Never before in human history have global governments and internet influencers seemed so passionate in their commitment to ending prejudice and promoting tolerance.

Objectively speaking, these moral crusades are both virtuous and noble.

The problem is, however, there’s nothing objective about them.

Punters know this better than most.

For reasons both pernicious and perplexing, punters, those that wager and invest on racing and sport in particular, are often viewed as nefarious by nature.

Staggeringly, many forget that the western world was built upon the merits of free enterprise and financial speculation.

Perhaps, in fact, they don’t.

After all, we happily laude the brilliance of business owners, entrepreneurs and even those that successfully leverage stock market portfolios.

Every investment, of any kind, thrives or dies via the very same matrix.

This matrix manifests in basic market form.

Punters, you see, find themselves faced with the very same dilemma as real estate investors, day traders, retailers, and all consumers regardless of the goods or services they wish to purchase.

Two factors reign in this free market labyrinth.

Value and confidence.

On Saturday night at Melton Park, early markets suggested two horses in particular would start at “red figure” odds, that is, shorter than $2 or, in layman terms, less than yours for theirs.

Those horses were Yambukian in the evening’s open class contest, and Stir Me Up in the final event, which punters often reference as the “get-out stakes”.

Ultimately, Yambukian started at $4.40 and Stir Me Up $4.

Importantly, both runners drifted desperately soon before their races were staged.

More importantly, Yambukian finished last while Stir Me Up defeated just two of 11 rivals home.

What, in real terms, are the consequences of these markets flucs and the results which followed them?

That’s simple.

For those that follow harness racing here and there at best, it’s tough to think they wouldn’t feel both frustrated and manipulated.

How can they wager on this product with confidence when one-time market morals suddenly blow out late and subsequently finish well down the track?

As is normally the case, however, truth and perception lie many miles apart.

And the truth is this.

Neither Yambukian nor Stir Me Up should ever have opened at such prohibitive prices.

Both runners started somewhere near their correct quotes.

And both horses encountered burdens which they could not overcome.

This discussion isn’t intended to marginalise or pillory those price assessors that made the markets referenced above.

Setting prices is the toughest task in all three racing codes.

Nevertheless, without greater competition, these errors will always occur; and while smart players will leverage them, we’ll also lose peripheral punters the game so sorely needs.

Like most complex problems, there are no easy answers.

Nevertheless, that should not preclude us from searching for solutions.

Punter confidence – and existence itself - depends upon finding them.

The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.