G'day OzPunter,

You were wondering how did everyone else seem to know that Mentality and Spark of Life were going to win, and as such "were backing these two furiously." I think there's a simple answer. Most punters aren't regular punters or do it for a living and just bet occassionally for the excitement of it all. They don't really have a good understanding of what to look for to find a winner. And so, when it comes time to make their selections, they buy racing newspapers, believing them to be bibles and base their bets on the feature articles and the papers' opinions on who are the top-rated runners. I hate it when one of my selections gets a mention from the media, because it's a certainty that it will be pounced upon by the average Joe punter, and the price I get won't be as good as it would've been otherwise. I notice in the Sportsman, that both Mentality and Spark of Life were spouted as the top-rated runners in their races, though interestingly, they were the only Sportsman top-rated runners to win out of the 9 races at Randwick. Also in the Sportsman was an article about Mutawaajid, that has it's jockey, Hugh Bowman, heaping praise upon Mentality. And there's a mention that Spark of Life came 2nd in last year's Challenge Stakes to Snitzel. I think it's these kinds of things that catch average Joe punters' eyes, and help them determine their selections.

So, when you ask how did everyone else know to bet on Mentality and Spark of Life? My answer is because the media told them too.