Horse racing remains one of the largest sports in the nation, a huge commercial industry and a uniquely profitable gambling opportunity for those with the skill to master it. Racing is an ancient tradition that spans thousands of years, and yet most handicappers still rely upon the same basic methods to pick out a winner. Those who follow their gut may sound wise, but the truth is that the majority of horse players lose money. It is, of course, still possible to emerge a winner and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process, but it’s important to judge more than a horse’s last speed rating or previous workout when handling real money. With the right handicapping software horse racing can become a science rather than a gamble.

Horse racing has changed with the development of new technology, but the information used remains the same. There are three main factors that indicate how a horse will perform in a race: its breeding, past performance and connections. Breeding gives some idea of the horse’s talent for a given surface, distance and track condition and is particularly useful in a maiden race or when a horse tries something new. Past performances include all of the important aspects of the horse’s prior races. Finally, a top jockey and trainer may mean the difference between an easy win and a devastating loss.

Successful horse race handicapping can’t rely on any one factor to guarantee results, and that is where things get complicated. A bettor playing a single card may spend hours looking over every horse and weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each. That would be acceptable if, in most cases, that time investment didn’t end with lost money. Unfortunately, human error inevitably creeps into the judgment of even the most seasoned handicapper. When that happens, horse handicapping becomes skewed and winnings decline. It is far preferable to develop a reliable, consistent system that produces a profit over the long run than to make wild bets and hope to one day score a big win. For this reason, quality handicapping software is essential for the modern horse-player.

A handicapping program factors in most of the traditional data, but uses an extensive catalog of past results to give the information its proper weight. Typically, the program then prints out its own ranking. horse handicapping software also shows which races should be played and which are a poor bet. If the programming is accurate, this should return a profit while saving you the time of going over the numbers yourself. If you are still seeing losses after months or years of perfecting your handicapping, consider switching to software today.