Setting the Standard
Wizard Formguide 2024
There is a general belief that successful professional punters make their wagering decisions in “splendid isolation”, ignoring the opinions of others, ignoring pre-post markets, and relying only on their own data, observations, and analysis. That is not what actually occurs.
As the publisher of Superform and the Wizard I have engaged with some of Australia’s most successful punters over many years. Indeed, I had the great privilege and pleasure to partner with arguably the most successful, the legendary Don Scott. These consistent winners did not work in isolation. All cultivated a network (be it small or relatively extensive) of individuals that shared insights and information. And for a professional punter that network would mainly comprise other form analysts and bookmakers.
These are symbiotic relationships in the sense that a professional punter who is an experienced form-analyst provides the bookmaker with his assessments, and in return the bookmaker informs the punter of market movements, and insights gained from other usually well-informed parties, and so on. Pre-race discussions between professional form analysts are equally important. No one individual has the perfect insight into an individual race, let alone multiple races on any given day.
You might ask, what has this to do with the new, redeveloped Wizard?
The answer … Everything.
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Two years ago, I decided to re-develop the Wizard formguide into what Don and I envisaged as the “ultimate” racing information service; one that replicated, as far as possible, the punter/punter and punter/bookmaker “experience”. The new Wizard is the culmination of that two-years endeavour.
The many new features in the Wizard - reports and functionality – aim to provide the equivalent of that “experience”.
For example, take the punter/bookmaker element. There are three Wizard reports that directly address this aspect… Raceday, Magic, and Wizard Watch.
Raceday brings together the quantitative side of the Wizard (the ratings) and the market moves and book-rebalancing that has taken place overnight and on race morning. Raceday reflects the outcome of the discussion between a form analyst (the punter) and market analyst (the bookmaker) in that it identifies the key runner in a race.
Wizard Magic casts a wider net – market action and form-based information. In Magic there is a report on betting market moves but importantly the skill and proven expertise of the trainer is also brought into play. Magic reflects the discussions both between form analysts (punters), and the discussions between the punter and the market analyst (bookmaker).
Wizard Watch (Morning Movers) is focused on identifying those runners that have shortened most significantly by mid-morning on race day.
With respect to the punter/punter information exchange “experience”, the Wizard allows for the same insights that professional form analysts gain from their conversations pre-race. Wizard does this by offering the widest possible range of analytical tools and an incomparable database that can answer your form-related questions easily, quicky, and accurately.
Warren Block