Another Day another dollar. Almost.....

Well as you can see 50/50 on that one. But my point is my handicapping process allowed me to process 2 bets with confidence. I went into it solid.

As it is 2/5 odds are short...... to short. It payed $2.60 which means I made .60 cents on $2.00. Paired with a $5.00 loss created a monetary downfall of Nations of (-$3.00)

OK, look at it this way.

60 cents is a 30% profit! And any broker would be jumping of his desk with a return like that. So to my thinking a +ROI is a +ROI.......But it is hard to get my girlfriend excited about 60 cents.

My premise is 25% win rate at 4-1 odds. Didn't quit make it. At this point our interest is in producing a handicapping procedure that finds winners to bet on. We will refine it from there.

At this point my procedure is taking shape! Lets call these rules. But not set in stone! And only using "Daily Racing Form" info.


1. No shippers - last race at same track.

2. Same distance +/-, plus - minus what? We will talk about it.

3. Top % jockey. What % makes sense. 15% and above.

4. Field of 12 or less.

5. Post position 4 or better.

6. Won or placed in it last race. 3rd if it was within 1 length.

7. Raced in the past 21 days remember at the same track.


One of the things to think about is, if you read about racing stats it seems that most stats fall within th 6% - 20% range.

6% jockeys, 12% trainers, 15% this 9% that. An interesting exercise is to find stats or information that adds to our handicapping prowess that falls outside of these %s. Remember same info = same results. Just a thought.

I hate to use the term rules, because in this game they are meant to be broken and modified within reason. But they are their to keep us in the common sense area of our handicapping. Also what about Beyer's Speed figs? Where do they fit in?

The joe public (who we are betting against, by the way) will use the same info as I have presented here. Our goal is to find a way that uses it in a unique way. And find betting opps that meet our disciplined approach to horse racing. We are not action junkies.

We don't play this game in a vacuum, no matter how hard you try. Things happen! You know the drill. So it is important to be prepared and ready for handicapping. Prep Will relieve some of the pre-race anxiety that befalls us about 5 min to post. Also notice I haven't talked about track take, breakage, taxes etc.......these thing take a bite out of our winnings to be sure. But you can't change them, only control them. And you control them by deciding what position you are willing to take. Remember 30% is 30%. So you decide and I will talk about some of the theories about them in future posts.