Gentlemen,
Greetings. I know a thing or two about this subject
. However, I don't claim to be an expert as I'm still learning each time I invest in Pari-Mutuel Funds about the art of structuring exotic wagers.
First, you have to have a Key horse...sometimes two. These are your primary horse(s) that, according to your analysis, have a very good chance of finishing in the money. Needless to say, if you're proficient with Validator and/or Speculator, you'll not have too much trouble finding your Key horse(s).
Next, you need to determine what secondary horses have a chance of upsetting your primary horses (by a nose, head, neck, etc.). Many times they're Pressers. Other times they're closers with the best recent final fractions and/or with the best speed figs out of all the other closers in that particular race AND have speed figs not too far behind the 'best' horses in the race.
Then again, if there's a speed duel or track bias favoring Closers, you have Early horse(s) fading out of first and hanging on for 2nd, 3rd or 4th place finishes. Needless to say, there are more than a few scenarios.
A simple way to structure a Trifecta bet would be like this:
KH = Key horse(s)
KH/B-C-D/B-C-D then put your KH in the second slot with horses B-C-D in the first position (B-C-D/KH/B-C-D). Finally, depending upon your bankroll and confidence, you can put your KH in the third (Place) position and structure your wager like this B-C-D/B-C-D/KH.
Each of the above is six combinations x your base wager of $1.00 or more. Of course, that's just a very basic way to structure the bet depending on, like I said before, how 'sure' you are of your analysis.
Using Sartin-style two-horse bets you can also structure the bet like this:
KH1, KH2/C-D-E/C-D-E then put your two Key horses in the second position C-D-E/KH1, KH2/C-D-E, etc. You can also use more horses too (once again, depending upon your assessment of the contenders), e.g. KH1, KH2/C-D-E/C-D-E-F, etc. which would cost you a li'l bit more money because of the additional combinations.
Also, Michael Pizzolla's "Fulcrum horse" more times than not finishes in the money and that too is a very good horse to use as a Key Horse in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th positions. Don't forget Counter Energy horses either.
Needless to say, there are many other ways to structure Trifectas and Superfectas depending upon the size of the field, closeness of the competitors, etc. I've only scratched the surface.
Exotic bets can be as simple or complex as you want to make 'em. Personally, I prefer simple.
And I even haven't mentioned odds and expected payoffs which I'm still trying to get a handle on and am
not qualified to give my two cents on. There's a book by Jerry Samovitz on this subject which I've heard is very good (but don't have in my library yet) called BETTING & BEATING THE EXOTICS which I'm sure covers this all-important aspect of exotic wagering. Here's the link:
http://www.gamblersbook.com/weblink....il/572405.html
I hope I've shed some light.
Jon
p.s. If you don't have this neat little program and are interested in exotic wagers, then I highly recommend that you download this free utility right now!
http://www.horseracinghandicapper.com/wagercomp.exe