It is a fact that you can back all horses that travel over 250 miles to the racecourse for a small level stakes profit at Betfair SP and we have included below a list of all the longest travelling horses today.
But if you want more profit you need to drill down and only bet the best selections.
On this page we have shared some research that will help you find the best selections to bet along with a traveller's check of the horses that have travelled over 200 miles today
So who has travelled the furthest today…
Today's Longest Travelled Horses are…
This table contains details of today's entries that have travelled 200+ miles(25-04-2024)
13:50 Perth 7. Queshi Bridge (IRE) Jockey: Bowen, Sean P Trainer: Ralph, Alastair
13:50 Perth 9. Time In The Sun (IRE) Jockey: Deutsch, Charlie Trainer: Daly, H D
13:50 Perth 10. Wrappedinrubies (IRE) Jockey: Hughes, Brian Trainer: McCain Jnr, D
14:25 Perth 9. Beaumesnil (FR) Jockey: Moscrop, Nathan Trainer: Corbett, Mrs Susan
14:25 Perth 2. Final Edgar (IRE) Jockey: Maggs, Mr William Trainer: Walford, Mark
14:25 Perth 3. Vernon Subutex (FR) Jockey: Leech, Roisin Trainer: Leech, Mrs S
14:25 Perth 7. What A Johnny (IRE) Jockey: Bowen, Sean P Trainer: Murphy, Olly
15:00 Perth 4. Event Of Sivola (FR) Jockey: Midgley, Tom Trainer: Walford, Mark
15:20 Beverley 1. Dambuster Jockey: Murphy, Oisin Trainer: Balding, A M
15:35 Perth 6. Champagnesuperover (IRE) Jockey: Bowen, Sean P Trainer: Murphy, Olly
15:35 Perth 1. Rambo T (IRE) Jockey: Sheehan, Gavin Trainer: Murphy, Olly
16:10 Perth 1. A Different Kind (IRE) Jockey: Hughes, Brian Trainer: McCain Jnr, D
16:10 Perth 2. Cepage (FR) Jockey: Deutsch, Charlie Trainer: Williams, Miss Venetia
16:10 Perth 5. Statuario Jockey: Sheehan, Gavin Trainer: Bowen, P
16:10 Perth 4. Sure Touch Jockey: Bowen, Sean P Trainer: Murphy, Olly
16:45 Perth 3. Bridge North (IRE) Jockey: Hughes, Brian Trainer: Daly, H D
16:45 Perth 4. Champ Royal (FR) Jockey: Coltherd, Sam W Trainer: Corbett, Mrs Susan
16:45 Perth 6. Fortuna Ligna (IRE) Jockey: Godfrey, Ben Trainer: Honeyball, A J
16:45 Perth 2. Secret Trix Jockey: Bowen, Sean P Trainer: Murphy, Olly
19:30 Chelmsford City 12. Mr Squires (IRE) Jockey: Doyle, Hollie Trainer: Fell, R / Murray, S
20:30 Chelmsford City 8. Big Blue Boy (IRE) Jockey: Winn, Mark Trainer: OMeara, D
20:30 Chelmsford City 3. Zachary Jockey: Loughnane, Mr Billy Trainer: Johnston, Charlie
21:00 Chelmsford City 9. Ludos Landing (IRE) Jockey: Loughnane, Mr Billy Trainer: Johnston, Charlie
Longest Travellers Horse Racing System – Trainers Who Send Their Runners On Long Journeys by Dave Renham
In this article Dave Renham shares the research into which trainers win when they send their horses on long journeys.
It seems a lifetime ago when I went inside a bookmaker’s shop for the very first time.
It was in the early 90s, (the summer of 1993 from memory) in the seaside town of Bognor Regis in West Sussex. I was at teaching college there and one of my mathematical assignments for my degree had been about horse racing. I created a mathematical model which I ran on a BBC Basic computer of all things. How times have changed!
While writing the assignment I had started to dream that I could actually make life changing money from betting on horses. To be honest with you that dream has yet to be fully realised despite a few significant wins over of the years.
I visited that same bookie several times during that summer and while I was there I “listened in” on numerous conversations thinking that I would learn some real “nuggets”. I heard punters talk bullishly about course and distance winners, beaten favourites, and trainers who had travelled long distances to run their horses. It did not take me that long to realise that none of these ideas would prove “blindly” profitable in the long term.
