Horse Racing Handicapping – The Big Three

Form of the Horse

The horse should be in form when you lay some green on them. You have to stay away from betting on a horse if they are not fit, whether it is though their last few races or if they have had less then stellar workouts. The biggest indicator that shows if a horse is fit is if the horse was in a recent competitive race. If a horse has not been on a track in a race in over 30 days it should show solid workout evidence that they are fit, have shown that the horse performs well on long or shot breaks, and is from a barn that produces winners. Horses that are not in this category should not be wagered on. It really does not matter how a horse has done in past races if they do not look like they will win in the race that you are looking to bet on. Conversely, don’t just cross off a potential long shot that has a bad start and had an good excuse for doing so, such as the wrong surface, distance, or has had a freshener after a good workout. This is the major element in handicapping horses.

Ability of the Horse

On the very best day, how fast can the horses that remain run? This is the next question you have to ask yourself and more importantly answer. There are a few ways in which you can evaluate a horses talent. You have to pinpoint a couple of things which are how good can the horse perform and what does it figure to do in THE race you want to bet on. Horses that do not figure within 3 lengths of the main contenders in a race should not be wagered on.

Class of the Horse

The class of the horse is not as easy to pinpoint, as they can improve and get worse very fast in horse racing these days. This is the case because there is now year round racing and trainers work horses very hard when they should get a rest from racing. Many times, horses that are out-classed will be taken out of the equation in the second step, however if it is the case where horses move up in class off good efforts, it is important to look into how these figures were com up with. Horses that gained an advantage from races with easy paces, solid bias situation, or they raced rival horses, should be looked at with a grain of salt when they move up a level. The very best horses that jump classes are those that have tailed off, dropped in class, and then move back up in class while they seem like their form has been regained. A huge horse racing handicapping advantage is “Past Class” and it is something that many horse bettors tend to overlook.

Part 2 with an additional 3 factors can be found by clicking here

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