Tote’s Ten To Follow back for Flat season with huge prizes to be won

After a five-year hiatus, the Tote Ten to Follow is back for the Flat season. The game returned for the 2019/2020 National Hunt season, with the eventual winner walking away with over £177,000.

With a Grand National crescendo scuppered by lockdown, we now turn our attention to the Flat season, this time guaranteeing a minimum prize pool of £100,000.

Key Information:

• Campaign duration: Game opens for entries 29^th May and closes 11am 16^th June – day one of Royal Ascot
• £100,000 in prize money guaranteed.
• There will be a 0% takeout, so all money that goes into the pool will be distributed in prizes.
• There will be four monthly prizes of £10,000. 70% of the remaining pool will then go to the winner of the overall game, with 30% distributed between 2^nd to 100^th place.
• The game finishes on the 17^th October at which point the winner will be decided
• There is a five-day transfer window planned between Glorious Goodwood and York’s Ebor Festival
• Customers can now edit their stable at any point during that period, so there’s no disadvantage in getting your stable in early
• In the event of a dead-heat, the customer who entered their stable earliest will assume the higher position
• We’ve made huge improvements to the UX and the game now has two ways to play – simple mode, if the customer just wants to pick ten horses, and pro mode, for those who wish to place permutations

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What is Tote Ten to Follow?

Tote Ten to Follow is the closest thing to being a racehorse owner, all for just £5. To enter, players must fill their stable with ten horses from a list of over 300 of the biggest names in training. The stable with the most points at the end of the season wins 70% of the season prize pool. The winner of the 2020 Jumps game won a huge £177,000.

How do you score points?

Points are awarded each time a horse wins or places.

• Group 1 win - 25 points, Group 2 - 20 points, Group 3 - 15 points, Listed - 12 points, Any other race - 10 points.
• Points will also be awarded from returns of a £1 each-way bet on the Tote in each race a horse runs in. Example: £1 win at 5.50 + £1 place at 1.20 = 6.70 points awarded
• There are also 25 Bonus Races where the winner will receive an additional 25 points for a win and the runner-up 12.

Bonus races:

• Queen Anne Stakes
• Commonwealth Cup
• St James' Palace Stakes
• Prince of Wales' Stakes
• Gold Cup
• Coronation Stakes
• Golden Jubilee Stakes
• Irish Derby
• Oaks
• Derby
• Eclipse Stakes
• July Cup
• King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes
• Sussex Stakes
• Steward’s Cup (Heritage H’cap)
• International Stakes
• Nunthorpe; Ebor (Heritage H’cap)
• Ayr Gold Cup (Heritage H’cap)
• Irish Champion Stakes
• St Leger
• Tote Challenge Cup (Heritage H’cap)
• Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
• Champion Stakes
• Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

When does the game open and close?

• Game opens for entries: 29^th May 2020
• Game closes for entries and scoring begins: 11am 16^th June 2020
• Scoring finishes: 17^th October

What are the prizes?

There will be four monthly prizes of £10,000 for the stables who accrue the most points in each of the months of June, July, August and September. The remaining pool will then be divided between the winners:

How has the changed since the jumps?

Improved experience: We’ve learnt a lot from the relaunch of Tote Ten to Follow and have created a much smoother experience. Ultimately, the game is a lot easier to play.

Edit your stable:  Players can now edit their stables as many times as they like up until closing. Not only that, but it now pays to get your stable in early, as in the event of a dead-heat the earliest entry will assume the higher position.

Private Leagues: Mini leagues will be available to create and enter from the start of the game. Entrants will be able to take on their friends, family and colleagues.

Create your own silks: Now entrants can really feel like an owner by creating their own silks for their stables.

Simple Mode and Pro Mode: There are now two ways to play the game. If you’re looking to create stables on by one, you can use Simple Mode. For those wishing to create permutations, Pro Mode allows you to create and enter your own box perms easily.

