Handicapping Tips

Horse handicapping is challenging for any bettor to the races. Even experienced handicappers aren’t always correct in their educated guesses. It isn’t an exact science, after all. But your odds of winning are much better if you know how to handicap than if you depend on Lady Luck alone. If you’re interested to learn, here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Get hold of a racing program. As far as handicapping is concerned, this is your bible. The racing program will give you detailed data about the previous performance of each horse expected to race. Take the time to review the information here well before the race starts and in between races. Look at where the horse placed in its previous race, his finish time, Beyer Speed (the higher the figure is, the faster the horse is supposed to be) and the horse’s workouts. In case it rains, you might also find the “Tomlinson Ratings” helpful since this tells you how well an equine performs in muddy conditions.
2. Review the horse’s performance in its past few races. If the horse is a consistent winner, that will tell you a lot about its performance in the current race. While you can check on such details as whether a horse will perform well in the turf or in a dirt surface, the simple detail of a horse’s past winnings is enough to give you a good idea of its chances.
3. Aside from past winnings, check the kind of workouts the horse is subjected to in the weeks leading up to the race. While the past performance can give you the inherent skill of a horse, the degree of his present workouts indicate his current physical form. A horse who has worked out well before the race is in his best form and often will win over the one who may have a great performance record but is in poor shape.
4. Look for horses dropping down classes because they are a threat to the other horses and that’s where you should place your money on. For example, if a horse previously ran in a $100,000 graded stakes but is now running in a $5,000 claimer, then you have a potentially good horse running against lesser equines. Significant class dropdowns include: Maiden Special Weight to cheap Maiden Claiming, Claiming to another Claiming with a significantly lower claiming price, Allowance to Claiming and Graded Stakes to Allowance or Claiming.
5. Check out the jockey and the trainer. While jockeys aren’t the ones running, they can certainly direct a horse to take the lead even against narrow passes. And good horse trainers have also established their reputations with winning horses too.

Again, handicapping isn’t an exact science. But it definitely ups your chances at the horse races!