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Betfair, the internet's leading betting exchange, is believed to be on the verge of allowing punters to place bets which will be settled at "Betfair starting price" - the price of a horse at the moment a race begins. The move is intended to boost liquidity in its racing markets from early in the day, but is also a clear challenge to traditional bookmakers, who settle the majority of bets at the official SP, returned by a team of reporters in the betting ring at the racecourse in question.

Because Betfair makes its money through a commission on winning bets only, the over-round on its markets is rarely above 1% when a race starts. This means that the Betfair SP will almost always beat the official SP, which tends to have a margin of between 1.75 and 2% for every horse in a race.

Until now, however, Betfair punters have always been forced to take the best price on offer when they log on, or leave a "request" for a better price which may, or may not, be matched by other users. If they can bet at the Betfair SP, they will in the vast majority of cases, be paid at a better price than the official SP.

The Racing Post has carried "teaser" ads from Betfair for the last two days, suggesting that the exchange "changed the face of betting" when it was launched in 2000, and that "history is about to repeat itself" in December 2007. This suggests a launch date of December 1 for the new service. [...]

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Betfair betting forecast

4 Smarty Socks (Ire), 6 Inis Ceithleann (Ire), 10 Beau Michael, 10 Enter The Indian (Ire), 10

Tyreless Endeavour (Ire), 14 Daytime Dreamer (Ire), 16 Flamenco Prince, 16 Feisty, 100

Camassie, 100 Carragher, 100 Ice Skate (Ire), 100 Subbie Royal (Ire), 100 Zenco (Ire), 100

Brook Lass (Ire), 150 Banal Song (Fr), 150 Oldtown Green (Ire), 150 Dromana Gate (Ire), 150

Molly Wee (Ire), 150 Something Grand (Ire)

Betfair forecast prices are expressed as decimals, for example, 3.25 is equivalent to 9/4 in

traditional fractional odds. These forecast prices reflect an approximate 100% book, as is

typical of Betfair markets. They differ from a normal SP forecast, as unlike SPs, they do not

include a bookmaker "overround" percentage.

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[...] Clever useage of Timeform information, and a clear sign that Betfair is moving to take on the Racing Post head to head. How long now, before Betfair decides to take on the traditional bookmakers, through publishing its own starting prices.