Box perms allow you to be more efficient with your permutations to ensure that all of your stables have the correct balance of horses you need to win the game.

For example, if you think you’ll need three top quality sprinters in your stable, but you’re sweet on five, you would create a box that allocates three positions out of your ten to sprinters and add your five fancies.

This would then ensure that each possible combination of any three of those sprinters is added to a stable. You can do the same for horses you will think target certain bonus races or segment your stable anyway you like.

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Our top five tips for Ten to Follow players

Pick horses who will run in multiple Bonus races

It makes sense, right? Take Aidan O’Brien’s MAGICAL for example. She finished second in what would have been two Bonus race Group 1s (behind Enable) last season but managed to claim 12 points for each of those efforts - which is hugely valuable when you take into account her additional wins outside the Bonus races. 

Hardy, reliable horses with the proven class to both run in and win/place in the Ten to Follow Bonus Races is very much a priority when trying to win the competition.

Don’t neglect the handicappers...

There are four Bonus races which are “Handicap” races - the Steward’s Cup, the Ebor, the Ayr Gold Cup and the Tote Challenge Cup - which represent a wealth of Bonus points to aim at. Picking hardy and proven handicappers is a sure-fire way to secure at least one good return of points per season, as invariably they all have their turn at some point. 

One sweet spot to consider for Sprinters is to look for progressive 4-5-year-old horses rated 100-105 who can still run in valuable handicaps who may transition to Group company if that progression continues. 

You can do similar with three-year-olds of course. Take Angel Alexander in 2019 for example. He ran eight times within the Ten to Follow window and won four races, including the Ayr Gold Cup. Starting the season on a handicap mark of 81, he finished on 106 and would have racked up an eye-watering amount of points, helped by landing the Scottish feature at a Tote dividend of £32.70.

…Or Lightly-Raced/Unexposed Horses

So you’ve seen a dark horse for the season, but it has only ran once and you’re not sure? Remember, you can edit your stable right up to the day the competition starts so if you hear any injury news it is easy to make a switch. But a successful run of wins and point collecting has to start somewhere. Many horses who win or finish 2nd/3rd on their debut go onto record 2-3-4 race winning runs on the back of their debut. Indeed, this will be the case for many three-year-olds who only had a run or two as juveniles.

Generally speaking, there is good reason lightly-raced horses are lightly-raced - the best is fully expected to come. When the horse has matured into their frame, or if the pedigree suggests more of a long-term project So don’t be afraid to add in horses who’ve only had a run or two, provided you can envisage a pathway for success this season.

Use the Transfer Window wisely

When it is time for the mid-competition transfer window, players will have the opportunity to change two horses in each stable. Do so carefully, considering some of the following:

• Early season low-scorers could blossom late, so only swap out the clearly unproductive selections.
• You can also swap out a horse that has scored highly early which is secured work, but whose form has now tailed off so their job is done.
• Consider the upcoming Ten to Follow Bonus races and Group 1s. Their distances and suitability to certain horses need to be taken into account.
• Picking an outsider in a bonus race is very risky but if you had taken on Enable in the Arc last year with Waldgeist, you would have been rewarded with nearly 70 points. 
• Proven class is proven class, so it can pay to look past the very obvious names with those rated just a handful of pounds lower officially, but are horses just as likely to run in a given race. This can help separate you from the crowd at key points of the season.

Keep an eye on the latest racing news for a fast start

In the days from the competition opening to the entry deadline, you can edit your stables. This means if a horse gets injured, has a setback or you need to make any tactical changes, you can do so. Keeping a regular eye on a good racing news page will ensure you hear all the latest news regarding the big names and races. 

If you like to allocate a number of horses on your shortlist toward having a fast start with early targets, it will be particularly important to ensure your picks, their trainers and jockeys are in the news for the right reasons. Once you are as sure as you can reasonably be that your selections are ready, you can commit with confidence.

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