Let me ask you, the handicapper, would you bet a horse with a published four furlong gate work of 52 and change? Would you bet a second time starter that got beat almost 36 lengths in debut? Can you bet confidently a horse that has been off for 17 months? I am betting man, and I bet you said NO to all three! Well, after you read this book, and I ask you again you would swear “Yes, Yes, Yes!” for all three questions after cashing out at 18-1, 7-1 and 6-1, respectively. About a European runner? Do you bet off the works?, and what would you expect from the foreign animal in the morning? Certainly not tea and crumpets. First time starters, two-year-olds, claiming warriors, three-year-olds and up, second time starters, shippers, first time routers, medication, equipment, pedigree, trainer, owner, jockey and even the media play roles in your everyday handicapping. ‘Are horses missed, or timed inaccurately? Does medication, or pedigree affect workouts? Does the racing surface have any role into a workout? Is Hollywood, where Declan’s Moon trained before debut, deeper than Del Mar? If so, how does an handicapper make adjustments of where the horse is training in correlation to his next performance?’ Read this book cover to cover and you will never handicap the same way again! If you take the lessons to heart and strive to learn why horses win races other than the overstated rhetoric, of pace, figures, bias and generalities or angles, I am confident you will be a winning horseplayer. So, it’s all here, illustrated in black and white.
Let’s begin with the basics of how horses are clocked, identified and analyzed. |