Home April 6th, 2010
PICKING A WINNING HORSE
Horse Racing there is a heap of information to be found, regarding the horse’s, jockeys and
trainers, racecourse conditions, betting odds and so on. It’s very easy to get
weighed down and buried with all this, unless you carefully assess the factors
and use the information to choose the best horse for a particular race and winning bet
A look at form in the racing pages will enable you to balance the ability of one horse
with another. Here are some major points to you need to consider.
• Has the horse won a race within the last month?
• Has the handicap weight been increased or decreased since it last ran?
• Is the horse a regular winner or has it had a few jammy wins?
• How does this race measure up to with previous wins - speed, distance,
course, conditions, etc.?
• What was the winning scope last time?
• Will the same jockey be riding this time?
A horse’s ability on a racecourse can be affected by many factors such as its age,
health, training tactics, barrier draw, weight to be carried, length of the race and the
capability of the jockey.
On Good courses, fast horses will win more races than slow horses, nevertheless,
soft and wet surfaces are a big equalizer. That’s where the slower horse without the
quick turn of foot can win. It just keeps plodding away at the same speed.
Heavy weights on rain affected courses bog down many class horses. On good
courses weight is not so significant. However when a horse faces a weight rise in
mixture with a change from a good barrier draw to a very wide barrier draw there’s a
multiplying affect of disadvantages.
A horse’s ability to carry weight is a significant factor, which cannot be ignored. Each
horse has an individual weight level beyond which it cannot perform in races to
anywhere near its usual ability.
A horse’s form on individual courses can be affected by any number of factors such
as the weather, wind, racecourse condition and rail positions. Some punters even
take into account the distance the horse has to be transported to the race venue.
The ability of the jockey cannot be ignored when trying to weigh up a horse’s
chances of winning a race. A top jockey can make a gigantic difference to the show
of a horse.
Course and distance are two important factors. If you know how the horse performs
at a certain distance and to which type of track it’s best suited you will begin to get a
good idea of how the horse should perform.
Take into account the weight carried; the jockey, course conditions, and you will
soon start to build up an image of how one horse should perform against the rest.
WARNING! - Don’t let emotion rule your head too often. You will often hear
gamblers proudly shouting about a big coup, but what they don’t tell you is how
much they have lost.
A flutter every now and then on the horses is good fun but if you don’t want to get in
to serious debt and you actually want to make some good money on a