Breeders Cup betting??

[hockey2315]

If you're betting overlays there's no reason to back-up. . . you'll win more over time. Obviously I'll box the horse I like to win w/ the logical horses if I think it's a contentious enough race or if I think there's only one horse who can beat mine I'll play that exacta straight or both ways depending on price. I'm not backing up my 6 or 8-1 shots with exactas under the chalks, because I'm not going to jump off a bridge if I run second and I'm only cutting into my (perceived) advantage.

The bottom line is that hedging kills your edge if you have one.

Look at the contest JMS and I had. We both ended up up, but were down on place bets if I remember correctly. I think the worst time to bet to place is when you're trying to beat a big favorite. You're getting a deflated place pay-off when the chalk runs second, and your EV goes down on your opinion that the favorite was beatable.

I will say, though. that if you're going to bet the Breeders' Cup w/ more enthusiasm than you normally bet on a day-to-day or weekend-to-weekend basis, then some sort of hedging/backing up to cut down on the variance is fairly safe and acceptable.