How do you Handicap horses?

[C-Gold]

Do you care more about
Their weight
Their age
Their past fast times
Their past average times
Their past slowest times
The jockey
or look at them and guess which one is roided up?

Is anybody actually good at horses please help.

[dodger33]

The horses name

[Louisvillekid1]

OP,

It's just like anything else...

Get your hands on as much info as possible and make the best decision using whatever angle/edge you see...

could write a book on it, but too much action going on right now to get into detail...

some nice articles/posts in the horse forum archives

[topgame85]

Everyone is different, for me I look at the race conditions first: Distance, track bias,turf/dirt, fast, firm, sloppy etc. After you know the race you find the horse who fits the race. I like good breeding, training and jockeys in low $ claiming races/maidens and Class, time between races, record at the specific track and running style compared to the other running styles in the race for higher $/stakes races.

[C-Gold]

How do you know what horse fits the race. Do bigger horses run better on sloppy or smaller or dirt etc? How do you know the horses breeding?

[Louisvillekid1]

By looking at their breeding/PP's you can determine what conditions a horse excels,

[C-Gold]

How much time is ideal between races? Didn't think about that one.

[jjgold]

Jocks are critical
Takeout too much
Fun sport to bet
Play small

[King Mayan]

Wake up at 3:30am, get to the racetrack at 4am, and mingle with the trainers..


They'll give you winners.

[str]

Wake up at 3:30am, get to the racetrack at 4am, and mingle with the trainers..


They'll give you winners.

I like it !

[Dark Horse]

It's a high threshold sport. Which is good, because that will protect the edge you gain for much longer than in the low threshold sports.

You need two things. A mentor (if you can't figure out who that is in this place forget about picking horses), and a willingness to work hard.

[FuzzyDunlop]

I normally just club them in the knees.

[in2thethickofit]

I pick the one that just took a crap...they are lighter and have the edge...

[Dr.Gonzo]

There's a lot of generic bullshit responses in here, I'll throw you a bone.

I know sweet **** all about American racing, but the starting price history is a great foundation for framing a market, so in that sense you could call it the most important factor.

Muscular horses are sprinting types, make sure they have a good neck on them.

Short galloping actions, as opposed to long striders, usually get through wet tracks.

There's no ideal time between races, it depends on the horse, go back through the form and look at their profile.

[Boner_18]

Track bias.

[Big_Slim]

People still bet on horses???....I thought from all the track closings and HBO's Luck show being canceled for poor ratings people had no interest in this sport whatsoever???

When I think of horse racing I think of 1950's mafia....don't ask why!

[no gnu taxes]

Do you care more about
Their weight
Their age
Their past fast times
Their past average times
Their past slowest times
The jockey
or look at them and guess which one is roided up?

Is anybody actually good at horses please help.

Any information available to the general public probably isn't worth the time it takes to study it.

Although something like this might help:

http://www.stkusers.com/

[scratbandit]

Start off by typing in amazon and pick up a few good books. Find a local track and stick to it. You will learn so much just from being there.

[Easy-Rider 66]

For big racing days like the Breeders Cup prefer to use the Thorograph sheets. They are expensive, but worth it a couple of times a year.

[rkelly110]

I've bought a shit ton of horse systems. Some worked some didn't. Using your own works best.

I look at the odds 5 min to post. I've won on chasing the 1st two (or 3) lowest odds (boxed) for exactas.

I win the most with the lowest odds horse at the Harness tracks betting $2 win $7 place and $12 show.
The odds on fave usually is in the money about 80%.

Simple, works and your brain won't be fried by the end of the night.

[jjgold]

I think Aussie racing is the most up and up racing market in world

Favs give you a great run for your money

[in2thethickofit]

I live a mile from a Turf Paradise, horses bore me, never go.

[balls2wall]

HBO's Luck show being canceled for poor ratings people had no interest in this sport whatsoever???

I don't think ratings had anything to do with it. I believe it was due to horses dying during production.

[Sam Odom]

horses for courses

No way to make $$$ on them tho

UNLESS...

You can get inside info

[mikemca]

Nothing of interest today so I'll give it a crack.

Do you care more about
Their weight--Only matters when carrying drastically more than the other horses in the race despite what some say.
Their age--Only matters with young 3 yr olds early in the year when they race in a 3+ race aginst elders.
Their past fast times--Time doesn't matter but you can substitute figures(Their past best figures)
Their past average times--Same as above
Their past slowest times--Same as above
The jockey--The best jockeys are overbet.Its best to find low key jockeys that are more than capable.The gap is minimal.
or look at them and guess which one is roided up?--Hard to tell anything significant other than looks good/looks bad.The one thing I hate is to see a horse I like show up with front wraps on.

Is anybody actually good at horses please help.

To be successful in today's game you need to do a lot of work.More than the majority that make up the pools.There are so many different ways to go about capping a race but I'll try to give a couple ways.

I use pace figures combined with the speed figures published by DRF and Bris.The pace figures give me insight into how much effort it took the horse to achieve the speed figure.So if a horse ran a competitive beyer # relative to today's field while not being all out that gets my attention.Often the horse will be a bigger price(8-1+) because he/she looks like a cut below in the public's perception.

Another thing to look for is patterns.You can find bad favorites to bet against by finding ones that efforts are getting weaker and weaker.Usually dropping in class so it looks like they are the best horse in the field from prior races but if the trend continues the race will be below the prior races.On the other end a horse with an increasing pattern will look like an outsider but another jump forward puts them right in it.

Most trainers excel at very specific angles.It will do you well to find out where they win a high percentage.For instance some trainers are great with 2 yr olds or switching a horse from turf to dirt or stretching a horse out from a sprint to a route.Of course there are the trainers like Pletcher,Baffert,Mcpeek,Sadler, etc.. that seem to win with everything so the thing to look for with them is where they lose.Their horse are favorites a lot so find a spot they aren't that good at and bet against them.


Like I said in the beginning the are literally infinite variables.These are just a few but the game is beatable no matter what you hear.

[ProfaneReality]

You don't. They handicap you, and your bankroll.

[Dr.Gonzo]

I think Aussie racing is the most up and up racing market in world

Favs give you a great run for your money

We've still got more than our fair share of crooks in the industry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC4b96t8kJE

Luckily we race for good prizemoney and the big stables are obsessed with strike rates so they're usually trying.

[Only1Oklahoma]

You pay $2 at the door for the house handicappers' pamphlet.

[Easy-Rider 66]

You don't. They handicap you, and your bankroll.

Yeah, Horse racing is a losing proposition for most. Wagering in moderation and betting the big race days is the way to go. Good game if you can minimize your losses. And if you hit a 50/1 longshot like Mine That Bird in the 2009 Derby it can be a great game.

[jjgold]

It might be the most unpredictable gambling out there

So hard

[dirtcapper]

In my opinion since turf is less formful you should concentrate on dirt (unless you have deep pockets of course). There are also more cryptic foreign shippers on turf. On dirt the projected pace scenario is important, you can eliminate selections that way.

[Letsplayfast]

Use Edge Pro Sheets and ask Franklin about his angle plays, hedge and dutch betting

[jjgold]

I laugh at horse players

Old Cars
No hair..or stands of hair
overweight
wacked out looking
broke
ripped pants

[13th Inning]

JJ make another horseplayer video.