Does Betfair Have a Lack of Liquidity?

by

Betfair was founded in the year 2000.

The turn of the millennium bought much excitement to a gambling world that had seen change over the previous decades but slowly stagnating. The idea of a betting exchange was a revolution and it was an exciting time for backers and layer alike. For the first time the general public could become bookmakers without a licence.

It was truly a remarkable time.

Since those early days we have seen a number of betting exchanges such as Matchbook, Betdaq, Smarkets, Betconnect and Spreadex. We shouldn’t be scared of competition and it is good to have options. However, there is only so much money in the betting pool and with a vast number of bookmakers and betting exchanges there is cause to be concerned by the money being spread too thinly which doesn’t really help anyone. I don’t have the data to detail the liquidity of the Betfair markets some 15 years ago but they must have been a lot stronger than seem these days.

I follow two-year-horse racing and the limited money on the Betfair markets is concerning. When you see just £20,000 bet on a race (£10,000 in real money terms as the back and lay are shown) with perhaps 30 minutes before the off it is getting to the point where the markets are on the verge of collapse. When you consider that much of this is the same money going around with backs and lays with traders looking for a quick profit the actual real money bet on any given race must be miniscule. It’s true, the markets liven up in the last 10 minutes before the start of the race as the traders come in with bigger cash and the traditional gamblers look for value.

To be honest, the early markets, especially the evening before are almost worthless. You may get lucky and get a few quid on a horse but it really is a dance between the traditional bookmakers and the betting exchanges which makes markets volatile. I guess for the traders this isn’t all bad news. Certainly with poor liquidity there is ample opportunity for the markets to be manipulated with a small amount of money. I am sure some manipulate the exchange markets hoping the bookmakers push out the betting and someone steps in to take advantage. The bookmakers are then quick to readjust the betting and go much shorter odds which I’m sure they take advantage of too. Often these ‘gambles’ drift back out to similar or larger odds.

The only time you can guarantee good liquidity is on the major meeting especially the likes of the Cheltenham Festival when the betting is robust.

There is little we can do about poor liquidity. Perhaps if one or two of the platform disappear it will bolster the market strength but that’s unlikely to happen.

Personally, the exchanges are just about strong enough to cater for my needs because I’m betting smaller money or wait until just before the start of the race. However, if I wanted to bet £1000 it would be a pointless exercise. Sure, I could lay a bet of £1000 if I thought I could get a horse beaten but that doesn’t seem to happen on the early market where most backers and layers keep their cards close to their chest.

The betting exchanges are functioning. It’s as though they are ticking over and punters just wait for the late market to do business. Perhaps this is just the nature of the beast and a similar pattern on the stronger market too.

However, many punters are concerned that the liquidity is so poor that they would rather bet with bookmakers. However, with their restrictive nature of limiting or closing any account that may threaten their profit line you will be struggling to make much ground. I have heard of many punters opening up multiple accounts under different people’s names and betting small money across the board to slip under the radar. It really does seem a testing time for the gambling industry with welfare issues at hand which just makes a difficult situation worse.

It seems you are damned if you win or lose.

However, the betting exchanges are a lifeblood for many punters and I’m thankful they exist as bookmakers would sound a death knell to most profitable punters as they are restricted.

It’s a strange situation when bookmakers have turned into extremely ugly accountants.

They’ve taken the turf out of the equation which long term sees everyone lose.

For the time being, my first and last port of call will be the betting exchanges. At least if you get a bet placed you don’t have to fear the worst that your account won’t exist tomorrow.

Did Man o’War win the American Triple Crown?

by

Foaled on March 29, 1917, Man o’War was arguably the greatest American racehorse in history and set a standard by which future generations of thoroughbreds would be measured. ‘Big Red’, as he was known, suffered the one and only defeat in his otherwise indomitable 21-race career when beaten a neck by the aptly-named Upset in the Sandford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on August 13, 1919.

Of course, the term ‘Triple Crown’ would not be coined, officially, for another decade, but its component races – namely the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes – had co-existed since 1875 and the first horse to win all three was Sir Barton in 1919. As a three-year-old, Man o’War won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course by 1½ lengths from the aforementioned Upset, who had finished second in the Kentucky Derby, and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park by 20 lengths from his sole rival, Donnacona.

