LAY BACK WITH BETFAIR: WAGERING ON HARNESS RACING WITH DARREN & BRETT CARROLL

Each month Betfair runs an analysis of all tipster data for that period and ranks tipsters across all three racing codes on Profit, Winning % and Lay strike rates.
Consistently amongst the top three are a pair of brothers who have become a trusted source of racing knowledge and analysis in the Victorian Harness space.

Brett and Darren Carroll have years of experience, growing up in a sulky and taking in Harness racing knowledge since they could walk.

“We are lifers,” Darren Carroll said.

“Both sides of our family are racing participants in the trots. We would have been going to the races in a pram. Dad had horses and we’ve had them ourselves. We grew up with them from Day one. We went to trials and have been heavily involved in the game and have loved the sport for life.”

The Carrolls produced a 7.9% profit on turnover and a 69.4 unit profit over the previous racing season and Brett spoke about the joy that comes from tipping people into the right runners.

“If we can help people, we are more than happy. We are keen to share the knowledge because there is money to be shared,” he said.

The Carrolls discussed what goes into reading form, with a mixture of the old school methodology, and the modern use of data analytics and resources.

“It’s a combination of a lot of things,” Darren said.

“We would have watched every trial in the state prior to a meeting. 10-12 years ago I’d go to most of the trials. But now they are accessible online for everyone. You would probably watch a replay of the last start or the last few starts depending on the barrier draw.”

“Every race you are doing your own version of a speed map. Using sectional data etc.”

Brother Brett agreed, discussing the importance of building your own knowledge base.

“You need a bank of knowledge up to date because things can change quickly. A key runner could be scratched which changes everything and you need to be able to call on your bank of knowledge in those times.”

“Plus Horses aren’t machines, drivers are human so you have to factor in all of those things as well.”

Like the Waugh brothers getting together and being immovable for opposition bowlers, the Carrolls combine their knowledge and speak regularly about how to approach a meeting.

“With eight or nine meetings a week it’s a lot of horses and a lot of races,” Darren said.

“We don’t keep a database per say, but we do discuss every meeting every day, and touch base and talk about things. We might come up with different angles and we do miss things, but the cross reference should help eliminate the things we miss. But at times we might rate a trial differently for example.”

Brett spoke about the relationship lending itself to the honesty that is required to get the best outcomes.

“Being brothers, we can say what we say and move on. We’d talk daily. But the strength we have is years and years of doing form the same way. It’s amazing the consistency we have in our thought process.” He said.

“It must have been the later part of the 2000s,” Brett said when discussing when he came to use Betfair.

“I loved Betfair when I first got into it. We enjoyed the chance from the start to get clear price edges over the tote.”

Darren’s journey was similar.

“I started using it fully in 2009. I remember going to an internet café before the inter dominion and putting on bets. So, the ability to use your phone these days is incredibly valuable with the app.”

Since turning to Betfair, the Carrolls haven’t looked back.

“It’s rare for punters in general to only use one account, some have up to 30 corporate accounts, but we love Betfair. The later you wait the more likely you are to identify if a market is wrong, and you have so many options from there.”

“You can read if a fluctuation is right or wrong and work out if you lay a horse. I’m big on backing and laying runners in the same race.”

“I love that right in front of you every time Betfair will give you your profit and loss on any given bet. It’s a great tool.”

Brett finds benefits in the fixed prices and the ability to bet late when liquidity is high.

“I mostly bet with Betfair. Generally speaking, the fixed price markets are better. More than 90% of my bets would be on Betfair and that’s been the case for a long time.”

“Furthermore, 90% of my bets would be late bets. The liquidity gets quite high in the final few minutes.”

“The odds are better on Betfair. It’s an equitable system and a platform to share opinions and to play to those opinions.”

Darren discussed an example where Betfair can be used effectively for punters who like to bet in-play. He referenced a horse called Aldebaran Pete who ran at Shepparton a number of years ago.

“This horse was prone to making errors but also settled very quickly,” he said.

“We thought he had 100m on this field and was so much better than them. We thought it would gallop and wanted it to gallop just after the start so it would get out to a price straight away and we could back it in the run. We used Betfair to our advantage through our knowledge of reading a race.”

DARREN CARROLL

“I’m a firm believer in finding something that works for you. If it works for you, stick at it. You don’t have to do what everyone else does.”

“If you are starting out, you can use the calendar. For example, they race at Shepparton every Tuesday. My advice would be focus on one track, form, drivers etc and get across the information related to those meetings. Once you’ve mastered that you can move on to other venues and expand.”

BRETT CARROLL

“Find a product. It’s so rewarding, whether it’s AFL, Trots, Gallops. I might look at only 2000m plus races and come up with a strategy for that.”

“As Darren said, build expertise slowly and see each race as an opportunity to learn.”