Tarbs,

I made a loss on Saturday and I'm willing to admit it. It was a real struggle and I'm afraid my tips went shocking. It was pretty embarrassing. However, I think I'm like most people on here when I say that I have savers or multi bets that get me out of trouble on occasions and if I had only had win bets on one selection per race and nothing else, I would have been in real trouble. Some people on here back as many as 4 or 5 horses in the race if the odds are right, and there are various other ways of getting out of trouble when your top pick doesn't win. I don't claim to have won when I haven't and I don't claim to have picked a winner when I haven't.

I for one don't take exactas like you mentioned, and rarely quinellas. Any2 bets are usually my saviour. An example. Flemington R3 on Saturday, I tipped The Bighearted and We Can't Say That. I had $10 Win on both of them, but I also had Any2 bets on both of them with the field (cost $13 each), as I usually do when I'm keen on 2 horses and it's an open race. Now, I wouldn't have picked Harryallard's Lane in a wild fit, but with him winning the race, I got back $183.30 from a total investment on the race of $46.

My Any2 bet with The Bighearted returned $94.30 and with We Can't Say That returned $89.00. That's just like getting $7.25 and $6.85 about these horses (the 2 favourites) running a place. By the way, I could have got twice that amount taking both horses in a quinella with the field, but I certainly didn't claim to have done that. I prefer the Any2 field bet because your horse only has to finish 3rd to get a collect.

I post tips on here as a guide. I don't tell people how to bet on them. I never would. With the multiples, I do post 6 or 7 horses, but I generally post 3 or 4 horses I think can win and another 2 or 3 for the placings, and I don't claim to have won big multis when I haven't. On Saturday for example, there were a couple of VERY big trifectas and first4s found amongst my selections, but I hadn't rated the winner amongst my winning selections for the race, so I didn't claim to have picked them or backed them.

As a rule, I don't finally decide what I'm going to bet on until the last minute. I'm sorry, but I can't go to the trouble of posting just before each race exactly how I'm betting, or I might miss getting the bets on.

Hope you do well with your tips today.