- This topic has 86 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 3 years ago by
.
- Posts
Therefore using this calculator 2 shillings was over £6 in todays money. Rather expensive tote tickets if you are on a loser.
homer,
I concur that the equivalent of £6 looks expensive for a tote win ticket back in 1929.
All I have in support of that is an internet snippet from ‘Statistics of Totalisator Betting’ (APL Gordon, 1931) that says:
“The Totalisator dividend includes the stake money, and represents the return on a wager of two shillings”.
The book seems to be out of print.
I guess that just because the stated dividend assumes a stake of two shillings it doesn’t necessarily mean that two shillings was the minimum bet.
I’ll seek out further details on this. If anyone can help, that would be good.
In The Story Of Your Life – A History Of The Sporting Life Newspaper 1859-1998 (James Lambie, 2010) the author strongly implies, rather than comments unequivocally, that the minimum stake on the Tote was 2 shillings back in 1929.
‘It was evident the machine was a big hit with the public largely due to the fact that it accepted place bets and 2s stakes.’
‘In its first full year the Tote derived 25% of its custom from the 2s punter, while only 1.5% of its sales were to those who placed bets of £10* or more.’
There is also a comment concerning a Sporting Life reporter making 2s bets at a Carlisle meeting the same year.
Lambie makes no reference to any lesser amounts.
*I’m not surprised. £10 in 1929 equates to £650 today. I’m using the Bank of England inflation calculator throughout.
“Laura De Minishing-Returns was representing one of the Oxford colleges on University Challenge the other week.”
Quality – much mirth here in Hampshire.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"“In 1929 £440 was the average house price in London, so there’s a nice deposit if you were thinking of settling down. For a more mobile individual, £341 would have bought you nearly 3½ Morris Minors.”
Only if you were a time Traveller as they didn’t come out until 1948.
And travellers were even later of course….https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Minor_(1928)
‘The Morris Minor is a small 4-seater car with an 850 cc engine manufactured by Morris Motors Limited from 1928 to 1934. The name was resurrected for another newer car for the same market in 1948.’
Thanks for the further contributions to this thread. I’ve since found an old comment on another forum where a poster had a recollection of a horse named Park Slave having a record longest SP of 3000/1 in a race at Wetherby in 1966. They were not certain though. Can anyone corroborate this?
Apparently it may have been mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records. I still have one or two editions somewhere, so I’ll see if I can track it down, though I believe exactly which records they mention vary from year to year.
Sawbuck can be added to the list. Won the first at Punchestown today at 300/1 – the joint highest ever winner at SP in Irish racing history.
Hope everyone was on.
Was returned at 1000, the maximum odds on their odds ladder, at Betfair Exchange.
If you’re on 2% commission it nets out at 979/1.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The Sporting Life reports the horse touched 400/1.
Perhaps such generosity was only available in places but, in general, I wonder how much money is enough to move a horse from 400/1 to 300/1.
From a Telegraph Racing Chronicle, a sort of page per year review of their racing coverage.
1929
An article headed ‘First Impressions of the Tote’ includes this line ‘I heard loud complaints about the absence of a ten shilling window. The units are two shillings and a pound. If an individual wished to have a ten shilling bet, he had to stand in the bigger two shilling queue and take five tickets.’
The page also has the report about the record dividend, which reveals that the horse that paid 3,410-1 with the Tote, was returned at an SP of 100/8. It also comments that the winning ticket was worth more than twice the sum realised by the sale of the winning horse.
Interesting post apracing
Re Sawbuck, my perception is that these very long-priced winners seem to be arising more frequently. I wonder why? Possibly just a symptom of there being more racing nowadays.
Another great story today:
John Riches made history by training the joint biggest-priced winner on the Flat in Britain since Racing Post records began when Astapor won the 6f novice stakes under Harry Russell at 200-1.
The 76-year-old former fish merchant trains just five horses at his Pilling base in Lancashire, all of which run in his own colours, and he revealed he paid Mick Channon just £1 for the horse last May.
He said: “I bought Rain Cap off Mick, who was another horse I bought off him who kept coming last. I rang him up and I said ‘Mick, what the heck is this?’, the next minute he said ‘Sorry about that, I’ll give you another one’ and he gave me Astapor. I gave him a pound for him.”
Riches said that Astapor, a 12-race maiden with a rating of 43 prior to the race, was very highly strung at home and the drop back to six furlongs from a mile and a half was key to his shock success.
“When we put him on the gallops he was a bit fizzy. His head was all over the place and it took me forever to calm him down,” he said.
“I got in his box, I gave him mints, he wouldn’t accept them but then he eventually did. Then I just talked to him and stroked him. People say it’s all behind the ears but it’s all about the eyes.”
Riches has something of a magic touch as he eventually trained Rain Cap to win twice and will take home £3,942 for Astapor’s success.
He added: “It wasn’t a shock as such as I knew if he could lie up with them he would keep going. Me and my wife were jumping all over and saying ‘go on, go on!’
“I’ve always loved racing and racehorses and my mother did too. They’re such lovely, marvellous looking animals. I have a strong bond with all of them.”
Channon, who was more than happy to confirm the story, said: “I’ve sold John a few horses over the years and I’m absolutely delighted for him. He’s had to be very patient. Next time I see him, the fish and chips are on him!”
Astapor returned a Betfair starting price of 999-1 and became the sixth Flat horse to win at odds of 200-1, joining 1822 St Leger winner Theodore, Beechy Bank, Dandy Flame, Intercessor and Runninwild.
Thanks for posting Illavim, that’s a fantastic story.
When I commented above that these long-priced winners seem to be becoming more common, I wasn’t expecting another one quite as soon as that!
Of the six horses mentioned in the article above to have won at 200-1 on the Flat in Great Britain, three have been in the past two years! That said, I’d be a bit dubious about how good the record-keeping was throughout the massive time period between the first (Theodore in 1822) and the second (Beechy Bank in 2002).
Yes Marlingford, it’s a good one, particularly like the bit about the trainer soothing the horse with mints and strokes, a good advert for small stables being able to devote more time to individual horses!
Maybe we need a new thread on cheapest winners, can’t think there would be too many that have cost less than the princely sum of £1.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.