The Tote’s Scoop6 bet was not won yet again on Saturday, with punters failing to get as far as just the fourth winner in the six-race bet despite nearly £1.6 million being staked.

That shows how hard it is to find all six winners, but not every Saturday is going to throw up such difficult results and there is every chance that winners will be a lot easier to find next week when the feature card if the jumps finale meeting at Sandown Park.

With an estimated £4 million in the win and bonus pools, the rewards for finding all six winners will undoubtedly offer great value as even in the rare event of all six favourites winning there is enough “dead” money in the pool to ensure a bumper payout.

On the subject of pool bets, Betfred have been mightily disappointing since taking over the Tote. The lack of new bets has been surprising, given that the Tote still has a monopoly on pool betting, and the idea that British punters do not like pool betting – which has long been suggested by bookmakers – is laughable given the interest that is attracted when the pools are a decent size.

Surely the so-called “exotic” wagers such at the Scoop6, Jackpot, Placepot etc should be the ones that Betfred are keenest to invent, but there has been a deafening silence from the company on that front.

The lack of imagination is just frightening. Take the Grand National as an example. The one race of the year that is guaranteed to attract not just a massive British audience, but ten of millions worldwide, and the Tote offer nothing that is not available on any other race.

Why not have a pool bet that requires punters to name the first six home in the correct order and guarantee £1 million in the pot. That should get some interest. You could add some healthy bonuses for picking the first five, or even the first four home. Better still, link up with the National lottery to increase the reach of the bet, albeit that may require some government legislation, but as a one-off it has to be worth trying.

Even if it was won and the £1 million guarantee was not reached in terms of turnover – which is highly unlikely if the bet was properly promoted worldwide – it would still generate terrific publicity.

If it was not won, which is highly possible given how hard that National has been to predict since the modification of the fences, there would be a massive pot which could be taken forward to other big-field handicaps. Given that Betfred would be gaining around £300,000 for every £1 million staked, it is remarkable that this sort of bet is not being created, isn’t it?

Moore is the master

Ryan Moore followed up his valuable success on Grandeur at Lingfield Park on Friday with a treble at Kempton Park.

No rider can be successful without being on good horses, but what separates the top riders from the rest is not making mistakes and in that respect Moore has no peers either on the Flat or over jumps.

On all four of those winners it would have been quite possible to get beaten. Many riders would have gone for home too soon on Grandeur, Zurigha was hard to settle in the early stages and would have continued to race too keenly had Moore not found her cover, while both Sea Shanty and Queen Of Ice were up with the pace in slowly run races and could easily have been beaten had they been held up.

Moore always seems to be in the right place at the right time and is always unflappable, both before, during and after every race. He is not champion jockey, but that is solely down to his refusal to trek around the country to ride in low-grade races. Make no mistake, he is quite outstanding.

Ribbons has a royal date

It was a disappointing Saturday in terms of quality, but one horse that caught the eye with a view to the future was Ribbons.

She was really progressive last season and made a most pleasing return to action when a staying-on second to Zurigha at Kempton Park.

That effort was all the better as she was held up in a race run at a pedestrian early gallop, but in any case she is more effective over farther.

James Fanshawe, her shrewd trainer, said afterwards that the run was “a step to a race I love” which is the Windsor Forest Stakes at Royal Ascot. Those words will be well worth remembering come the middle of June.