Have you ever wondered why the experts sometimes get it horribly wrong when betting on greyhounds? Well a University Study in Manchester has just found that picking a dog at random could be just as effective as the form guide.
Novice picks based on favoured names or jacket colours outperformed the experts in an experiment at Manchester's Belle Vue Greyhound Stadium.
Students from the University of Salford picked more winners than punters from a bookmakers in Irlam.
The novice students won 20% of bets placed - the experts just 11%.
One hundred students placed a total of 703 bets across one evening in April, while the 100 regular greyhound punters placed 763.
The research was undertaken by the university's Centre for the Study of Gambling.
Study co-leader Professor David Forrest said: "It is fair to say an in-depth understanding of racing form did not impede the uninitiated in their choices and they undeniably did better than those with an in-depth knowledge.
"Their choices could have been driven by any number of factors and certainly a dog named after Manchester United's Paul Scholes enjoyed a big swell of support."
He said there was a marked difference in the types of bets placed at the race night in April from the two groups of 100 participants.
"The beginners' strategies were certainly more straightforward with simple win or place bets favoured, whereas the more experienced took a more sophisticated approach with more exotic and complex combination wagers," he added.
Mick Hardy, general manager at Belle Vue, said: "Many of the people who enjoy a night here are not experienced pundits or experts and you certainly do not need to have any specialist knowledge to have fun.
"I think if you asked most of our guests how they selected their dogs they would say it was because they liked the name or the trap number or the colour of the jacket."
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