I try and play the graded races from a long way out, for example A Plus Tard 20/1, Santini and Delta Work both 12/1, etc. And the shorties like Tiger Roll, Paisley, Benie, Envoi etc in early multiples. This usually pays quite nicely, as does having a position on each race to lay 2 or 3 back in the last 24 hours.
Where I usually make my money is on the handicaps though, a lot of hard work from a long way back usually pays. I’ve got a lot of nice positions on horses at 20’s, 25’s, 33’s, 50’s, 66’s that have been punted. I’ll lay plenty of it back (mostly the win side), and I’ll go into the Festival in a strong position. Getting most of that off then allows me to go at each day with fresh eyes and a locked in profit before it all starts. That way I can still use all the extra place offers, and money back offers.
My big wins tend to come in each way multiples, and combination exactas and trifectas. Far more hit and miss obviously, but you only need one or two each Festival and it’s happy days.
I used to farm the NH Chase for many years until they changed the conditions of the race. Trends weren’t freely available in those days, and dosage profiles led to a whole host of big price win and place horses. It’s a shame they changed the race. It’s a top four in the market race these days, although it has a different feel this year and I’ve got a couple of big prices (since punted) for the places, and against Carefully Selected’s jumping!
My biggest win of all though came in the Coral Cup with Naiad du Misselot. I backed it from opening prices and kept chipping away all the way to the day of the race and pulled 27k, and later in the day had Silver Jaro at 50/1 with a nice on the day punt. I have another one for the same race this year that I’ve been tipping away at. Fingers crossed.
The latter two examples can be verified by a few people who post here to save any aftertiming thoughts by the way.
All in all I reckon if you have a good antepost strategy it’s pretty much impossible not to make money out of the Festival. And if you have, it gives you a platform to chase the big win that comes round every so often. As I’ve said above, the big win for me is a long range horse that I’ve properly latched on to, a nice multiple, or the exacta/trifecta market.
