Some of my favorite memories of my father are the times I spent with him going the horse races. I experienced the sport of horse racing at a very young age. We would go watch the thoroughbreds at Thistledown and Randall Park in Cleveland, Ohio. Northfield Park in Ohio was another favorite track to watch harness racing. On this page I hope to share my knowledge and passion for horse racing.
https://www.gohorsebetting.com/pdf/gohorsebetting-howtoread.pdf
When I was very young, I just wanted to be with my father and see the horses at the race track. My father would show me the program and say to me, “pick a winner.” My criteria then was very simple. I would pick a name I really liked and usually it was a long shot. Pretty simple, right? And being Irish I often picked the winner.
As I grew older, my dad and older sister taught me how to read the program. As you can tell from the sample below, it can be very confusing. The art of picking a winner is a little bit of science and a little bit of luck. So my days of pointing at a name in the program are over. I am now a sophisticated bettor, although I admit I do not always win in the sport of horse racing.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
Every bettor looks at a program differently. I have to confess, I still look at the names first! But then I couple my intuition with logic and begin examining each horse’s record. The program info looks daunting so until you become very familiar with it, I would suggest when selecting your horse focus on the following below.
Past Performance Data
I tend to focus on the past performance data as you only have such a brief window between races. I watch the post parade to get a look at the horse and the jockey to get a feel for the health of the horse and the size of the jockey. Then I get to work looking at the following:
- The date of the horse’s last race is important. If it has been awhile since the last race, the statistics become a little shaky.
- The date of the last win and what was the post position is significant.
- Check out the horse’s times, especially against the other horses in the race.
- Look at their current post position and how they did in prior races in that spot.
- If the post position is furtherest from the rail, the likelihood of a win is slimmer (especially if the field is large). However check to see if the horse is a fast closer in the stretch.
- Look at the finish position and margin to the winner, ahead of second place finisher if winner. This shows how convincing the win was.
- Look to see if this is a new track for the horse or if the jockey is new. This can be good or bad. If it is a new track or jockey, you cannot be sure how the horse will perform.
- Check the updating betting odds on the horse as betting on the “favorite” will not generate a lot of money. Since I do not bet large amounts of money I tend to bet on horses that have a shot at winning, but start the race at 5-1, 7-1. Sometimes I get crazy and bet on a long shot.
The Sport of Horse Racing also includes Harness Racing
While the program for harness racing is relatively the same, I find myself relying more on intuition for this type of racing. Longshots seem to win more and post position, while it matters still, does not seem to have as much impact.
It may be because the starting gate for trotters is a moving vehicle with wings that fold away when the race begins. The horse following the car with their noses at the assigned post position. The car accelerates and pulls off to the side of the track, out of the way of the horses. And they’re off and pacing!
I think I also like the atmosphere of harness racing more as it is held in the evenings whereas post time for thoroughbreds is usually 1:00 p.m. depending where you live. A summer night at the track, having drinks and food in the clubhouse is my cup of tea-or should I say glass of wine!
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