Horse Betting Basics Part Two

One of my favorite methods is to use the charts of the races to find horses that are ready for a strong effort. The charts are usually found in the middle or the back of the Daily Racing Form. The charts are like capsules of the races run at a particular track. The charts are fairly easy to read as they show the horses in order of finish along with their positions throughout the race. There are also comments on each horses' trip underneath the actual chart which describes what kind of trip the horse had, whether wide, blocked, took up, slow start, etc.

The way to use these to handicap is to hold on to them and when the horses return and win, circle each winner. An easy way to do this is to find the winner of each race in the Past Performances, and look at the date, track and race of his last start. Then go to the charts from that date, find him, and circle him. As you do this, you will notice that there may be two or more horses from the same race that have come back to win. When there are three, we consider this a key race.

A few years back, The Daily Racing Form started highlighting horses in the Past Performances which came back to win, but only the first three finishers are listed there, so if you do the extra work by checking the charts, you will be far ahead of most of your competition, which is the betting public. The reasoning behind the Key Horse method is that because three or more horses from the same race came back to win, the other horses in that particular race were up against it, so to speak. They were facing at least three horses that were at, or near peak form. When these other runners reappear in the coming weeks, they should be primed for their best effort. In order to be playable, they should be returning within 3 to 4 weeks and their effort in the key race should have been somewhat competitive at least. Maybe they showed good early speed or made a strong move in the middle of the race, something along those lines. If they had trouble such as being steadied, were wide around one or both turns, or maybe had a slow start, then they should be primed for the upcoming race.

With all of the satellite wagering available on different tracks, you should find plenty of opportunities for this method to be used.
Take the time to save the charts, circle the horses that come back to win their next race, and you will get an edge on the betting public which is where value comes from when handicapping the horses.

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