How is the SP for each horse arrived at?
Bookies
With so many bookmakers offering differing odds for each horse in every race I wondered how the starting price is arrived at? Is it an average of on-course bookmakers odds, or is arrived at some other way?
Answer: It is compiled using the prices at the “off” on the boards of a proportion of on-course bookmakers.
In 2006 the Starting Price Regulatory Commission changed the starting price system to cater for the advent of Betting Exchanges which skewed the SP in favour of the punter as on-course bookmakers used the exchanges to manage their liabilities.
The changes set out to redress the balance by using a larger sample of on-course bookmakers including each-way bookmakers during quiet periods. This had the effect of depressing the SP, as on-course bookmakers offering each-way are often poor value.
