Betfair Prices vs course opening prices

Some rudimentary research done at Galway’s Plate day meeting on Wednesday – first five races. (People may want to go on below to just to read the main points of the research)
First race 3.00: taken at eight minutes to three, the favourite’s price: 1.71 Betfair,  4/6 with bookies. The  second fav, 5.5 Betfair, 4/1 with bookies.  The Tote single win pool here was Eur42k.
Second race 3.35: at three twenty pm.  The favourite was 6.5 – 6.8 Betfair. 5/1 and 11/2 on the bookies. Second favourite 7.2 – 7.4, 6/1 on the bookies, third fav  8 – 8.4 6/1 with bookies. Tote single win pool: Eur40k.
Third race 4.10, at four pm: favourite  4.3 – 4.4, on the bookies 10/3 and 3s. two second favourites, 11 – 11.5 on Betfair, 7s with the bookies, 9.4 – 9.6 Betfair and 7s with the bookies.  Tote win pool Eur 46k. Total matched on Betfair Eur50k.
Fourth race 4.45:  at 4.35: favourite usually 3.4 – 3.45 but reached 3.3 – 3.25, with bookies fav was 9/4 briefly touched 5/2.  Second favourite touched 4.7 – 4.8, but 3/1 and 10/3 with bookies, third in market was 4.4 – 4.5 but was 10/3 and 7/2 with bookies.  Tote win pool Eur47K. Betfair matched: Eur214k (at 4.43)
Fifth race: 5.25, at 5.05pm: SP favourite earlier was 7.8 – 8 and 8 – 8.2, bookies offered 7s. Bahrain Storm, which (I think) opened the favourite,  was 8 – 8.2 and 6s with the bookies prior to drifting in the market.   Tote single win pool: Eur80K. Betfair matched (at 5:18) was Eur 300k.

So! The main points:-
No bargains on Betfair if you follow the SP favourite to win, the maximum price advantage I saw as regards using Betfair was half-a-point better than that offered on the course, only half-a-point.   
Sometimes but not always, a second maybe a third market leader in the betting,Betfair offered a good mark-up as against the bookies (the horse still has to win however before one gains any advantage!).
You could lay on Betfair at equal odds with the bookie if you fancied it to lose; the most above the bookies was only about half a point, often Betfair’s lay odds were the same.   
From what I see (well from this sample research) the field has leveled as regards prices and the early betting markets.   


Notes:-
I used Betfair mobile to watch compare prices; simultaneously I must add.

The tote win pool figure was taken at the ‘off’. Add on the ‘place’ pool, usually about 50% of the ‘win’ pool and you’ve the total staked on the Tote on that race. Betfair basically term this amount ‘matched’ in each particular event. Total betting ring turnover is usually two to two-and-a-half times Tote turnover so it’s possible to gauge total race turnover here. 
From what I see (well what from I see) the field has leveled as regards prices and early betting markets.