Three Wide No Cover

So you’ve backed something from a tip from an old codge at the TAB and mid race  you look over to see him furious and ripping his ticket up, screaming “he’s bloody caught THREE WIDE WITHOUT COVER!”

“The bloody race isn’t even over yet!” – you think to yourself. “Why is he ripping his ticket up already!?!? And what the hell is THREE WIDE, NO COVER supposed to mean?”

One of the most overused "excuses" in the punting world. It can often be a go to for mugs when their bet loses. And plenty will start accusing the jockey of some sort of crime when it happens.

But what the hell is it? What does it mean?

Like anything there are negatives and positives. I could write a novel explaining each factor, but we will put it in dot form.

Negatives

1. Your horse covers more ground – this is simply physics and facts, the closest point from jump to the finish line, is the rail. The further out you are from the rail, the more distance you cover (think of when sprinters start in a 200m race and their starts are staggered)…

2. IF there is a strong headwind you will wear the full brunt of it – this is like when you see the cyclists sit right behind someone to get into the “slipstream”… hard to believe it would have that  much effect on the horse or cyclist, but you try riding or running into a breeze and you’ll feel the burn faster than the bloke who is sitting right behind you!

3. SOME horses need cover to help them relax and get in a rhythm – the horse doesn’t know it’s got your last $20 on it and that it needs to relax until the home straight and then blitz them, it can only run with the conditions its faced with. Some horses freak out a bit with nothing in front of them and just think they’re running for their lives and use up all their petrol!
   

Positives

1. Sitting 3 wide on speed the jockey has a degree of control determining the tempo of the race. If they want a solid tempo the horses inside are forced to oblige or hand up the rail.

2. Jockeys are less likely to make an early move for the lead as they're forced 4-5 wide to come around you

3. You aren't strung up in traffic searching for a run or getting caught behind a tiring horse.

Momentum, you can get your horse to settle in a rhythm and stay out of trouble. Avoid horses shifting in on you and most likely cop less interference. Would you rather your horse do a little work and cover a bit of ground or be forced to ease off heels, come around tiring horses, balance up and pick up momentum AGAIN?

Other factors

1. The track: let's be honest 3WNC over 1200m at a track like Caulfield with a huge straight run into the lone bend is not going to seriously affect your horse especially if they need galloping room and don't like being surrounded by rump. BUT 3000m at a tight track like Moonee Valley is going to have a much greater effect.

2. Racing lanes, we've all seen it especially on a wet track where they all want to get to the outside because the ground is superior going. Think back to the 2017 Riesling where She Will Reign led on the fence and stayed hard up against the rail running the least amount of distance of any horse in the race, she was beaten by Frolic who covered more distance than any other horse in the race and got to the outside fence where the ground was simply faster. SWR turned the tables in the slipper when the bias was taken out of it.