Have the horse racing betting experts got it right?
How will the favourites perform in each race at a particular meeting? In this market a favourite is awarded 25 points for winning, 10 points for finishing second, 5 points for third and 0 points for any other place. In the event of a race starting with joint favourites, Sporting Index takes the favourite as being the horse with the lower race card number.
Let's look at an example. At an Ascot jumps card consisting of six races, the favourites prediction might be 56-60 points. If you had a good look at the form and decided that the favourites should perform better than they predicted, you might bet high (buy) at 60 for a stake of say £2.
At the end of the day, two of the favourites had won, two came second, one ran into third while the other was unplaced. On the basis of Sporting Index's scoring system, the result (make up) was 75. So, had you gone high at 60 you would have won 15 times your stake: (75 - 60) x your stake = 15 x £2 = £30. But, if the favourites index had made up at only 50 points, the same bet would have lost you 10 times your stake: (50 - 60) x your stake = -10 x £2 = -£20.