In the wonder years, people wanted to believe. In Europe, we have a on-course SP. This naturally fluctuates, much the same as a TOTE pool does, pre-race, and with the fluctuations, the exchange prices also changed. Some days, it wasnt hard to know what the pre-race fluctuations would be .. and some days, sure, I helped things along, by sending money to the track .. (having previously backed the horse on the exchange, and locking in a profit, when the horse SP shortens) An example. Horse A is a genuine 2/1 chance. On course, its 2/1, and 3.3 on the exchange. I would back the horse at 3.3 on the exchange, say 2300/1000, then back 4000/2000 on course. With my money, the horse would shorten, to say 6/4, and 2.8 on the exchange. I would sell back my investment, at 2.8, and have it to nothing. Was dead easy. But, they caught on .. so, we tried some other things. On european exchanges, u can bet on USA races. If u know 'form', and put in some work, u could make a lot of money .. especially if u went to the track .. but thats a different story.
Betting on long shots in horse racing and in stocks have a lot in common, but betting on the horse that's limping probably isn't a good idea.