Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Dominant Factor - Horse Racing Handicapping and Betting

If you're betting on horse races trying to make a profit, you probably spend quite a bit of time handicapping the races. That means you're familiar with the major factors in horse racing such as class, speed, connections, form. Each of those and some lesser known factors as well are the backbone of the process of picking winners and making good betting decisions.

As you probably know, each event is unique and requires a fresh approach. Also, there are many types of races and conditions that you will encounter. While some handicappers only bet on maiden races or turf races or stakes races, to name just a few, others look for value in all the races and will handicap every contest on the card.

Whether you are a specialist or a generalist, you should know that the above mentioned factors are not all created equally. There are times when class will be the most important consideration and other times when speed will rule. Knowing which one is the most important is one of the most important pieces of information a handicapper can have at his or her disposal.

There are several ways to go about finding out whether speed, class, or recent form is the most important thing and should be your focus. The method I recommend is to handicap the races and then follow the results. See for yourself which factor comes out on top the most often. For instance, if you look at 100 maiden special weight races (MSW) and see that the horse with the top class, as determined by its pedigree and stud fee of the sire, wins the highest percentage of the races, then you will know that class rules those MSW events.

If, on the other hand, you find that the runner with the highest speed figure in its last race wins most often you will know that is the most likely winner. However, this is only part of the problem because the goal is to make a profit. Therefore, you must also see if they are a profitable bet. If not, even though they win the most, the value may be in using another factor to find a good wager.

This brings us to real world handicapping. In the real world a sophisticated approach is necessary to make money on horse races. Just because you know what the dominant factor is it doesn't mean you should bet on it. You should only use that information to know the winning percentage of the horse that qualifies for that factor so you can then compare the odds to the probability and make a financial decision based on return and profit.

It also means you can use a hierarchical approach and use the second best horse using that factor if the odds are right based on the probability you have established for those runners.

If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://horse-racing-handicapping.co/ 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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