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Predictable, reliable, consistent: betting on the all-weather can be a serious moneyspinner

Racing analyst Wayne Bailey looks at betting on artificial surfaces

A few years back, Beamish stout had a simple slogan for their advertisements: 'Consistency in a World Gone Mad'.

The County Cork drinks company played on the fact that rival beers were finding it hard to keep their products tasting exactly the same from pub to pub, as these rival beers were brewed in a number of places in a number of countries. Beamish, only brewed in Cork, is predictable.

All-weather racing is a bit like Beamish! ... It's predictable, reliable, and produces consistent outcomes. Ok, so a five-furlong sprint at Lingfield may not be as exciting as a three mile chase at Cheltenham, but for punting purposes, consistency can pave the way to profit.

There are a number of ways to spot a potential winner on the all-weather, but a quick way to sort the wheat from the chaff is to note the horses from trainers who do consistently well each year. Before looking at individual trainers, we should first understand the type of surface that's used, and how it compares to the turf. The guys at www.letsbet.ie have produced a brief explanation:

Polytrack
Most horses can handle this surface ok. This is a fairly consistent type of surface and horses running on it will usually go at a good enough speed - which is something to consider when betting. Polytrack could be (loosely) compared to fast-ish going on the turf. Polytrack is basically sand which has been covered around six inches deep in a rubbery (polymar) substance. This 'rubberised' sand is designed to minimise the amount of sand being kicked into the horses' eyes.

Fibresand
Not every horse is cut out to run on Fibresand. This surface is deep sand based, and is a 'tougher' surface to run on, which could be loosely compared to heavy-ish ground. This type of surface produces significant 'kickback' of sand into the horses' eyes; therefore, front-running horses are preferred on Fibresand - this may be something to note if you back horses in-running.

Lingfield, Kempton and Wolverhampton all use Polytrack, while Southwell uses a Fibresand surface. Rather ironically, the Southwell all-weather track was damaged by heavy rainfall this year and is currently closed. The other tracks are used regularly however, and I've compiled some trainer trends that should prove useful as the season steps up a gear:

W J Musson - Wolverhampton
Willie Musson has always had a decent record at Wolves, but he's upped the ante in the past two years with more runners and some great priced winners. Handicap races and claiming stakes are his speciality here, in which he shows a strike rate of nearly 20 per cent. Since 2000, following all of his horses in such races provided a profit of £14,250 to £100 stakes, which of course, would be far greater using the exchanges.

M Johnston - Wolverhampton
Martin Johnston is no stranger to racing fans, but up until 2006, he rarely sent horses to Wolverhampton. He saw what he was missing out on, and has now become a regular in the winner's enclosure there. In the past two years, simply backing all of his horses at Wolverhampton showed a 29 per cent strike rate and a profit of £6,210 to £100 stakes. The booking of J Fanning to ride can be seen as an added bonus.

T G Mills - Lingfield
Mills regularly sends his horses to Lingfield, and tends to do particularly well in smaller fields (11 runners or less). With a 30 per cent strike rate, backing Mills horses in smaller fields showed a profit of £5,305 to £100 stakes.

M A Jarvis - Lingfield
Jarvis is based at racing HQ (Newmarket), which of course is not too far from Lingfield Park. Jarvis' horses making that short trip often come home with the prize money, and particularly excel if they haven't over-done it in the past year. Backing his horses that have not ran more than five times in the past 12 months show a 27 per cent strike rate and a profit of £10,367 to £100 stakes since 2000.

G L Moore - Lingfield
Another yard not too far from Lingfield is that of G L Moore, based in Sussex. Moore's horses do well after a recent run, and backing each of his horses here that ran at least once in the past 90 days shows a 14.5 per cent strike rate, and a return of £11,335 to £100 stakes. The prices of some of these bets were particularly high, so using the big prices available on outsiders on the exchanges should compound that profit greatly.

M Johnston - Kempton
As mentioned earlier, Johnston regularly takes the spoils at Lingfield, but he was also quick to establish himself at Kempton Park since they started holding all-weather meetings there in early 2006. Simply backing all of his horses here shows a 21 per cent strike rate and a profit of £2,823 to £100 stakes. The booking of J Fanning to ride can be seen as an added bonus.

B Hills - Kempton
Maiden races are Hills' speciality here. Since the track opened, backing Hills trained horses in maidens produces a 36 per cent strike rate and a profit of £3,754 to £100 stakes.

J Gosden - Kempton
Also based at HQ, John Gosden has a great record with two year-old horses on Kempton's all-weather. Following such horses provided a 30 per cent strike rate since the track opened, and a profit of £1,146 to £100 stakes. The booking of J Fortune can give added confidence in the bet.

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