Zut alors! Here comes the Trio

One wonders about TAB’s decision to introduce the French Trio bet to South African racing the day after momentous late-night events at the Stade de France in St Denis.

The two-horse race of a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal knockout match is an all-or-nothing punt that’s agonising to the human psyche. It’s why we invented Places and other “hard luck” bet types – to assuage the disappointment of a narrow loss.

The Trio is one of those. You don’t have to get your selection of three (or more) horses in the exact order of finishing – as with a Trifecta – they can finish in any order in the first three.

Imagine a rugby match bet being so forgiving.

Trio

TAB announced the Trio on Thursday, before Sunday night’s mano a mano (c’est-à-dire d’homme à homme), in a press release: “TAB is adding to its range of tote bets on horseracing from next Monday 16 October with the introduction of a Trio on French races – and from the same date all TAB Trifecta pools on Australian, French and UK races will be commingled, giving TAB customers more Trifecta betting opportunities and access to bigger pools and payouts.”

Whether you’re elated by a Bok victory or smarting from the other possibility, this will be something to dive into, surely.

TAB explained: “The Trio is a brand-new bet for TAB customers. To win the Trio a punter must select the first three horses to finish, regardless of order. Effectively, it’s a three-horse Trifecta Box in a single bet.

“For example, a three-horse Trifecta Box, in which numbers 1, 2 and 3 are selected, comprises six individual bets (1-2-3; 1-3-2; 2-1-3; 2-3-1, 3-1-2; 3-2-1), whereas with a Trio it is only one bet. In the case of four horses, a Trifecta Box comprises 24 combinations as opposed to only four combinations or bets with a Trio.

“The unit cost of a TAB Trio on French races will be R2 with no fractional betting. So, a four-horse Trio will cost R8 (four combinations @ R2 each) and a five-horse Trio R20 (10 combinations @ R2).

“Three different Trio bets will be offered – single (three runners selected), box (four or more runners selected) and multiple (one or more horses selected for each of the first three places).

Example

“An example of a multiple Trio is numbers 1, 2 and 3 for first; number 4 for second and numbers 5 and 6 for third. That’s six combinations @ R2 each for R12 (1-4-5; 1-4-6; 2-4-5; 2-4-6; 3-4-5; 3-4-6).

“As with the Trio, the unit cost of commingled Trifectas on Australian, French and UK racing will be R2 with no fractional betting. Thus a three-horse Trifecta Box will cost R12 (six combinations @ R2) and a five-horse box R120 (60 combinations @ R2). The standard R6 minimum bet will apply in all cases and all payouts displayed will be to a R1 unit, so winners will collect double the displayed TAB payout.

“The benefits of commingling Trifecta pools with host totes (Tabcorp in Australia with the exception of thoroughbred venues in Victoria and South Australia; PMU in France and the UK Tote), as opposed to local pools, are many more Trifecta betting opportunities on races in those three countries and much bigger pools, which in turn will afford TAB customers the chance to win bigger payouts.”