just a passing note.
has anybody looked at the effectivness of the rover in a trifecta?
either using the 1 rover or 2 .
utilizing the pre post favourite/s.
i know its not wise to use a fav but if it gets beat a lot of standouts are lost.
field of 7 to 9 would be ok money wise.
thank you all and hope we all go from strength to strength.
"the gift is always the pleasure".

Favourites, particularly if they are short, which is usually is the case in 9 horse fields, wreck trifecta payouts. I believe your suggestion of using the favourite as a roving banker will ensure significant losses over a period of time.
The only chance is if you couple it with horses way out in the market, provided you do your form and give them some chances of placing and leave the other favoured horses out of a place. But then you will also have big runs and outs, and I gather from your post that you want regular collects.

[ This Message was edited by: Mr. Logic on 2002-10-30 11:23 ]

Mr. Logic is absolutely correct. The bigger the dividends, the more the TABs keep for themselves. Presumably they assume punters either don't know or don't care because of the size of the dividends. So more money is taken out of first four pools than trifecta pools. Significantly more money is taken out of trifecta pools than win pools.

Using a favourite as a roving banker for trifectas in small fields just about guarantees you must lose a significant amount of money long term.

As a very rough guide the best trifecta races to bet in are:
1. Fields of 11 to 14 runners
2. The favourite should be at least $3.00, preferably longer odds.

I would suggest taking something you like at good odds say 10/1 plus as a rover, that way if it runs a place you collect. Your run of outs shouldn't be long as sometimes the favourite will also run a place destroying reasonable dividends out of it, but if two mid priced or longshots fill the placings as well you clean up!

You've got to be patient with this sort of bet though and it's an expensive commodity.

Coupling the favourite with this sort of bet is ensuring a longterm loss, you increase your strike rate (hypothetically) but destroy your average dividend.

[ This Message was edited by: Equine Investor on 2002-10-30 14:19 ]