With carryovers galore coming up, it will be hard not to give in to greed

Tote betting agency TAB is hyping an upcoming exotic bets carryover bonanza, with likely pools of more than R1-million every day, and the promise of big rewards is a sure-fire way to coax punters into raising their wagering outlay.

Dopamine is the chemical in the brain that gives us pleasurable feelings and it goes into overdrive when we win something. And just the possibility of a lucky day at the races can get it pumping and send us diving for the form guide.

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Some will say pulling in punters is good for the racing game, increasing money churn and operational revenue; others will say it’s appealing to the avaricious side of a person’s nature – in other words encouraging greed, with all its negative connotations.

The character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street famously said, “greed is good”, a phrase still coined often to denote something bad about capitalism.

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Gekko went on to say greed is a natural human impulse that “captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit”, adding that “greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind”. Not allowing greed and the market rein is what has corrupted the world, he concludes.

That sounds less dark and has the persuasive logic used to encourage entrepreneurship – which is touted as the answer to our economic malaise. But our common moral code still makes us uneasy at the word greed.

Responsible betting

So where does all this daydreaming leave us?

Hopefully not with the self-inflicted moral quagmire the UK government is in. It has decided ordinary folks do not have enough self-control to be trusted with a flutter, so it is planning “affordability tests” for all punters.

The same Tory government that brought Brexit thinks it is wiser than the individual when it comes to personal finance.

Luckily for rough-hewn South Africans, we’re not going down that nannying route.

Most of us have enough common sense not to overdo punting, and those who can’t control their dopamine must be afforded help.

Carryover bonanza

Here’s the enticing carryover agenda:

TAB Jackpot ONE pools at South African race meetings from Thursday to Sunday this week will each start with a R250,000 carryover that should generate a total pool of more than R1-million each day.

The biggest pools look likely to come at Fairview on Friday, when Leg 2 of the Nelson Mandela Bay Racing Poly Challenge heads the card, and at the “Bubbles and Blossoms” meeting at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday.

The Cape Town card is headed by two Grade 3 features in the R300,000 Matchem Stakes and R200,000 Diana Stakes, both over 1400m.

And then at Turffontein a week later, on Saturday 7 October, the 4Racing Spring-Summer Season kicks into top gear with two Grade 2 features and a R1-million TAB Pick 6 carryover that should deliver a total pool of some R6-million.

It’s a grand race day headed by the R550,000 Betway Joburg Spring Challenge and the R450,000 fillies and mares’ equivalent, both over 1450m.