Diet Exercise and Horse Racing Handicapping - The Connection

By Bill Peterson

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It's amazing how people who handicap horse races spend so much time thinking about the physical condition of the horses and jockeys but who ignore their own health as a factor in success at the races. I know many people don't want to hear that their lifestyle has a direct impact on their success playing the races, but in my opinion, it does.

Horse races are contests. Horse racing handicapping is a contest as well. The person who bets into pari-mutuel pools is competing against all the other people who also bet into the pools. You aren't competing against the race track or horses, you're competing against other people who are doing the same thing you're doing -- trying to make a profit picking winners.

How smart and how well prepared you are will make a big difference, just as it does in any other contest. Professional poker players who play in tournaments know that fatigue plays a big part in finishing well. The players who are able to make good decisions at the end of the tournament are the ones who usually win. Physical fatigue leads to poor judgment and mental errors.

As a handicapper, your best tool is your mind. Physiologist will tell you that cognitive ability declines with poor health. Proper nutrition is a key to a clear well functioning mind. Exercise leads to better blood flow and almost everyone knows how important it is for your brain to get oxygen rich blood in order to function properly.

Just because you sit down to handicap a horse race, it doesn't mean that physical strength and stamina aren't necessary. Think of other contests and sports where the participants sit down and you'll see what I mean. NASCAR drivers sit down and drive a car. It certainly doesn't take much strength to turn a steering wheel, does it?


Have you seen many fat NASCAR drivers? Most professional drivers keep themselves in very good physical shape because they know that stamina and good judgment after a grueling race are often the difference between taking the victory lap and cooling your heels in the pits.

Therefore, take a little advice from a handicapper who walks and exercises every day. Take a long walk or exercise, get into a regular routine. It will help you to think clearly and to have the stamina to outlast the out of shape couch potato who doesn't take the game as seriously as you do. That may be one more bit of an edge that you have over the other handicappers.

If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://williewins.homestead.com/true.html and get the truth about betting on horses and winning. Bill Peterson is a former race horse owner and professional handicapper. To see all Bill's horse racing material go to Horse Racing Handicapping, Bill's handicapping store.

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