Sequence of Wagering Can Bring a Tidy Profit

Lift Ticket, running a seven-furlong sprint in the first race at Hollywood Park on May 19 against 4-year-olds and up, started from post position No. 7.

In the first few jumps out of the starting gate, Lift Ticket moved out to fifth, but soon thereafter dropped back to seventh in a 10-horse field.

By the half-mile pole, Lift Ticket was sixth. Making a big move, the nag passed three other horses and closed to second in the stretch, but couldn’t overtake the first-place horse, Racy Gracy, which finished 1 1/4 lengths in front.

Although Lift Ticket had ended up second, “Snow White” was happy. Snow White is a slim blonde, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, who models fashions and performs in commercials on television.

Her biggest success financially was for a soap company in which she spent all of her time on film in a bathtub filled with suds, extolling the virtues of the soap manufactured by a sponsor who paid generously to make the commercial.

Many of her cronies at the track, of course, have seen her over and over in the commercial, going back to the first one shown two years ago. However, when one afterward referred to her as “Snow White,” the nickname stuck, and friends now prefer that moniker to Susan, which is the name her mother put on her birth certificate.

In any case, between jobs Snow White loves the excitement, the action and the socializing found at the races.

Backed by her salaries and royalties, she visits the Southland tracks whenever she can, particularly since most of her filming takes place in the mornings, leaving her free in the afternoons to do as she pleases.

What she has discovered, however, is that if a person goes to the track almost every day and just bets on horses that look good in the Racing Form, sooner or later funds will either disappear or dry up. If such is the case, then finding a friendly banker is one’s only alternative.

After considering this bit of trivia, Snow White decided that a money-progression system, in which her wins would make up for her losses, or at least put her a little ahead for the season, would be the best way to wager.

In this regard, she consulted a friend who offered her a simple solution, which is to bet only win and place on the favorite in every race. In addition, the friend advised Snow White to continue betting until the favorite wins. On the very next race after a win, then the player must start over with the minimum $2 and $4 bets.

Even if a favorite runs second and the payoff is profitable for the race, Snow White was told to continue wagering until a win occurs. As for the money progression, the system calls for betting twice as much to place as to win.

Here’s the sequence of betting from the first to the ninth race:

Race Win Place 1 $2 $4 2 3 6 3 4 8 4 5 10 5 6 12 6 7 14 7 8 16 8 9 18 9 10 20

Although total betting comes to $152, Snow White’s friend believes that losing everything during a nine-race day is unlikely inasmuch as favorites generally win about 33% of their races and generally run either first or second about 55% of the time.

When Lift Ticket came in second, it paid $3.60 to place, giving Snow White $7.20 for the $4 bet to place. Deducting the $6 bet, Snow White was ahead $1.20. In the second race, the favorite, Audit Naught Be, faded to sixth, causing system backers to drop $9, putting them $7.80 behind.

Candyman Bee, which led at the half-mile and into the stretch, faded to second in the third race at six furlongs for 3-year-old maidens and up. The mutuel on Candyman Bee was $4.40, returning $17.60 to system players who had bet $8 on the place end. With a profit of $5.60 on the race, losses were cut to $2.20.

In the fourth race, Incandescently, running six furlongs against five other 3-year-olds, finished second, paying $2.80 to place. Getting back $14 on the race, Snow White actually lost $1, putting her $3.20 in debt for the day.

The fifth race turned out to be a winning one for system players. Miss Tris, running a mile against maiden fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, took the lead in the stretch and held on to win by a head. Paying $7.20 and $4, Miss Tris returned $21.60 for the win and $24 for the place, giving bettors a $27.60 profit on the race. After deducting the $3.20 lost, Snow White was $24.40 ahead.

In the sixth race, Snow White returned to her minimum bet, which was $6, and watched the favorite, Royal Reach, go wire-to-wire in a 1 1/4-mile race on the turf for 3-year-olds and up. The nag paid $5.20 to win and $2.80 to place for a $4.80 profit on the race.

Being ahead $29.20, Snow White bet on the seventh race and lost, cutting her winnings to $23.20. The eighth race was a five-horse field, with Bayakoa the odds-on favorite, going one mile.

Bayakoa won easily against fillies and mares to pay $3 and $2.40. Returns amounted to $11.70 and profit on the race was $2.70, which put Snow White up $25.90 overall.

When the favorite, Putting, ran fourth in the ninth race, Snow White lost $6. For the day, however, Snow White had won $19.90.

Another profitable day for the system was on May 28, when Snow White had five winners and a second. Returns that day came to $69.20 while losses amounted to $30, for a profit of $39.20.

The best race was the ninth, 1 1/16 miles for 4-year-olds and up. Le Voyageur went wire-to-wire to win by three lengths, paying $6.40 to win and $4.20 to place. For the $6 bet to win and the $12 to place, Snow White got back $44.40 and a profit of $26.40 on the race.

What Snow White likes most about the system is that even if a favorite runs second, there is a good chance that the total return for the race could still result in a profit. In addition, she likes the fact that she has ended up with a gain in at least three races every day of the current Hollywood Park season.

Thus fortified, Snow White believes that a positive attitude helps when betting on the ponies. And if she’s going to take a bath, at least she would rather take it in soap suds than at the betting windows.