Northern Lad,

Despite what the marketers of products will tell you it is NOT possible to track the money on the tote in the last few seconds before a race. All 3 totes over here issue approximate updates at around 30 second intervals (Tabcorp was 1 minute intervals but have improved that recently). This means even if you have a live data feed you will only get an update every 30 seconds so if a bet is placed on tote with say 15 seconds to go it is likely you will not see that until after the race has jumped (and even if you do the chances of you being able to lodge your bet in response are very slim).

I would also have to agree with Equine Investor that the majority of big bets are not placed with the tote at all or if they are it is only indirectly. Most of the "big punters" on the tote are doing quinella/trifecta betting only - their win bets are placed with bookies. The exception to this is those chasing longshots where tote prices are better than bookies. Also some bookies sometimes lay part of their bets with tote if they have taken large bets on longshots.

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