However, they are all areas where I have “crunched the numbers” since, in order to help me build up my racing knowledge and understanding, and in this article, I am going to revisit one such idea. The plan is to examine how well certain trainers have done when sending their runners on a long trip to race.
Horse Racing – Longest Travellers
I have looked at UK flat racing data (inc. all weather) for the last 5 full seasons (2016 – 2020). All profits/ losses have been calculated to Betfair SP (BSP). I have used a travelling distance of 200 miles as my minimum – that would equate to a minimum travel time of 4 hours or so which I think makes sense. Longest travelling distance for some trainers in the country is roughly 450 miles – this of course depends on where the stables of the trainers are in relation to the courses.
I have also restricted my research to trainers who have sent at least 200 runners on such a hike – this gives me a solid enough sample I believe.
To start therefore, let me share the results of all trainers that had 200 or more runners during the period of study (distance travelled to track 200 miles or more).
They are ordered by strike rate:
| Trainer | Bets | Wins | Strike Rate % | Profit/Loss (BSP) | ROI BSP (%) | A/E |
| Haggas, W J | 234 | 85 | 36.32% | 66.63 | 28.47% | 1.13 |
| Palmer, Hugo | 225 | 54 | 24.00% | 56.03 | 24.90% | 1.09 |
| Varian, Roger | 250 | 59 | 23.60% | -54.93 | -21.97% | 0.81 |
| Beckett, R M | 494 | 116 | 23.48% | 176.3 | 35.69% | 1.15 |
| Watson, Archie | 323 | 73 | 22.60% | -3.38 | -1.05% | 1.06 |
| Hills, Charles | 228 | 40 | 17.54% | 39.84 | 17.47% | 1.06 |
| Johnston, M | 3096 | 483 | 15.60% | -45.57 | -1.47% | 0.94 |
| Balding, A M | 271 | 42 | 15.50% | 41.25 | 15.22% | 0.87 |
| Hannon (Jnr),Richard | 360 | 53 | 14.72% | 44.9 | 12.47% | 0.95 |
| Quinn, J J | 466 | 67 | 14.38% | 64.69 | 13.88% | 0.95 |
| Easterby, M W | 338 | 48 | 14.20% | 4.81 | 1.42% | 1.05 |
| Dascombe, Tom | 283 | 38 | 13.43% | 62.28 | 22.01% | 0.85 |
| Easterby, T D | 543 | 69 | 12.71% | 48.36 | 8.91% | 0.89 |
| Fell, Roger | 223 | 28 | 12.56% | -60.47 | -27.12% | 0.95 |
| OMeara, D | 1222 | 146 | 11.95% | -181.5 | -14.85% | 0.84 |
| Midgley, P T | 279 | 28 | 10.04% | 19.6 | 7.03% | 0.76 |
| Burke, K R | 484 | 48 | 9.92% | 62.52 | 12.92% | 0.73 |
| Fahey, R A | 1719 | 166 | 9.66% | -326.44 | -18.99% | 0.74 |
| Dalgleish, Keith | 911 | 86 | 9.44% | -147.04 | -16.14% | 0.79 |
| Ryan, K A | 226 | 21 | 9.29% | -66.03 | -29.22% | 0.76 |
| Ellison, B | 214 | 20 | 9.35% | -32.42 | -15.15% | 0.78 |
| Evans, P D | 428 | 37 | 8.64% | -79.78 | -18.64% | 0.72 |
| Goldie, J S | 307 | 21 | 6.84% | 34 | 11.07% | 0.91 |
| Williamson, Mrs L | 234 | 13 | 5.56% | -112.9 | -48.25% | 0.75 |
Several trainers in the list have made a profit so let me dig a bit deeper into individual trainer performances.
Ralph Beckett
Beckett’s overall figures are impressive with a strike rate edging towards 1 win in 4, coupled with profits of around 36 pence in the pound.
He has produced a very good strike rate at Pontefract thanks to 14 wins from 32 starters (SR 43.8%) showing a return of 29 pence in the pound.
Likewise, his record with favourites (including joint favs) is excellent – 66 winners from 137 runners (SR 48.2%) for a healthy profit of £49.02 (ROI + 35.8%).
It seems therefore that Beckett is prepared to look for really good opportunities for his fancied runners regardless of where in the country it is.
