Rod Bechus

ROD BECHUS

ONE of the best tipsters in the land, unassuming former bookmaker Rod Bechus is the front line tipster in Computaform.

Not surprisingly, Rod lists “gut feeling’’ as his best guide when studying form. This comes with years of experience and he notes, in addition: “I have a pound-for-pound principle. Boxer Baby Jake Matlala, form his size, is a World Champion for a reason. In racing I would rate a trainer like Tyrone Zackey top class. He does very well with a small string of horses. He gets the best out of them.

“Champion trainers like Mike de Kock and Geoff Woodruff always score more points in my book and so, too, jockeys like Weichong Marwing and Piere Strydom.’’

Importantly, Rod notes: “I take serious cognizance of hot streaks. I follow in-form jockeys and trainers.”

When betting, Rod looks for value, and he is not scared of having a big strike bet on odds-on favourites. “When a 8-10 favourite is a 1-5 shot in my opinion, I put the money down. I look for value always.’’

- (extracted from The 10 Habits Of Highly Effective Horseplayers: Charl Pretorius , 2006).