided by another bokmaker - to all intents and purpose - in Betfair.
I'm both surprised and apalled by the lack of reaction to this plan on the forums or in the media,as it's implementation would give the pirhana carte blanche to commit larceny; constantly and permanently.
 
As someone used to say "come racing". I realise this isn't an option for all, I'm no longer able to do it.

I remember we ended up at Swindon dogs on a Saturday afternoon (we were on our way to Ascot but we had a message that Ascot was off) and there were precisely two bookmakers operating, and one SP reporter returning those prices to thousands of betting shops.
 
I don't see how different the Old system can be to any future changes. All the bookmakers have computers set up behind their boards, and they all have the betfair page open on the next race. They form their prices from what they see on there, usually much shorter too!

Edit: In most cases, the market was formed the night before and has settled down by the time the race is due to be priced up...
 
Last edited:
Industry SPs are the most inevitable thing of all time. The first time it was cited in Power Tower I was surprised but they were good at asking questions like why is a billion dollar company letting 2 men and a dog at Kempton dictate the prices they lay.
 
Last edited:
I miss the days when you could get better prices from the bookies in the back row of the ring, very little difference between them nowadays.
 
“Being paid by a bookmaker laying off-course bets at industry prices, maybe I shouldn’t be highlighting it. But the bogie and runner-up Bravemansgame returned 13/8 but was 3.22 on the exchanges. The worst it would have been returned from a ring full of racecourse bookies would have been 2/1. When the racecourse bookmakers, including Star Sports, are back on-course how long are off course punters going to stand for it?” Simon Nott
 
Think about the Libor manipulation scandal and this is going to be somewhere near it!

We are now confident that the modernised SP system better reflects the market as a whole. Punters can continue to have total confidence in the SP.”
Yeah, right!
 
Back
Top