Beckett also has decent stats when focusing on better class races.
In races of class 3 or higher his record with these long travellers has seen 58 winners from 267 runners (SR 21.7%) for a huge profit of £194.81 (ROI + 73.0%). In addition to this, he seems very happy to send his youngest and most inexperienced runners (his 2yos) on long journeys. 2yos have won 34 of the 110 starts (SR 30.9%) for a profit of
£31.51 (ROI + 28.6%).
Perhaps not surprisingly 2yo favourites have done exceptionally well with 22 winners from 40 (SR 55.0%) producing a profit of £21.31 (ROI + 53.3%).
It is also worth noting that when Beckett has 3 or less runners on the day (regardless of where they run) these long travellers seem worth following – 52 winners from 182 (SR 28.6%) for a profit of £107.23 (ROI + 58.9%).
When these long travellers are the only runner on the day the performances are also strong also (14 wins from 45 for returns of 42p in the £).
Finally for Beckett it is worth sharing that his record has been very consistent year in year out. 4 of the 5 years have shown a profit, and strike rates each year have been in excess of 19%.
Willie Haggas
Haggas is simply solid across the board with his long travellers.
He does send a good proportion to the all weather track at Newcastle, but one track that may be worth keeping an eye on is Ayr.
He has only had 9 runners there but 6 have won. It is a rare trip, but worth putting in your notebook!
As with Beckett 4 of the 5 years have seen Haggas’s long travellers produce a profit.
Mark Johnston
Johnston has always been one of my favourite trainers and considering he has had over 3000 runners in this sample, it is fairly impressive to see that his runners have roughly broken even.
The long travellers of Johnston to concentrate on seem to be his 2yos.
He has sent 989 runners to courses 200 or miles away from his training base with 189 winning. This equates to a strike rate of 19.1% and would have secured an impressive profit of £189.14 (ROI + 19.2%).
Not only that, Johnston’s 2yos have proved profitable in each of the last five seasons showing real consistency.
Another example of the consistency of these 2yos is when you look at their results in terms of the class of the race.
The table below illustrates this perfectly:
Profitable in every class of race with solid strike rates especially from Class 3 through to Class 6.
The final Johnston 2yo stat to share is his record when they start as favourite – 92 winners from 194 runners (SR 47.4%) for a decent profit of £55.62 (ROI + 28.7%).
In fact, favourites across the board (all ages) have produced a profit – 211 wins from 513 runners (SR 41.1%) producing a profit of £83.88 (ROI + 16.4%).
It generally pays to stick to the more fancied 2yo Johnston runners as horses priced 12/1 or shorter have produced a small profit of 5p in the £ over 2305 runners.
Hugo Palmer
Hugo Palmer’s long travellers in the main head up North to the all weather track in Newcastle. He has made good profits at this track equating to just over 25 pence in the pound.
He rarely sends runners to Carlisle but 6 of the 9 have won with a further 2 placing.
Hence on the rare occasions his runners go there, they are definitely worth a second glance.
As with Johnston, his favourites have performed profitably thanks to 29 winners from 50 runners (SR 58.0%) for a profit of £18.33 (ROI + 36.7%).
Sticking with favourites, those that have started Evens or shorter have a near perfect record with 18 wins from 19 qualifiers (SR 94.7%) for a profit of £9.99 (ROI +52.6%).
Horses 9/1 or shorter have done well as a whole too with 52 wins from 167 runs (SR 31.1%). Profits from those runners stand at £59.33 (ROI + 35.5%).
Finally, in weaker races, Palmer’s runners have excelled. In Class 5 or lower races he has had 39 winners from 131 runners (SR 29.8%) for very strong profits of £71.95 (Roi +54.9%).
To finish this article, I would like to share some more trainer data with you. I have looked at trainer performance with long travellers when they send just one runner to the track. Below the table shows all the trainers who have secured a strike rate in excess of 20% with a minimum of 50 runs:
A few additional trainers make this list and overall, we see 10 of the 14 in profit. I have yet to look in more detail at this angle but will do so in the future. You may wish to do some digging yourself from this initial starting point.
All in all, I have only scratched the surface really in terms of long travellers, but in certain circumstances there seems to be potential profits to be made focusing in on a handful of trainers.
I must admit the findings have surprised me a little, but in a good way.
David Renham
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