"Claims"
Once the betting for a race or meeting is open, a bookmaker can decide at any time that he wants to claim a runner. For ordinary races a full claim is a bet to win R20k.
Here is what makes a claim different from an ordinary bet: only a bookmaker takes the claim-bet from a (group of bookmakers who together stand those claim-bets) at the price displayed, that triggers a change in that price.
So a punter can have any size bet(s) from their bookmaker to the extent to which they both agree. Completely independently of those bets, any bookmaker can decide at any time to have a claim bet which forces a shortening of the odds against that claim.
So a possible example is for a horse which is 8/1. You have a bet at the stretch or online for R1,500 and get @ 10/1 a bet 15,000/1,500. If the bookmaker wants to hedge your bet and can't get back 10/1, or if he thinks your bet is the beginning of a barrage of bets on the same horse or that the odds are now too generous, he can claim 20k @ 8/1 that the claim-offering bookmaker "must" lay and adjust (or 10k half claim and lesser adjustment).
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
