Want to learn how to handicap a horse race and become a winner? You’re not alone. Every day, all over the world, millions of people handicap horse races and bet on them, but most of those people lose money. In fact, the same people lose money day after day, week after week, year after year. It isn’t for lack of effort because many of them try very hard. They pore over their racing forms, computer programs, pace graphs, etc., trying to put it all together and come out a winner. The problem for most of them is that they are trying to master all the factors simultaneously without knowing how much effect each one has on the race.
If you are willing to be patient, anddatos americanas hoy really apply yourself, I can tell you how to learn how to handicap horse races and master the art and science. It isn’t easy, but there is a way to do it. You may wonder what my credentials are to make such a claim. I am a professional handicapper and get paid for helping other people to learn how to handicap and I get paid to share my knowledge and picks with others so I can back up what I say.
The first step in learning how to become a pro is to stop. What you are doing isn’t working is it? Then stop. Slow down and become methodical, taking it one step at a time and start at the beginning. Admit that handicapping horse races is a very difficult intellectual challenge. That means learning each factor completely and one at a time.
You will find it very difficult to make a living from just one horse racing angle so you will have to master the basics and learn to look at the factors of horse racing and handicapping and put them together in such a way that you can find good bets that make a profit over time. While you are learning, you shouldn’t be betting large amounts. Small bets are all right to keep it interesting, but if you can’t slow down, bet small amounts, and take the time to learn, you might be a compulsive gambler or thrill seeker and your real goal isn’t to master handicapping or to understand horse racing, but simply to gamble. I’m afraid I can’t help you with that one.
Give yourself at least a month, depending upon how much time each day or week you can devote to it, and choose one factor to master at your favorite track. I recommend you start with class. You will have to read the conditions of each race on the program and look at the horses in each race and the amount of speed and pace they showed in their recent efforts. Class is not only measured by the purse value in a race, but also by the ability that has been demonstrated by the horses running in the race. Class is also measured by the quality of the horses they faced in recent efforts
An example is a non-winners of 1 allowance race (NW-1). Any horse who has won a maiden race may be found in a NW-1. The next winner of the Kentucky Derby may be in an allowance race or there may be a field of horses who will struggle to win a few non winners races and then slowly slide down the claiming ladder. So if you are looking at a field of horses and see that one horse raced against a horse who went on to win a stakes race, you know it was up against some fairly stiff competition. How did it race against that one? Did it show some pace and race well against it? This is how you determine the true class of a horse or an entire field.
Do you see how complicated and time consuming one factor can be? And yet, if you don’t master class and know how tough the other horses were that the horse you are looking at raced in previous races, how do you know just how good the horse really is? Most people spend a few minutes, think they have figured out the class issue, and move on to speed or pace. Others just look for a good trainer angle and figure that settles it. While all those other factors are important, in my opinion, class is the first factor to master and if you do, you have solved a very big part of the puzzle of picking winners at the horse races.
Take your time, determine the true class for each horse on the program and then watch the races. See how the horse that you think has the most class in each race, and has demonstrated it recently, performs. As you become a master of class you will be amazed at how powerful that one factor is and it is only the beginning. After you master class, move on to speed. Which horse, if any, has shown that he or she will consistently rate the highest speed rating.
I call a horse with both a class and speed edge a key horse. You won’t find one in every race, but when you do find one, it is like finding gold. But you will only be able to find good key horses if you master more than one factor in horse racing handicapping, and you will only manage that if you take it one step at a time and one factor at a time. It is worth it, however, and don’t worry, the races aren’t going away so you have the time to get it right.
