Thing to look for on horses in the paddock, walking ring, warming up....

pacocn · 02-11-12, 04:22 PM

Did you happen to ask your friend what he saw?

mikemca · 02-11-12, 07:04 PM

1)When a horse is "on its toes" it will look like it is tip toeing .
2)A shiny coat is plus (Some horses have dapples which look like little shiny circles in its coat)
3)When a horse wore front wraps last race and comes into the walking ring without wraps this time.
4)For the most part you can just tell if the horse is feeling good about itself.

Some things that are good signs but if a horse isn't spotted well it doesn't matter how healthy it is.

Bad signs

A dull coat
Front wraps
all washed out
A big drop in class especially when it was competitive last race at a higher level.

gravy · 02-11-12, 09:48 PM

If the horse takes a shit before the race than toss out the horse from winning

str · 02-12-12, 01:05 PM

Originally posted by Automoto

Are there any good posts in this forum regarding things to look for on horses to identify if they are feeling good, sore, etc.?

I recall going to Santa Anita with a trainer and I did my studying of the race via the DRF and while we were watching the post parade, my trainer friend said "Who is that horse?" and then left to place a bet on it. Of course, the horse won and left me thinking... "What did he notice in that horse?".

I have read articles on looking at horses to try and identify if the horse is carrying extra weight, checking their tails to identify a sore horse, the demeanor of the horse, washiness, kidney sweat, whether the horse takes a dump right before the race, etc.

Does anyone have a good resource on what to watch for to maybe eliminate/alert on a horse prior to a race?

1. You can indeed see if they are fat.
2. The tail story is a myth.
3. The demeanor of the horse is only useful if you have seen the horse warm up before and have it's current demeanor to compare past demeanor too .
4. Washiness is only helpful if you know how washy the horse typically gets, taking the days temperature into consideration. Ruffian washed out every race. So did Seattle Slew.
5. Kidney sweat is never a positive but again, need to compare amounts from past warm ups.
6. Taking a dump right before the race is always better unless they do not need to take a dump. Maybe they took 2 dumps while being saddled.

Your trainer friend might have seen a horse warming up nicely and took a shot and it worked out, However, without knowing each horses past warm ups, it is pretty much useless information to the casual player. He would be the first one to tell you that, I would think. It's all about the things they typically do, and the things that they display that day.
Trust me, if all you needed to do was be a trainer, watch them warm up, bet the winner, and repeat the process, there would be an awful lot of trainers in the grandstand for every race, wouldn't there? I mean, why train at all, just bet each day.
Honestly, I watched a trainer trying to impress a new guy once. He watched the horses in the post parade, said, I think I just found us a winner, went and bet 20 to win on all 7 horses, waited for the race to run, and when the guy was not looking , got the winning ticket out of the pile of tickets he had, and handed him the winning one. It's the oldest trick in the book at the track. Guy was hooked right there. He soon bought a cheap horse and just like that, the trainer had a new client.
If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them. Just ask in my Q and A thread in this forum.
Best of Luck.