Tote Placepot Selections for Friday’s The Showcase Meeting at Cheltenham

It is possible to win big from a small stake at Cheltenham by putting a bet on a Placepot with the Tote.

You must choose a minimum of one horse from the first six races at the meeting, and if they all place you win your bet!

Below you can find our selections for Day 1 of The Showcase Meeting at Cheltenham:

Race 1 – 1.50 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle (2) – 2m 5f (Old) (ITV4)

ASK FOR GLORY made short work of a small field at Wincanton when last seen and given his yard must be is a leading contender now upped in grade. Paul Nicholls has got his season off to a flying start and with his string flying fit, fitness won’t be a problem for this runner. He has also had a wind op between races.

Race 2 – 2.25 Matchbook Better Way To Bet Novices’ Chase (2) – 3m 80y (Old) (ITV4)

Robbie Power takes the ride on Gordon Elliott’s GALVIN, who will take all the beating in this. He only found Imperial Aura too good when 2nd at the Festival in March and they were miles clear of the remainder. Since then, he has won three from three over fences since July and he looks like a horse that could win some big pots this season.

Race 3 – 3.00 squareintheair.com Handicap Hurdle (3) – 2m 5f (Old) (ITV4)

A very competitive handicap hurdle this is and it can go the way of HIJACK, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Nico De Boinville. This horse was twice a winner at Ludlow either side of the New Year and ran a big race on his return when 2nd behind Collooney at Fontwell. It was heavy ground that day so he will improve for the slightly quicker ground here.

Race 4 – 3.35 Bentley Flying Spur Handicap Chase (2) – 2m (Old) (ITV4)

ROUGE VIF bids to follow in the same footsteps as Saint Calvados who won the race in the same colours last year for trainer Harry Whittington. The six-year-old French import has some very smart form in the book. He is a dual Grade 2 winner and was last seen finishing a remote third in the Arkle at the Festival. He can carry a big enough weight to victory.

Race 5 – 4.10 Catesby Estates Maiden Hurdle (3) – 2m 87y (Old) (RTV)

This will be a hotly-contested maiden hurdle but Fergal O’Brien’s ART APPROVAL should have what it takes to fill the frame at a nice price. He was a fair maiden on the Flat in France and made a very promising debut for this stable when runner-up at Market Rasen in August. Fergal loves it here at his local track and this horse will run a big race.

Race 6 – 4.45 Two Farmers Crisps Novices’ Chase (2) – 2m (Old) (RTV)

This is a four runner affair so only the winner will count for the placepot and if we are still live, GETAWAY TRUMP can make sure we get a good dividend. He ran in snatches at Warwick when last seen but showed a lot of class to overcome adversity that day. The second has franked the form by winning since and he might have enough to see off Fusil Raffles.

Friday Placepot Selections

Race 1: Ask For Glory
Race 2: Galvin
Race 3: Hijack
Race 4: Rouge Vif
Race 5: Art Approval
Race 6: Getaway Trump

What is a Placepot and how does it work?

The Tote Placepot is a pool bet where a punter has to pick out a horse in each of the first six races at particular meeting and in order to be successful, all six runners must place.

Everything runs through the Tote pool betting operation. The size of the pool is determined by how many people play so naturally the more money bet on the Placepot the larger the pool will be.

That pool is divided among the winner so the more winners there are the smaller the winning dividend will be.

How do I put on a Placepot?

Would you like to bet on the Tote Placepot with a risk-free bet? Tote is the official provider, follow this link below to claim your risk-free bet of up to £10 and then follow these steps once you have opened your account.

Go to the Multibets page, click Tote Placepot and select your meeting.
You will be directed to the racecard for the first leg of the day.
Add your selections to that leg and continue until you have at least one horse in all six races.
If you are happy with your selections, add your stake to the betslip and click “place bet”.
Remember, your stake will be multiplied by the number of lines in your Placepot.

When you are putting on your Tote Placepot bet, you can choose how brave or safe you would like to be. You can choose one horse in each race or you can choose multiple in a race. There selections are referred to as ‘lines’ in Placepot terminology.

If you do decide to add multiple lines in each race, this of course will increase your chances of picking a horse that will place. However, the more lines you place the higher the stake will be.

In order to calculate how many lines in total you have, multiply the number of lines in race one by the number of lines in race two by the number of lines in race three and so on until you get to race six.

How much does a Placepot cost?

The minimum stake per line is generally 10p. The minimum total stake is £1 so you will need a minimum of 10 lines at 10p to meet minimum requirements.

For example, if you bet £1 lines on a 36-line Tote Placepot, the total stake would amount to £36.

How are the Tote Placepot places determined?

The place rules are the same across the industry and are as follows:

1-4 runners: Win Only
5-7 runners: 2 Places
8+ runners: 3 Places
Handicap 12-15 runners: 3 Places
Handicap 16+ runners: 4 Places

How is the Tote Placepot prize pool worked out and shared?

Tote have to make their money somehow so 27% is taken out of the total pool and then the remaining 73% will be divided among the winners of the Placepot.

For example, if the pool is £200,000, the amount taken out of the pool will be £54,000. This means £146,000 will be split among the winners and each winner may have a different return based on how many lines they have.

The best payouts tend to be on days where favourites struggle to reach the frame as favourites are very popular choices for Placepot bettors.

How to work out Tote Placepot winnings

At the end of a meeting, Tote will publish the dividend which will show what a punter would win in return for a £1 staked winning bet. Your return will be determined by the amount you stake per line and also by how many of your lines were successful.

You can work this out by multiplying the amount of winning lines in each leg together to get your total winning lines.

To then work out how much you have won, simply multiply your stake per line by the amount of winning lines you have.

For example:

If the Placepot has a dividend of £1,000 to a £1 stake and you have three winning 20p lines then you have a total of 60p going on the dividend so you win £600.

Or:

If the Placepot pays £150 to a £1 stake and you have three winning £1 lines, your total of £3 of winning bets means you win £450.

What happens if one of your legs is a non-runner?

If one of your runners turns out to be a non-runner, it will automatically go on the SP (Starting price) favourite. If there are joint or co-favourites, the lowest racecard number will count.