Does this old punters trick still work?

A couple of old punters told me they used to use this trick, you stand close to the betting window and only put your ticket in a second or two before the starting gates open. Then you fumble around in your coat pockets for 15 seconds to find your money while listening to the race, if your horse misses the start or gets into a bad position early you just say oops sorry I must have left my money at home and they have no choice but to cancel the bet. Surely that cannot still happen nowadays with modern technology?