The venue for the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, is officially in the

Southeastern United States, but was nonetheless considered part of the hated ‘West’ by the owner of Man o’War, Samuel Doyle Riddle, who avoided entering his horses in the ‘Run for the Roses’. Geographical bias aside, Riddle also considered the Kentucky Derby, run over a mile and a quarter on the first Saturday in May, too far, too soon for three-year-olds so early in the campaign. In any event, Man o’War was not even entered in the Kentucky Derby, so could not win the American Triple Crown.

In the final race of his career, Man o’War faced Sir Barton, by now a four-year-old, in a match race for the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, over a mile and a quarter at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario on October 12, 1920. In receipt of 6lb, weight-for-age, Man o’War was sent off at 1/20 and justified such prohibitive odds, winning easily by 7 lengths.

Which was the first horse to win on an all-weather surface in Britain?

by

During the truly cold British winter of 1984/85, which was characterised by heavy snowfall nationwide and an average temperature of just 2.7°C, or 37°F, horse racing suffered a spate of abandonments, which, in turn, provided the catalyst for the introduction of all-weather racing. However, it was not until December, 1988, that the Jockey Club – which, at the time, still regulated the sport of horse racing in Britain – granted permission for Lingfield Park in Surrey, South East England, to construct a synthetic Equitrack course inside its existing turf course.

In those early, pioneering days, the racing surface of choice was Equitrack, which consisted of a mixture of graded grains of silica sand and oil-based polymer, laid to a total depth of six inches or so. Equitrack had risen to prominence following the installation of the acclaimed Al Bahathri gallop, under the auspices of Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, in Newmarket in 1985. As it turned out, the surface had its problems, not least with inconsistency, which led to its eventual replacement with the superior, more reliable Polytrack surface in 2001.

Nevertheless, following a multi-million pound investment by the then-owners of Lingfield Park, Leisure Investments, which included an interest-free loan of £1.5 million from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), the Equitrack course was laid, trialled and approved for racing. The inaugural all-weather fixture in Britain, sponsored by William Hill, was staged on October 30, 1989. All 12 races on the card were well subscribed, with at least 11 runners in each, but the opening contest, the William Hill Claiming Stakes (Div. I), over a mile, went the way of the 7/2 favourite, Niklas Angel, trained by Conrad Allen and ridden by Richard Quinn.

Which horse was beaten favourite in the 2009 World Hurdle?

by

By way of clarification, the three-mile hurdling championship, previously and subsequently known as the Stayers’ Hurdle was, between 2005 and 2016, sponsored by Ladbrokes and Ryanair and renamed the World Hurdle. Nevertheless, the Grade 1 contest was still run over 2 miles, 7 furlongs and 213 yards on the New Course at Cheltenham, where, alongside the Ryanair Chase, it formed one of the feature races on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival, staged annually in March.

The 2009 renewal of the World Hurdle was significant insofar as it featured the first appearance of Big Buck’s, trained by Paul Nicholls, who would not only win at the first time of asking, but again in 2010, 2011 and 2012, during a then-record winning streak of 18 races. Originally campaigned over fences, Big Buck’s unseated his rider, Sam Thomas, at the final fence in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on his seasonal debut in 2008/09 and the decision to send him on a retrieval mission, back over hurdles, ultimately proved to be a stroke of genius.

Favourite for the 2009 World Hurdle, though, was the Kasbah Bliss, trained by Francois Doumen, who was making his third appearance in the race, having finished fifth behind Inglis Drever in 2007 and second, beaten just a length, behind Iris’s Gift in 2008. Fresh from an impressive, 8-length victory in the Rendlesham Hurdle at Haydock Park the previous month, the 7-year-old was sent off at 10/11 to follow up at the Festival.

However, having been held up at the rear of the field, Kasbah Bliss made headway to challenge at the second-last flight, but was outpaced on the run to the last and weakened on the run-in, eventually finishing fourth, 20½ lengths behind Big Buck’s. That provded to be his last appearance at the Cheltenham Festival and, indeed, over hurdles anywhere.