Why ante-post betting has never been more attractive

Betting on Racing is an app-exclusive daily punting guide from three of the Racing Post's most renowned experts: Tom Segal, Paul Kealy and David Jennings. A new instalment will be published every weekday for the next three weeks.

One of the key attributes to becoming a winning punter is timing. When to have a bet is crucial in extracting the best price and therefore gaining the best value.

In the best races, that used to be on the morning of the race when bookmakers guaranteed their overnight prices for a certain period of time and the first time anyone saw those prices was when they opened their Racing Post newspaper.

Now with the internet and 24-hour betting, prices are changing constantly and the timing of when to strike a bet has changed dramatically. The big races are usually priced up at the declaration stage, so that is Monday morning for the big races at the weekend and a long way in advance in the big ante-post races.

It is at that time that I think the best value is to be found because the markets are 'virgin' – they haven't been touched and you can bet into a market where the information process hasn't taken any effect.

That for me is why ante-post betting has become so much more attractive than it has ever been in the past. You can simply get good prices about horses with good chances. How many times have you said to yourself I like horse A in a certain race but wouldn't back it at that price. That happens to me every single day but never when betting ante-post because you simply wouldn't strike an ante-post bet under those circumstances.

As mentioned in a Weekender column, I enjoy looking at next year's Classics once the St Leger has been run with the hope of finding a horse to back in the Derby. There is nothing like a decent ante-post wager to warm your pockets over the winter.

Of course, the worry about the horse not even running is a real one, and that is a factor I probably spend more time than most analysing when it comes to long-term ante-post bets. However, it is not that big a concern on a Monday morning once the horse has been entered for the weekend. If beating the book and securing a big price is what gets your juices flowing, then ante-post betting is where it's at these days.

Tomorrow: Paul Kealy on big market drifters

Read more in our Betting on Racing series:

David Jennings: the eyecatching smaller yard link-ups worth noting  

Paul Kealy: multiple accounts are a must: why you need to be price sensitive  

Tom Segal: my overrated angles and what I focus on when trying to find winners