The Bet That Set Up Kingsley Bartholomew's Betting Bank

Kingsley on SEN radio with racing.com. Segment courtesy of SEN x racing.com.

People ask me about the biggest win of my career. The more interesting question is the most significant one, and for me that is easy. It happened early, when I was 22 or 23, and it was not a horse I fell in love with or a plunge I got the better of. It was two superfectas inside the same week, played as part of a pool with the other professionals on track. That is what gave me my bank, and without that bank the rest of it does not happen.

What a superfecta actually was

We do not have them now, but the superfecta was a bet in one race where you had to pick the first six across the line in order. Six, in order, in one race. That is a hard thing to do, and that was the point. Most weeks nobody got it. The pool would jackpot and roll over, and you would end up with a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand sitting there waiting for someone to take it.

Why the pros pooled their money

That kind of pool changes what the bet is worth playing for. But you cannot attack six legs in order on your own with a small stake. You need coverage, and coverage costs money. So the guys on track would put in together. I might put in two or three thousand. Someone else would put in their share. We would end up with a pool of maybe twenty thousand and we would play the superfecta properly rather than poking at it.

That is worth sitting with, because it is the part most punters skip. The bet was only playable because the money was pooled and the jackpot was big enough to justify the outlay. Alone, with a couple of thousand, you are just hoping. Together, with a proper pool and a jackpot that has rolled over a few times, you are actually taking a shot at something worth taking a shot at.

Why that week mattered more than the money

We hit two of them in the one week. My share came to a couple of hundred thousand. At that age, that is not just a good week. That is the bank. Up until then I was punting on what I could scrape together and every bad run hurt more than it should have. After that I had something to work with, and having something to work with is what lets you bet the way you actually want to bet rather than the way your balance forces you to.

So when I say significant rather than biggest, that is what I mean. The significance was not the collect. It was that the collect turned me from someone punting on fumes into someone with a proper bank behind him.

If you take one thing from it, take this. Look for the spots where the pool is bigger than it should be, and be honest about whether you have the resources to attack them properly. If you do not, that is not a reason to have a nibble. It is a reason to wait.

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More from Kingsley

• "What Sort of Racing Do You Get Your Best Results From?"
• "Should You Use Finishing Speed Percentage in Your Form?"
• Why Every Punter Eventually Has to Reinvent Themselves

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