It doesn’t matter what a horse has done in the past if it doesn’t look capable of running well today. The group that doesn’t fit into this rather wide parameter should be eliminated from further consideration, allowing the handicapper to concentrate on the true contenders. Horses that haven’t raced in 30+ days or don’t have a history of performing well coming off of breaks should offer ample workout evidence that they have a recent string of workouts that suggest the horse is fit from a condition standpoint.

maintenance if it’s last race was more than two weeks ago) is the most reliable indicator for fitness.

A competitive recent race (accompanied by the necessary a.m. Nothing else really matters if a horse is not in “form” and the first task in attacking a race is to eliminate those runners that don’t appear to be fit from a condition standpoint, either through recent racing or with a string of workouts that suggest the animal is set to do its best work. Here’s is a 9 minute video briefly covering the topics listed below. Today’s Racing Digest makes it easy to quickly go through these 6 steps for each race helping you isolate contenders while uncovering false favorites, overlooked long-shots and hidden value. They are offered in order of importance to the overall equation. No matter what your level of expertise, it’s often wise to “get back to basics” and review the rudimentary elements of this challenging, sometimes exasperating, bit of mental stimulus known as handicapping.Įveryone handicaps differently but these elements should always be addressed before making a wager.

Ratings based handicapping template