Home Forums Sports Picks Central Trackside Picks 04/01/03 Help With Races

I dont bet much on horses. A bunch of guys asked me to go to OTB (9pm est) for the night...can any of you guys over me some picks or horses to look for so i dont drop all my cash. Thanx a bunch! -jpav

jpav easier said than done. First it depends on what tracks you are betting on, and then the need of a form, and time to study the races.

Handicapping horse races is a art and a science all at the same time. There is no magical formula, because your dealing with animals, and since they don't talk..... you really don't know.

Just go to the races, look at the horses, see which ones look ready to roll, ears pricked, bouncy, and look at the odds, and then let it rip.

See if you can scrounge up a leftover form or program before you leave, take it home and look it over, it's the only way to learn...

For tonight bet $2 to win only....

freak---you are a great friend---thanx...hope your are makin lots of X at sports.usatoday....

I will do what you said and hope i can at least break even...i am gonna get a program and bring it home with me---maybe you can help me study it...

thanx for the quick reply and ill talk to you about the program sometime tomorrow...thanx again bud!

hey freak---didnt stay too long...friends lost a lot, got upset and we left...i only bet on 4 races. i took my time and watched the horses warm up...see who was ready...i was a lil worried about takin horses to win (though im sure theres a reason with the odds you told me to do that rather than show)...sadly i took my horses to show...anyway. 3 or my 4 horses WON and the 4th came in 4th. One horse was about 25:1 odds (first horse) and he came on strong to win...wish i would have taken them all to win. Anyway, i found a left over program and a left over "horse jockey trainer stats" book...let me know how it is i can study these and what i can do in the future---thanx again for your help (the only winner of all my friends for the hour or two we were there, all thanx to you!!)

That's kinda funny, but you should have came out ahead. Bottom line any time you leave the track + after paying for program, food, and anything else, your a winner. Even breaking even is like winning.

Depending on which form you ended up with, likely the Daily Racing Form, there will be a section in there, likely early in the paper. It will explain how to read the information provided about the horses, trainers, owners etc etc...

You have to kind of learn by trial and error, some go by Beyer Speed Figs, some go by pace, some by pedigree and recent form. Some lol go by jockeys, silk colors and names.

Is there a true right way to handicap, probably not. You can talk to 10 different people, and they will have 10 different ways to handicap, are they all right? are they all wrong? Only their bankrolls know that !!!

The reason I told you to bet to win is because that is where the odds are.

Think of this, you bet $2 to show and you got back $2.40

Well you bet $2 to win .40 cents so you laid 5-1 odds. Where as that horse may have paid $5 to win and you get odds of 3-2 instead of laying 5-1.

The lower the spot you bet, the lower you get paid, unless there is a bridgejumper in the race, and that horse doesn't hit the board, then the payouts are all screwed up.

I can bet what your thinking, what the heck is a bridgejumper !!!

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Take your time to study, you'll do fine !

Tell your partners to register and take part in the forum, we can always use more horse talkers.

Not horse shitters, but horse talkers !!!

haha alright, sounds good freak thanx...

after i learn everything though, you are tellin me there is no one way to handicap? do all of the ways work?? Or am i just studying the info and then guessing from there!??!? thanx!

What I am trying to tell you is that there is not 1 set way to handicap.na (longshot) was it the pace setter stole the race, or maybe the horse didn't fire...

No exact science at all.