Winning horse racing bets is tough enough when you have inside information or work very hard at handicapping. Most horse players are always looking for a new angle and a few good bets. While some people evaluate every runner in a race and then determine a morning line for those horses, others just look through the past performances for a few good spot plays.
Whatever your style may be, being aware of what makes a good opportunity in wagering is important if you're ever going to make money betting on horses. The best bet in horse racing is a horse that runs like a favorite and is bet like a long shot. They are so rare, however, that you can wait weeks or even months to find one.
Getting an edge is how a gambler wins, whether it is in a casino, race track, or pitching pennies in a back alley. One angle that gives about as good an edge as anything I've ever found is post position and running style combined. Most players know that horses starting in the post have an advantage in many races.
One of the reasons for that is simple mathematics. Horses starting on the inside and running in what is called the one path have the shortest distance to travel around the track. If they run at the same speed as another horse but have to go a shorter distance, they win. So it isn't all about speed, it's also about position. You can get the post position statistics for different distances at your favorite track and start to add them to your regular handicapping.
If you really want to use those stats to your best advantage, however, you'll also dig a little deeper to see why horses win from those posts and how. When I say how, I mean, what running style wins? You will find, especially in the case of inside horses, that is horses starting in the one post or near the rail, that it is early speed that makes the difference, not just the post.
In fact, a slow starter that starts on the rail may often be at a disadvantage because it will have other runners cross over in front of it and will have to find a way through those horses or around them when it comes time to make a move for the finish line.
Now how do we combine running style and post position to give you the edge? Let's say that horses starting on the rail or one post in mile races at your favorite track are winning at a 22% clip. That isn't uncommon and once in a while is even higher. This includes harness races especially those on half mile tracks.
Let's also say that you keep accurate records and find out that most of those winners had good early speed. Now you can eliminate horses that are slow out of the gate, the ones that won't benefit from the post position and may even be at a disadvantage. Once you eliminate those horses, the winning percentage may go even higher. Depending upon how many slow starters break from that post, your actual win percentage may go up over 30%, just by eliminating horses whose running style doesn't fit the pattern.
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.
