Begin by designating all horses in each race as an A, B or C Selection. If a horse is an ''X'' or a non-use for you, then leave it alone and it will not be on your ticket. Here are Steven Crist's brief descriptions of how he views these categories:

• Primary contender(s) and top selections, or slightly less likely winners who you think will be extreme overlays.
• Reasonable contender(s) who will keep you alive with other A's and B's but not with C horses.
• Marginal or unlikely winners you can't entirely eliminate but whose winning would force you to get home A's in all other races.
• Horses who you are completely eliminating.

To categorize a horse, simply click or tap the horse's number in the category of your choice. By adding horses into these categories, you're telling TicketMaker which horses you want to use in your wagers (by leaving a horse unclicked, he will remain off all of your tickets).

Once horses have been moved throughout the categories, TicketMaker will construct tickets that cover the following bet types:

• A's with One B

  You are covered for any combination of your A horses.

• A's with One B

  To categorize a horse, simply click or tap the horse's number in the category of your choice. By adding horses into these categories, you're telling TicketMaker which horses you want to use in your wagers (by leaving a horse unclicked, he will remain off all of your tickets).

• A's with Two B's

  You are covered as long as all of your A horses win, with the exception of two races, in which two of your B horses must win. It does not matter which legs are won by your B horses. TicketMaker will construct tickets that will cover you as long as your A's and two B's win every race.

• A's with B's

  This new version of TicketMaker allows for one additional option: The ''All As/All Bs'' ticket in which all of your A and B selections get put on the same ticket with no C horses. You can toggle the ''All As/All Bs'' ticket to see the cost difference between this ticket and the default ''As with Bs'' ticket.

• A's with One C

  You are covered as long as all of your A horses win, with the exception of one race, in which one of your C horses must win. It does not matter which leg is won by your C horse. TicketMaker will construct tickets that will cover you as long as your A's and one C win every race.

• 

  You'll notice that as soon as you begin adding horses to categories in the final leg, TicketMaker will begin constructing tickets. When you finish constructing your tickets, check to see if the ''Total'' (located in the bottom right of the TicketMaker window) is close to your budget.

• If the total is above your budget:

  Enter the total amount you want to spend on this wager and press ''APPLY.'' TicketMaker will use this amount when constructing your tickets.

  

  Besides returning to Step 1 and increasing your budget, you have several options if your total exceeds your budget.

  One option would be to re-categorize horses. For example, moving just one horse from an "A" to a "B" can significantly reduce the cost of your ticket. Granted, you will not have that particular horse in as many combinations, but this is one way to reduce your total ticket cost.

  Another option would be to de-select certain ''Bet Types.'' For example, removing all the tickets that cover you if "A's with two B's" win would reduce your total number of tickets.

  

  You can de-select this bet type by un-checking the appropriate ''Bet Type'' box.

• If the total is below your budget:

  TicketMaker will automatically try to increase your ''$ per bet'' if your ticket total is less than your budget. To put even more emphasis on certain tickets, you can manually edit the bet amounts for each ticket.

  

  For example, if your ''All A Entries'' ticket costs $16 with a base bet of $2, and you want to bet these tickets for $4 each, click or tap inside the bet amount field and change the bet amount yourself.

  

• Placing your bets:

  Once you are satisfied with your tickets and the total cost of the wager, click ''Bet Now'' to place your wagers through DRF Bets. After a few seconds of processing, you will get a confirmation screen showing your successful bets. Any errors that occur will also be shown here.

• Printing your tickets:

  Once you have clicked Bet Now to submit your tickets to DRF Bets, you will have an option to print the tickets.

Once you have made your selections, you will see a module that shows all of the combinations in your wager.

For Exactas, there is a great deal of information and functionality here.

• Bet Amount

  You can manually alter the bet amounts for each combination by clicking or tapping on the entry field. The Probable Pay column will scale up or down to match your Bet Amount.

  

• Probable Pays

  The Probable Pays are taken directly from the tote and give you a quick reference guide as to how much each combination will pay if it hits.

• Betting Value

  The Betting Value column uses a complex formula to determine if that value is an overlay or underlay.

• Enable/Disable

  

  By clicking or tapping on the checkmark, you can disable a specific combination that you do not want to use on your ticket. This is especially useful to remove underlay wagers as indicated by the Probable Pays and Betting Value.

• Equalize Probable Pays

  By clicking or tapping on the ''Equalize Probable Pays'' button, your bet amounts will be changed so that the Probable Pays will be as close as possible to each other in value. This will allow you to establish a minimum return on your bets.

• Add Reverse Key

  If you have used the Key horse strategy, for a quick view of what the ''Reverse Key'' payouts look like, click on the ''Add Reverse Key'' option. A ''Reverse Key'' will put the key horse in second and the other selected horses in the win position. The reverse key bets will be added to your ticket instantly and can be submitted all at once with one click to DRF Bets.

  

• Select Multiple Key horses

  

  You can choose two keys and compare the payouts for each one of them winning. You can toggle between each key in the Make a Better Ticket module.

• Make Win Bet

  

  If you have selected the Key strategy, the ''Make Win Bet'' option allows you to view what the straight win bet with your budget would pay. In some cases, the straight win bet with your key horse will prove more attractive than the vertical wager. This can also work with the multiple-key strategy.

• Building Trifectas and Superfectas

  • 1

    Choose your strategy from the dropdown menu.

    
  • 2

    Make your selections (same as above with exactas).

  • 3

    Make a Better Ticket

    If you have selected the Key strategy, the ''Make Win Bet'' option allows you to view what the straight win bet with your budget would pay. In some cases, the straight win bet with your key horse will prove more attractive than the vertical wager. This can also work with the multiple-key strategy.

    
  • 4

    Use the Par Value Calculator

    This is a powerful tool that will give you a ballpark estimate of what a specific trifecta or superfecta will pay.

    
  • 5

    Submit your bets with one click with DRF Bets.

  If you have any additional questions, please email formulatorHelp@drf.com