From the letters we've received, and continue to receive, from PPM readers, it's very apparent that the majority want an approach that easily pinpoints the day's selections.

I guess, in part, this is due to the high pace of today's lifestyle. People just haven't the time to sit down and thrash their brains in form analysis. Instead, they require the quick and easy fix of system that is easy to operate and which clearly spells out the selections.

Some readers have advised they keep a separate "bank" so they can bet a system outside their normal betting activities.

Going back into our files at PPM, I recently came across a system that fills the bill so far as such systems are concerned. I call it The Control The Poll Plan. It's an oldie, but it's a goodie, and it keeps on producing winners.

Tipsters' polls have been popular for as fir back as any of us can remember. I have magazines and books from the 1920s in which homage is paid to the effectiveness of using the polls as a winner finding method.

The Control The Poll Plan originated in the United States. It's a purely "mechanical" selection system and some may find this abhorrent, given that they claim systems don't work, blah, blah. The fact is, systems do work, just as well as any personal selection method, provided you find the right system!

It was recommended, on publication, that users of this system bet for a place, but the records show it has a point to prove as a sound winner-finder, too.


  1. Ignore Maiden races, any jumps races, Classes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and races restricted to apprentices only (not many of these, anyway).
  2. Firstly, look at the top-fancied horse (the one with the most poll points). To become a selection, the horse must pass the following requirements:

    (a)    The last start must have been within the last 21 days (inclusive).
    (b)    The horse must be a last-start winner OR have finished 2 lengths or less from the winner last start, irrespective of its placing.
    (c)    The horse must have shown that it can handle the class of the current race.
    (d)    The horse must be able to handle the prevailing track conditions and the distance of the race.
  3. If the horse passes these requirements, there is just one more rule to pass:

    If he is at 6/4 or longer in the pre-post newspaper betting market, the horse becomes a selection. If it is less than 6/4, the race is passed.
  4. If the horse with the highest total of poll points does not pass the four sub-rules of Rule 2, you then examine the second top-rated poll horse. You keep on going down the poll list until you find a horse that passes the requirements.

A method of betting for the system was worked out by its author, the American expert from Chicago, James R. Murran. His advice goes as follows:

You bet $2 per selection until you strike a winner. Let's say you hit one at 9/1 (now that would be nice). One-quarter of the profit is added to your next bet, which would be $4.50 and you then continue to bet $4.50 per selection until you strike another winner.

Once again, one-quarter of the profit is added to the $4.50 to determine your next bet.

You cannot go on staking like this indefinitely, so you must set a figure from which you can start all over again. This assumes that you are not a punter who likes to just keep ploughing on with stakes rising and rising, albeit from previous successes.

You might care to set a target that is 4 or 5 times your original stake. So if you began with $2 bets you would sign off and start again once your bets reached $10. It's up to you to determine the highest stake you will handle.

Another blast from the past is The Poll Rated Plan. Now it requires some "book-keeping" but nothing too arduous. The work you do can be most rewarding.

The plan operates on the selections of SIX tipsters (chosen by yourself but cannot be started for betting purposes until you have allocated points for winners and placegetters for six successive meetings (city meetings, Saturdays only).

The first decision is to pick the tipsters you will follow. It has to be done on a city by city basis. So if you're betting on Sydney, your tipsters will all have to come from that city's formguides or newspapers.

At the conclusion of the research meetings, you give points to each selection that fills a placing, 3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd and I for 3rd, and you keep a running account of the points gained by each tipster.

Keep track of how each tipster's first picks go, and their second picks and their third picks. You use these figures to compile your own "popularity" poll for the seventh meeting.

At this stage, Tipster A's top selections may total 42 points, the 2nd selections 30 points and the 3rd selections 69 points. Another tipster might have 72, 68 and 82, etc.

The figures are then used to make your own poll. Each first selection by Tipster A is credited with 42 points, his 2nd selections are valued at 30 points and his 3rd selections are valued at 69 points.

You'll find that by using this Poll Rated Plan that your poll in most cases will differ greatly from the one published on race days because you are "rating" the tipsters. You can carry on this rating process indefinitely, adding to the points tally after each meeting, or you can stick to six-meeting figures by dropping off the oldest meeting when you add a new one so that your poll is always conducted on the tips from the last six meetings.

You can use this plan for all three codes of racing. Over a period of time it gives a "true value" to a selection on the basis of recent selection achievements.

Basically, you are giving more emphasis to the selections of tipsters who have been picking well in the last six weeks. By keeping your poll up to date you can have it reflect the changing fortunes of the tipsters.

It will enable you to be on horses, or dogs, that have come out on top as a result of being chosen by the "right tipsters". This is a plan that has been around a long while but has certainly stood the test of time.

NEXT MONTH: I'll bring you more great systems from our grab-bag of old-timers that date right back to the 1940s. They are proven winners and well worth another look in this modern age.

by P.B. King