Sports gambling is a popular pursuit because everyone understands the basics of how teams win and lose and why. Horses, meanwhile, are an entirely different animal”no pun intended. It is a complex discipline unto itself, and a sound background in handicapping sports doesn’t insure success, or even mediocrity in handicapping the ponies. In fact, the history of sports betting is replete with successful gamblers that had a weakness for horse betting, with an emphasis on the word weakness. Most notable, perhaps, is the former resident handicapper at CBS, Jimmy The Greek Snyder. The story goes that The Greek was a first rate sports handicapper, but he couldn’t pick the winner of a one horse race when playing the ponies. The bad news for The Greek is that he enjoyed playing the ponies nonetheless, and often frittered away the money he won at the other end of the sportsbook.
Below are some very basic concepts that you need to know to enjoy a day at the horse track. This information doesn’t even scratch the surface of what you’ll need to know if your goal is to become a serious horse betting devotee. If that is the case, you’re best advised to check out one of the many theoretical books devoted to the subject.
Do your reading: When you arrive at the horse track you should purchase a copy of the Daily Racing Form (DRF for short) and the track program. The DRF is basically the ‘bible’ of horse race handicapping, and offers morning line odds, horse, trainer, jockey statistics and information on each race at every major track across the country. The track program offers similar information for that individual venue, often in more ‘user friendly’ form.
The House Doesn’t Care Who Wins: One thing that is important for the sports bettor to remember when playing the horses is that its a parimutuel situation. In other words, you’re not playing against the house, you’re playing against the other bettors. The track just facilitates the betting and acts as a middleman, handling the money for a fee (15 to 25 percent of the parimutuel pool). Another difference is that the track odds are determined by how much money is bet on each horse. If everyone bets on one horse”whether it is the best horse, or just has the catchiest name”it will go off as the favorite. Long odds on a horse doesn’t necessarily indicate a bad horse, but just one that the wagering public isn’t investing in. Sometimes this can be one and the same, but not always.
The odds in the newspaper are known as the ‘morning odds’ and are essentially educated opinions. They’re not much different than ‘overnight lines’ in sports betting. They can serve a function for handicapping, but often will not reflect what will transpire when the actual betting begins.
Horse handicapping basics: This is where horse racing gets complex–there are countless theories about how to handicap a horse race. Some handicappers consider the breeding lineage of the horse, while others are more concerned with past performance. Still others put more weight on the training a horse has received, or its workout performance.
Once a bettor reaches a conclusion about what he thinks will happen in a given race, it is still subject to the odds that are available when betting. This is similar to sports gambling, where an underdog may be more attractive due to an excessively high payback potential than he would ordinary, or, conversely, a clear favorite becomes an unattractive wagering proposition due to a prohibitively high price. Its all a matter of the math”if I could speak to the teenagers of America, Id try to impress upon them the importance of doing well in math for no other reason than its importance in all forms of gambling.
Horses and Trainers: Some handicappers place a great deal of importance on the horses breeding lineage”the quality of his parents and grandparents “as an indication to his performance potential. This may be particularly important early in a horses career, but after a half dozen or so races what hes done on the track becomes more important than his pedigree. Trainers, like Bob Baffertt, can also be an important consideration much in the same way that coaching can play an important role in sports wagering.
Jockeys: Jockeys are independent agents, and thus to make the most money they need to win the most races. The more a jockey wins, the better ‘rides’ he gets and the more money he makes. Surprisingly, many serious horse players put minimal importance on the jockey. It’s essentially a case where even the best jockey can’t win with a bad horse. In other words, if a jockey is seen as ‘competent’ there are many other more significant factors for the handicapper to consider.
Dedication and Discipline: There’s not a set formula for successful horse handicapping, so try different things and find what works for you. And, as always, don’t go overboard with the money you wager and particularly until you get a feel for what you’re doing. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Daily Racing Form website.
Ross Everett is a staff handicapper for Sports-1 and an authority on horse race and NFL football betting . He’s a noted expert on sports handicapping and stock investing theory. He contributes to a number of websites providing insight on how to bet on NFL football, MMA and boxing.
