Winners, Long Odds Enhance 2-3-4 System

When “The Pilot” goes to the track, he wants a simple method of wagering that he can use mostly on weekends and holidays. As a result, he has devised what he calls the 2-3-4 system, which he has been using with some success this season at Santa Anita Park.

The Pilot, who took early retirement from a major domestic airline, takes the series 2-3-4 as a start and bets a combination of the end numbers.

Thus, for the first race, his wager is $6 (2 plus 4). If he loses, he adds No. 6 to the series, which becomes 2-3-4-6, and bets $8, the combined end numbers, on the upcoming race. If he wins, he crosses off the end numbers and bets a combination of the remaining numbers. If the first race results in a win, only one digit remains. Then The Pilot starts over again at 2-3-4.

Of course, such wagering has just as many detractors as it has proponents. What its proponents like is that such a system of money management leaves the player without a decision. The system bettor need only add up the end numbers.

Its opponents argue that if the day’s nine races are losers, the player’s series will stretch to 2-3-4-6-8-10-12-14-16-18-20-22 and loses for the day will total $126, which may be too steep for the average race fan.

The Pilot, who likes to dress in a black suit, a black tie, black shoes and a white shirt, contends that it’s rare when he has a day that doesn’t have at least one winner.

He will also tell you that if you don’t feel confident betting your own selections, then you should pick a handicapper from your local newspaper or the Racing Form and follow that person’s choices. Handicappers, year in and year out, end up with about 28% winners, a lot better average than most race track fans end up with.

In any case, if you had been following Curtis Crayon in the Los Angeles Times on March 29 at Santa Anita, here’s what would have happened.

Starting with the first race and the series 2-3-4, you would have bet on Crayon’s choice, Pocketful of Class, which ran second by a head.

In the second race, Curtis picked Cherokee Returns, which was running 1 1/16 miles against 3-year-olds. The horse broke from the starting gate and raced up to third but fell back to fifth at the quarter-pole. At the three-quarter mark it took a three-quarter length lead and held it to win by 4 1/2 lengths. It paid $6.20 for every $2 bet.

Since system players had to wager $8 on this race, returns amounted to $24.80. After deducting the first $6 lost and the $8 bet, profit up to this point was $10.80. Also, with the win, system players had to cross off the two end numbers in the series, thus leaving 3-4 in the sequence.

The third race was another win for Curtis. The heavy favorite, Thirty Slews, running a six-furlong allowance sprint for 3-year-olds, easily went wire-to-wire in a six-horse field to win by 6 1/2 lengths and pay $3.40. For the $7 bet, returns amounted to $11.90, and profit for the first three races came to $15.70.

With the series wiped out by the win, The Pilot then started over with 2-3-4 and a $6 wager. Crayon’s choice, the favorite in the fourth, came in third and the digit sequence was 2-3-4-6, requiring an $8 bet for the fifth race. There was still a profit, however, at $9.70.

In the fifth race, Crayon chose Onery Guest, which was running a mile on the turf for 4-year-olds and up. Onery Guest ran sixth until the half-mile mark, where it began to move. In the stretch it was third, moving up to contend for first. Just before the finish, Onery Guest managed to get its neck in front and won with a $13 payoff.

System backers received $52 for the $8 wager. The $44 won on the race added to the $9.70 brought the day’s profit up to $53.70. With the two end numbers crossed off because of the win, the sequence then stood at 3-4 once again.

After The Pilot lost $7 on the sixth race, the series went to 3-4-7, requiring a $10 bet on the seventh. The seventh also lost, stretching the series to 3-4-7-10. Another loss resulted in the eighth, the series went to 3-4-7-10-13 and profit dipped to $23.70.

In the ninth race, which required a $16 wager, Crayon picked Secret Selection, which dropped back to the 10th spot in a 12-horse field at the start of the race and slightly afterward slipped to last. The nag made a bold move and charged up to seventh by the stretch. Continuing its rush, it won by a head, paying backers $13.40.

After cashing in for $107.20 on the $16 wagered, profit on the race came to $91.20, which, added to $23.70 left after the eighth race, amounted to $114.90.

Obviously, players who find that the 2-3-4 series isn’t big enough for their betting can choose another series. High-fliers can even start with 200-300-400, making their first bet $600. Those with limited funds, however, can start the series with 1-2-3. With no winners, losses will total $72 for the day.

It doesn’t make much difference who you choose as a handicapper. If you feel confident in your own selections, that’s OK too. What’s necessary is one or two winners during the nine-race card. And if one of those winners is a long shot, it should be enough.

Conservative bettors, of course, can adapt the system to their own views. If there is a satisfactory profit after five races, for example, then those players can quit for the day. Others may find that they will want to continue.

What’s good about the system, The Pilot believes, is that it is flexible. “Its rules aren’t binding or rigid,” he says. “The people using the system can easily change those rules to suit themselves.”