Despite a number of UK tracks closing in recent years, greyhound racing remains a popular betting product with punters due to the simplicity of the fast-paced action.
With races staged every few minutes morning, afternoon and evening, there are plenty of opportunities for dog punters to get involved throughout the day.
You Can Beat an Egg, But You Can’t Beat a Good Draw!
The above is one of the most frequently-used expressions among greyhound racing punters, and rightly so, the first port of call for any punter is a look at the draw of the six greyhounds.
Greyhounds are seeded on their racing line preference on the straights and bends during their races.
Unseeded dogs, also known as ‘railers’, prefer to race towards the inside running rail, while ‘middles’ and ‘wides’ favour middle and wide sections of the track respectively.
Open races are drawn at random and, more often than not, there is an uneven distribution of seeds – very rarely will a race be made up of two railers, two middles and two wides.
Up and Down the Grading Ladder
Greyhound racing in the UK is graded by the racing office at each track. There are a number of different types of races identified by the distance or the letter at the beginning of the grade.
‘D’ races are sprints over two bends.
‘A’ races are over the standard trip at each track which is at every venue is four bends.
‘B’ slightly shorter four-bend races occur at a handful of tracks such as Doncaster.
‘S’ races are staying races, predominantly ran over six bends.
‘E’ or ‘M’ races are over more extreme distances known as marathon races.
The number following the letter identifies the ability of the greyhounds – the lower the number, the faster the dogs. When a greyhound wins it is standard practice for them to be upgraded and take on faster rivals next time.
Young and progressive pups can continue to improve and are worth following, as are bitches who can rack up winning sequences.
Early Pace Wins the Race
In the UK, there are a number of tracks at which finding the leader at the fist bend helps solve the puzzle of a race.
More often than ever before, graded sprints frequently feature on cards, but even over the standard trip at tracks such as Crayford, Romford, Harlow, Henlow and Pelaw Grange a very high percentage of races are settled at the first bend.
Sectionals or splits take a prominent place on any racecard and are a useful tool for punters to use.
When Staying Power is Noteworthy
Most races are run over four bends and at some tracks the standard trip is more demanding and the circuit can lend itself to strong-running types.
Doncaster, Nottingham Hove and Towcester are all demanding trips for the greyhounds and simply finding the leader will not suffice!
Forecast and Tricast Betting
Some lucrative returns can be won by predicting the order of the first two or three greyhounds to cross the winning line.
A bet known as a ‘forecast’ is struck to predict the first and second places, this bet can also be reversed.
Tricast bets involve the first, second and third dogs and different permutations of the three can also be placed.
As a rule of thumb, the bigger the prices of the dogs winning or filling the places, the bigger the dividend for the forecast and tricast.
*All odds correct at time of writing