The Placepot has been an old friend to racegoers for many years. It’s part of the furniture wherever you go racing, and can be great fun as one bet can keep you going throughout the day. It can also generate huge returns from small stakes, and the best bit is you don’t even have to find a winner to land a prize!
For those unfamiliar with the placepot, please see the bottom of this article for a simple introduction
The Placepot on Ebor Day generally has a healthy dividend to a £1 stake. Below is the last five years:
2021 – £358.60
2020 – £572.20
2019 – £239.80
2018 – £102.20
2017 – £938.50
We’ve taken a look through tomorrow’s card at York to build a Placepot for £19.20 to see if we can land a big one!
Leg 1: 1.50 Sky Bet And Symphony Group Strensall Stakes
This is the only leg of the Placepot where we have one selection – it’s a risky strategy but will mean we can have more selections in the tougher races. No surprise we’re going for Mighty Ulysses here. From a Placepot perspective he looks absolutely rock solid to get in the required first three here. He won very nicely last time out, beating the 2nd favourite Alfaila comfortably, and will surely be on the premises once again.
He has an outstanding chance of winning this, but should comfortably see us through to leg 2.
LEG 1 SELECTIONS: Mighty Ulysses
Leg 2: 2.25 Sky Bet Melrose Handicap
The Melrose can be a tricky affair and for that reason we are opting to pick two selections in this race. We also have to keep in mind that it’s a large field of 13 and only three places are available.
Soulcombe is the obvious starting point for the Placepot. He’s the most likely winner in this, bringing tremendous potential and he’s off a featherweight compared to some of his rivals.
Our other selection is the brilliant Caius Chorister who is on a five-timer. He seems a really straightforward type, and in the Placepot that can be crucial to getting a place. This is his toughest assignment but we expect him to run a solid race and pick up a place.
LEG 2 SELECTIONS: Soulcombe, Caius Chorister
Leg 3: Sky Bet City Of York Stakes
Again we’re opting for two picks. This is a hugely competitive race and one or more of the top three in the betting is likely to fall out of the places. The question is who do we take on and who do we put in?
We’re going to take on Sacred here and leave her out. She has been disappointing so far this season with two fifth places to her name and comes with risks attached Placepot-wise. Sandrine will be the selection from the top of the market. She has placed at York previously, coming 2nd in the Lowther Stakes so we know the track will suite. She also comes here in great form having won last time out in the Lennox Stakes and is preferred to Kinross.
The other pick will be Jumby who is turned out quickly after his win at Newbury. He’s a colt in great form and most importantly has plenty of placed efforts in big fields to his name. Consistent types are what you should be looking for in back up selections in a Placepot.
LEG 3 SELECTIONS: Sandrine, Jumby
Leg 4: Sky Bet Ebor Handicap
The Ebor is always a fiendishly difficult puzzle to solve. For Placepot purposes we are not necessarily looking to find the winner, which seems strange, more for horses who we can be sure to go well and grab one of the four places on offer in this race.
It will come as no surprise that we are going for four picks in this races. This may seem a lot but this is the most difficult leg to get through and you will always need some luck in running.
The eye is immediately drawn to Gaassee. He has won all starts but one with a record of 111-13. More importantly he placed last time out in a field of 17 so we know he will handle the hustle and bustle of the Ebor. He goes straight in as the first pick.
Next up is his stablemate Candleford who was given far too much to do at Newmarket. Put a line through that and he should be bang there on his Ascot form.
We must have one of the potentially well-handicapped Irish raiders in. Earl Of Tyrone fits that bill and has been ominously well backed all week and could be a real fly in the ointment.
Finally, we will take a chance on the class of former Derby runner John Leeper. Perhaps a big field and furious pace will bring out the best in him. His track record is also 22 so we can trust the ‘York factor’ to be in his favour.
LEG 4 SELECTIONS: Gaassee, Candleford, Earl Of Tyrone, John Leeper
Leg 5: Sky Bet Constantine Handicap
Another tricky contest and so again we go with multiple selections – another three will be required here.
We start with Regional who looks an ideal type for this kind of bet. He’s been super consistent and has registered a placed effort in 7 of his 11 starts. A perfect candidate.
Mums Tipple is a likeable sort who has been highly tried. He won on the July course last time out in a small field so is in good nick. Even more persuasive is the fact he has a course and distance win to his name. York is a track some horses love and some hate so that is a huge plus.
Gathanfar was on the wrong side of the track in the opener this week. He’s another York specialist who very rarely runs a bad race here. Hopefully he can at least squeak into the top 4.
LEG 5 SELECTIONS: Regional, Mums Tipple, Gathanfar
Leg 6: Julia Graves Roses Stakes
Now, if we’ve had at least one placed in the first five it’s time to get a bit nervous as we enter the final leg.
We were tempted to just stick with one horse and keep it simple with the worthy hot-favourite Rocket Rodney who looks to have a smashing chance in this. He should be bang there at the finish and certainly goes in our Pot.
However, with younger horses comes greater risk and to give us peace of mind should Rocket Rodney not fire for any reason we’re adding Brave Nation into the mix. He was so unlucky when getting carved up at Ascot and had a chance of winning. He then was outclassed at Group 2 level at Newmarket. This is much calmer waters and he can certainly fill a place.
LEG 6 SELECTIONS: Rocket Rodney, Brave Nation
So to calculate our lines we times together the number of selections per race: 1 x 2 x 2 x 4 x 3 x 2 = 96 lines in total.
So your stake is multiplied by 96 to give you the outlay.
We’re going with 20p per line giving a total bet of £19.20
Placepot Explained
In simple terms, the Placepot is a bet through the first six races of a card, in this case Saturday at York. You pick one or more horses in each race, and to win you must have at least one horse in each race placed. The more horses you put in each race, the more ‘lines’ you have. So if you had two horses in each race, the number of lines would be calculated across six races as below:
2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x = 64 lines
You then select the stake depending on how much you wish to spend e.g. 50p per line @ 64 lines = £32 in total. The winnings are calculated depending on how many units are left in at the end in the ‘pot’ and divided between all the players who make it through.
So if the final dividend was £100 per £1, and you had 2 x 50p lines (total £1) then you would receive £100.
The Placepot is available at most online and in-shop bookmakers. For online go to the ‘Tote’ section of the horse racing markets.