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.
Horse Handicapping Tips that Will Help you Become a Winner
If you want to be a consistent winner at the race track, you need to learn how to properly handicap a horse race. While horse handicapping is not an exact science, there are a few tricks you can use when doing your horse race handicapping that can give you a better idea as to which horse will win the race.
Focus on One Track
One excellent way to improve your handicapping abilities is to focus on just one track at a time. When you focus all of your handicapping efforts on one particular track, you will learn the ins and outs of that track such as any bias the track may have, who the best jockeys are that ride at that track, and which trainers have the best horses.
Handicapping a horse race is all about having the most information. If you know a small detail that could have an impact on the outcome of a race that other bettors do not, you will have an advantage that will help you cash more winning tickets. By focusing your handicapping efforts on just one track, you will know everything there is to know about the track and the people who operate out of the track. This information will give you a better chance of placing more winning wagers.
Determine the Pace of Race
The pace a specific race will take plays a huge role in determining the winner of the race. If you are able to successfully predict what the pace of a given race will be, you will have a better chance of selecting the winning horse. One example of how the pace of a race can have a huge impact on the final outcome is when there are a several horses in the field that like to get out to a fast start. When more than one horse gets out to a fast start, these horses will challenge each other early on in the race and tire themselves out, leaving the possibility open of a horse coming from the rear and passing them in the stretch run.
If you find a race with several horses that appear to prefer getting out to an early lead, you will want to select a horse that has good closing speed to win the race as the fast paced horses are likely to tire themselves out early. Using this type of analysis when handicapping a race can greatly increase your horse betting profits. If you do not feel comfortable determining the pace of a race yourself, consider using the best handicapping software horse racing has to offer as this software will predict the pace for you.
In order to see big profits from horse betting, you need to put in the time and thoroughly handicap every horse race you bet on. By focusing your handicapping attention on just one race track and trying to predict the pace of every race, you will increase your chances of cashing more winning tickets the next time you go to the track.