Hey boys, I've recently gotten into horse racing. Saw the triple crown in person and saw American Pharoah win the Haskell today. I did good at Belmont, but it was luck. Today I didn't do so well, but I understand what I was reading in the book. I did a lot of exacta and trifecta bets and was able to get 1/2 or 2/3 on basically all of them but had some bad luck a few times, like getting 1st and 3rd on an exacta, etc. My question really is this: are exacta and trifecta (and I guess superfecta) bets sucker bets - a la parlays? Should I always be boxing these bets? I'm pretty novice to this. I did a lot of comparing to the types of races the horse was used to (used to short tracks but running a longer one, staying away from horses that were claimed multiple times in the year, avoiding horses with very long layoffs, etc). Maybe someone can point me in the right direction for a book or something? It's fun, and I'd like to get good at it and win when I go. I could throw money on horses that are like 4-1 obviously but then that involves substantially bigger bets to really turn it into real winnings, and I usually end up with an exacta if I like a horse that just has low paying odds to make it worth while. Just curious what is the best route to go.
TL;DR = Are exotic wagers considered sucker bets and should you always box them? Thanks boys.