Council groundskeeper Wayne Kellerman spent the better part of Saturday morning waging a private battle with himself as he contemplated whether to lock in a fixed price — or gamble on the tote odds — for the horse he fancied in the opener at Randwick. 

Sources close to Kellerman claim the 45-year-old changed his mind at least six times before finally deciding to take the fixed price of $3.20 as the Highway field was being loaded.

But the punter’s worst fears were almost immediately realised, with a concerted late push for another runner seeing his selection drift late on the tote. 

"My horse has absolutely shit in but I was just distraught when the dividends flashed up on the screen,” Kellerman told The Pakistan Star.

“It’s paid $3.80 on the tote when I’ve locked in the $3.20, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Every fucking time.”

Kellerman revealed that he has even tried applying George Costanza’s famed ‘Opposite Theory’ — the Seinfeld logic that doing the exact opposite of every natural instinct must lead to success — but the ‘fixed-tote lottery’ is still yet to fall in his favour. 

More to follow.