Whittle: to reduce the amount.

On any given racing day, we're presented with scores of horses, of which only a handful will go on to win, and if we are to succeed in this caper, we must come up with some way of trying to identify those that can win.

All punters vary in their approach to finding a winner. Some are happy if they can isolated 2 or 3 runners in every race on the card, whilst others are more content with just 2 or 3 selections for the entire day. Some create their own markets and look for 'value' bets, and others will just back whatever horses remain after imposing several filters. Some will 'invest' hundreds of dollars buying tips from supposed expert tipsters, while others may focus on the tipsters' selections in the local newspaper.

A statistic that is often bandied around is that 98% of punters lose money. This may be a shock to many of those new to the punt, but it is certainly understandable when one realizes just how much the odds are stacked against us.