The TAB and corporates take is around the 15% mark, so they pay out around 85%.

Therefore the average punter needs to improve his selection process by around 20% just to get to breakeven. To get to roughly a 20% POT, which I consider borderline, the average punter needs to improve by around 50%.

To get this 50% improvement (or 50% better than the crowd), one must look at areas where the crowd isn't looking. (I note that Angry Pixie's thread about profiting from the crowd was interesting)

So where do we get that extra 50% from ???

Get the best odds, look at trackwork, forgive a bad run, study trainers moves ..... Give these notions a miss universally and apply them logically "must have started in "x" number of days", ..... anything to do with weight other than to point to a class rise / drop, "never won at the distance" (well then why is the trainer running it at this distance ??), ..... it's endless

Don't get me started on rrrrrrrrrrratings ......

So if you stick to the standard systems (and rrrrrrrrratings) that can easily be tested then you're a canditate for Prez of the 85% Club. It's the weight of money that ultimately determines the price of a horse ..... so look where the others aren't