BET ON THE WRONG HORSE

{v. phr,}, {informal} To base your plans on a wrong guess about the result of something; misread the future; misjudge a coming event. * /To count on the small family farm as an important thing in the American future now looks like betting on the wrong horse./ * /He expected Bush to be elected President in 1992 but as it happened, he bet on the wrong horse./