In-running / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 20 September 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

The 2.50 at Leicester may not have seemed the most exciting race in the world but try telling that to Scooby Dee's in-running backers....

"In-play or in-running betting is available once the event has actually started and layers on the Exchange often offer some huge prices on horses they feel have no chance of going on to win the race. Except this afternoon the [1000.0] offered on Scooby Dee, gleefully accepted by at least one backer on Betfair, proved to be a huge mistake."

In cockney rhyming slang "Scooby Doo" is another way of saying clue. And this afternoon layers on Betfair were left without a Scooby Doo as to how Scooby Dee, Betfair SP of 30.85, won the 2.50 at Leicester after being matched in-running at the Exchange's maximum price of 1000.

On Betfair customers can request prices that are bigger than those currently on offer and hope they get matched by another customer. And the fun doesn't stop once the football match kicks off or the race is under way.

In-play or in-running (as it's also known) betting is available once the event has actually started and layers on the Exchange often offer some huge prices on horses they feel have no chance of going on to win the race. Except this afternoon the [1000.0] offered on Scooby Dee, gleefully accepted by at least one backer on Betfair, proved to be a huge mistake. That said, you can't blame the layers for being generous with their in-running prices; for the vast majority of the race Scooby was detached from the field and jockey Daragh O'Donohoe was pushing hard from a long way out. Even inside the final two furlongs it was still pretty much last before swooping very late down the outside and getting up to win.

He beat Katmai River (Betfair SP of [30.0]) who had looked a sure thing to win the race in-running and was backed at [1.10] (or 10-1 on in old money). To round off the upsets, third-placed Dudley went off at an SP of [142.0] so would have been a decent price on the "to be placed" market. Fifth-placed Cereal Killer was also fancied in-running and was matched at just [1.3] .

Tags: Betfair in-play betting, Betfair racing markets, horseracing bets, racing tips