Here is what Lidsey Gallagher [Brisbane's leading rails bookmaker] had to say recently about 'Top Fluctuation betting':

'There has been a lot of hype and advertising from bookmakers as they compete to outdo each other by offering bigger and better incentives to attract new clients. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. It's the way of the world these days as the strategies traditionally used by mainstream business are picked up by the smarter operators in the racing world.

However, punters should keep their wits about them and look beyond the hype to make sure all is what it appears to be in relation to some of these "appealing offers" to punters.

For example, I am amused at times by the fuss that is often made about top fluctuation offers, especially when IAS from Darwin has a runner at each major track in order to flatten prices prior to the price being sent out when they are committed to particular horses.

If they've laid a horse heavily at top fluctuation (remember top fluctuation bets usually have to be made at least 30 minutes before the race, before on-track bookmakers start betting on the race), the runners knock the price off as soon on-track bookmakers put their prices up so that the first official call that is relayed off the track is much lower than the price taken by the runners.

In the defence of IAS, at least they don't sack clients if they win like Sportingbet and others; they just quote shorter odds and if accepted, have the opportunity to bet back at better odds on the track. Consequently, when larger winning bets are placed with them at top fluctuation, the top fluctuation price may not reflect the best price that has actually been bet on course'.