I'm learning to scrape small profits from Class 4 to 6 races and even learning at last to red up when things start to go bad.
But I've found big races like the Gold Cup and Grand National absolute rollercoasters for a newbie like me, leaving me in sick bay afterwards. I'm going to avoid anything above Group 3 till I figure it out.
Can anybody please point out some of the pitfalls of the bigger races. Not looking for systems etc.
Big Race Fever
- JollyGreen
- Posts: 2047
- Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:06 am
The problem for someone like you starting out, probably using small stakes is the queue time. It will take an age to get orders filled and Sod's Law dictates that you get one side filled and it moves away from you!
I freely admit I don't enjoy the larger meetings any more because of the amounts required and the use of XM (Cross matching) which makes it impossible to gauge your queue position.
Basic rule: The longer you are in the queue waiting to be matched, the greater your risk. In better markets the risk is reduced due to the stability but it seems larger orders are more prevalent and this means a higher degree of movement than we used to experience.
I wouldn't say stay away from Class 3 and above per se but monitor the money more closely. You can expect movement but it is slower and more predictable. There are Class 3 cards through the week which is perfectly reasonable to trade. The harder ones for you will be Cheltenham Festival, Aintree, Royal Ascot as the volume of money is large and queue times increase.
HTH
JG
I freely admit I don't enjoy the larger meetings any more because of the amounts required and the use of XM (Cross matching) which makes it impossible to gauge your queue position.
Basic rule: The longer you are in the queue waiting to be matched, the greater your risk. In better markets the risk is reduced due to the stability but it seems larger orders are more prevalent and this means a higher degree of movement than we used to experience.
I wouldn't say stay away from Class 3 and above per se but monitor the money more closely. You can expect movement but it is slower and more predictable. There are Class 3 cards through the week which is perfectly reasonable to trade. The harder ones for you will be Cheltenham Festival, Aintree, Royal Ascot as the volume of money is large and queue times increase.
HTH
JG
Thanks JG for reply, but I think you misread Group 3 for Class 3 (or the other way around
.
I feel overwhelmed by the scale of things in top races. Sometime before the off, I noticed £15m. had been matched on the National. I'm trying to leave my racing knowledge aside and just learn to read the market. But with such a scale and the different tempo you mentioned, I think it will take a lot more learning to read these big markets.

I feel overwhelmed by the scale of things in top races. Sometime before the off, I noticed £15m. had been matched on the National. I'm trying to leave my racing knowledge aside and just learn to read the market. But with such a scale and the different tempo you mentioned, I think it will take a lot more learning to read these big markets.
- JollyGreen
- Posts: 2047
- Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:06 am
Yes I was slightly unsure about the Group 3 Class 3 distinction, that is why I referred to Cheltenham, Royal Ascot etc those meetings will attract huge volumes.
You must remember, the Grand National is exceptional in terms of volume but is only a glorified handicap which attracts so much interest.
There will be plenty of Group 3 races in the flat season which will have higher volumes but will be more predictable in terms of movement.
You must remember, the Grand National is exceptional in terms of volume but is only a glorified handicap which attracts so much interest.
There will be plenty of Group 3 races in the flat season which will have higher volumes but will be more predictable in terms of movement.