Morning Kiwi!! Yesterday was one of the days when, in a moment of weakness, I might have considered putting a place bet on. Just for a second when River To The Sea looked like winning the BTC sprint I was counting the $1100 (ie $20 at $55 the win) then wondering if $12.40 the place would've made up for some of the disappointment. Likewise in the very next race with Natural Blitz looming in the Doomben Cup at $22 and paying $4.90 for 3rd. Or earlier with Igotthelaststone at Rosehill (not really looking the winner but still $6.50 the place).
These things happen but I've never been able to make Place Punting as profitable as Win Betting IN THE LONG RUN.,though a smaller return makes you "feel better" at the time!!!
By the way Kiwi, there were many possibilities in the main races at Doomben.Take the five from Interstate at LONGER THAN 20s in Race 6 (The Sprint),which I got down to 3 contenders. I eliminated Amtrak because he was down in class for his second run in Brisbane (from Melbourne) This is the trainer telling you he "got it wrong" the first time (too tough) and has therefore decided on an easier race; a sign of "loss of confidence"....BAD. Tsuimai (from Sydney), maybe for real, (probably I should've left him in but as he hadn't won for 18 months and then it'd been 1600, I'd say Denham had something longer in mind,next time). Youthful: from Melbourne after a reasonable effort at Warnambool the previous (now coming 2000 kilometres for this) and with 2 earlier wins 1350,5 at 1400; definitely FOR REAL. River To The Sea (from Sydney,running recently over longer) his trainer has sprung many a surprise before so I gave it "a chance", especially as it had been rested almost 2 months (several wins and places fresh at 1200/1400) for THIS.
For Face Value I thought that Laming was more "hopeful" than CONFIDENT (he's a Queenslander and often takes his horses to Brisbane from the Victorian stable "on holidays" in the winter) though, since he was putting the horse UP in class, Laming must've had some 'expectations". That's it Kiwi: 3 longshots in the same race and a near miss at $55: could've been different as it WILL be, next Saturday. Hope this gives you more feel for trainer "motivations" and why they spend time and money on travelling around. Cheers