As Members would be aware, I attended the home of Racing in France, Longchamps a few weeks ago. That's me at the gate with a copy of Paris Form, their equivalent of Sportsman. The form guide is in French but that doesn't matter. Anybody who has read about how we do form the Winform way can easily assess the chances.

Here I am below, one of about 200 or 300 punters who attended this listed race day (2 $100,000+ races on the program) with my winning ticket. I couldn't believe the ridiculously low crowd figure for this magnificent racecourse. I used Winform and picked the Trifecta in Race 1 but found that unfortunately, you cannot place a trifecta bet with an operator, it has to be done on an ATM like machine. The three placegetters were all at odds of $10 or more so it would have been a good pay, something I never found out. The dividends are flashed at correct weight and then they disappear. At that stage only the people with winning tickets find out.

In the next race, a five horse Listed Race, there was a $1.40 favourite which I timed to run 15 lengths slower than the 2nd Favourite at $3.00. The other contenders were simply hopeless. It was like taking candy from a baby and the profit easily paid my expenses. The race pools were very small (approx. $48,000 euro) and it is no wonder. Only French residents are allowed to bet on the off course pool.

If you are ever in Paris on a raceday you can get instructions on how to get there in the form guide, which is in all newsagencies the day before. For Longchamps just take the Metro to Port Maillot and there is a dedicated bus stop on the North West side of the circle, bus 244. Fares are cheap, the beer and sandwiches are cheap and France-Galop, which conducts Racing in France will make complimentary tickets available to Winform Members on all but the very best race days. Call Martin Gaudron at France-Galop. The dividends are declared for one Euro but the minimum bet is 2 Euros. My operator was surprised to see the size of my bets (20 Euro or about $40 at the time) as most of the punters were betting only a tenth of that.

By the way, if you go on your own you may be lonely as it is the only place in Paris I couldn't find anyone who could speak English. Mind you they all knew one two three etc. they are horse numbers.