Horse Racing Handicapping Secrets To Finding Winners

By Paul John Coleman

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The one thing I would advise new punters to do is to take notes every time you go racing. After a while keep going over your notes and you will find patterns emerging from them that you can base winning systems around.
A big priced winner going in could be something as simple as liking the heavy going or it hits form at a particular time of the year.
It amazes me how many gamblers do not take track conditions into consideration as this a massive factor.
Check horses previous results to see if it can handle the days going conditions.
Another area to watch for that finds plenty of winners are horses dropping down in class. Horses that drop down in class of three four grades are a big threat.

Good recent form is one of the main things I tend to look for in picking a winning horse. If a horse has not had a run within say 30 to 40 days I would be very wary of backing it.
Try to understand which horses running styles are suited for which types of races. Sprint races over five and six furlongs suit early speed horses.
Here is a check list for determining if a horse has winning credentials and whether to play or pass.
Determine which horse are the true contenders. If you cannot whittle the field down to two or three contenders then leave the race alone. It is probably too competitive.

When Horse Racing Handicapping You Should Know the Percentage of Winning Favorites

By Bill Peterson

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Most people believe that the favorite wins a horse race about a third of the time. While many think that is common knowledge and use it to handicap horse races, it is such a broad statement that it often bears little truth. How can that be? You may ask.

The truth is that there are many different kinds of horse races over different surfaces and at a wide range of distances. The percentage of winning favorites, based on those factors, may be as low as a mere 10% to as high as 70%. While the average is somewhere in the middle and probably around a third, it still leaves a lot of room for adjustment and that is exactly what the smart handicapper needs to do.

You need to adjust your methods of evaluating horses and betting on horses in order to take advantage of the public's ability or lack of ability to pick winners. Certainly all the people who represent the public bettors don't bet on the same horse, but the largest percentage of their betting funds will be invested in the favorite.

At the time of the writing of this article, in 6 furlong races at the 25,000 claiming level for 3 year olds at Aqueduct over the inner track, just 10% of favorites have won those races. A full 80% of the winners have been at or below 5-1, however, which shows that second and third favorites have done very well. What does that tell the smart handicapper?