Racehorse TALK

BIG6, BEST 6? – ASK PUNTERS, NOT TABCORP

David Attenborough, the new head of Tabcorp’s wagering division, has the job ahead in ensuring appropriate control of the quality of the product being retailed to TAB punters.

Tabcorp needs to get the message that most punters do not want it to  continue as a provider of tote betting facilities because it panders to the insider industry ‘takers’ and does not protect its customers, TAB punters, the industry ‘givers’.

A classic example of an ingrained objectionable culture is Tabcorp’s answer, published yesterday at racenet.com.au, to a question about the selection of the races comprising the Big6 – especially in NSW.

As reported on Racenet -- Tabcorps external communications manager, Nicholas Tzaferis, correctly said that, usually, the B6 races in NSW are ‘the last three in Melbourne and last three in Sydney’: questionably, he went on to say – “these six races are generally the best in the country and there is usually good exposed form for punters”.

In my view, this latter remark is absolute nonsense – on the contrary, the last-race in both Sydney and Melbourne on Saturdays is typically a restricted-class race delivering an outcome consistent with raffle-racing when assessed in relation to the form ‘exposed’ in the form guides published in the popular mainstream media.

Last race outcomes for yesterday, 30 January, are illustrative. In Melbourne, Flying Monty, hardly had the exposed form to justify shortening from 25s on Friday to start at 10s and paying 13s on the TAB in both Victoria and NSW -- with the F4 paying some $30,000. [Some insiders apparently knew more about Flying Monty than the disclosed form-guide suggested – the stewards should have, but did not, ask for an explanation. TAB punters have some questions for the stewards about policing insider trading.]

In NSW the F4 on the last paid some $4,500 -- while the winner was the favourite the other placegetters were at 30s and 20s, an overall outcome again hardly consistent with ‘good exposed form’.

Looking back over last race outcomes for the last 10 Saturdays in Sydney and Melbourne, any suggestion that the outcomes were consistent with ‘good exposed form’ underlines the absolute nonsense in Tabcorps published response to the punter’s question. 

Based on VicTAB results, in Victoria, the average dividend for the 10 ‘winners’ was $13 and the average F4 dividend $10,000: in NSW the disparity from ‘good’ was even worse – the average winner paid $16 and the average F4 dividend, some $20,000.

Within those 20 results for ‘last races’ the 10 highest winner dividends from the 20 races averaged almost 25 to 1 – the idea that these outcomes could be described as reflecting ‘good exposed form’ and being from ‘the best races in the country’ shows complete disregard for both appropriate accountability and fair treatment of TAB punters.

How was such an obviously incorrect answer given to a very serious question in the minds of most TAB punters who are taken for a ride week-in and week-out on two of the most popular betting options offered by Tabcorp – the Quadrella and B6.

If the truth be told Tabcorp is up to its old mercenary-monopoly tricks offering products -- the likes of the defunct Spinner -- that are deliberately of deceptively poor quality to punters. My guess is that by making the last race an absolute raffle most weeks it encourages punters to over-bet, to take the field, to the benefit of Tabcorp and its hangers on.

In my mind this is persistent and disgraceful abuse of a monopoly position that is prejudicial to the interests of most TAB punters not privy to the insider knowledge that tips others into selecting the likes of Flying Monty.

This ritual abuse of TAB punters has to be stopped – and the next time Tabcorp deigns to respond to a question from a punter it might first have regard to the facts at its fingertips and, more importantly, ask their paying customers, TAB punters, which races they would like for the Big6 and Quadrellas each week.