subject: Using Multiple Factor Systems to Handicap a Horse Race [print this page] Horse racing systems come in all shapes and sizes and in a lot of different packages. Some are sold as automatic money makers and others are more realistically sold as ways to improve your own performance and to pick more winners. The horse racing systems that work the best are the ones that teach you how to find a live horse and also are based on common sense, good handicapping principles, and use more than one factor.
The reason is that it is very difficult to handicap horse races and make a profit. Horse races are complicated events with many variables. They involve many different people. Did you ever think of all the people who have an influence on whether a horse wins or loses? It is pretty amazing. Just to name a few, there is the owner, trainer, groom, veterinarian, farrier, jockey. That's not to mention the person who casually walks by and slips the horse a sugar cube now and then or any other people who have access to the horse and could slip it something a lot more potent than sugar.
Then of course, there is the horse itself. I can tell you this as a former race horse owner who groomed his own horses and sometimes exercised them as well, each horse is a unique individual. A good trainer is a man or woman who is good at figuring out what a horse likes and what it doesn't like. The good conditioners quickly learn to do as little as possible and therefore make as few mistakes as possible. A good sound horse that is fit and ready will usually win or at least run well.
Therefore, whatever horse racing system you are using must have a way of taking these factors into consideration and then putting a weight or value on each one of them. For instance, if a horse is entered in a race, you must be able to look at the horse and determine if the trainer is serious about winning that particular race or if it is a training race. That in itself is a huge part of the handicapping game. After you figure out if the trainer is going to tell the jockey to try to win, you need to figure out if the trainer's expectations are realistic. Your next handicapping factor should be, how good is this horse based on its previous outings?
Then there is the matter of money and the value of the bet itself. You need to find bets that pay enough so that your winnings are more than your losses. I know this sounds simple, but cracking the nut, as they call it, is the toughest part of the game. A good horse racing system will help you to do that but you will have to work extremely hard and also to tweak that system a little to suit your ability and track.
Using Multiple Factor Systems to Handicap a Horse Race
