For "Live Players"...How much do you pay attention to the horses appearance?

[peakpros]

When your at the track do you ever increase or decrease a bet based on a horses appearance?

If you have what signs to you look for in the horses appearance to change your mind?

thanks

[tdthomas]

I ALWAYS look at the horses before placing my bets. Many times I have been "on the fence" about a horse and made that horse my top pick after seeing him.
It doesn't happen every race, but sometimes a horse just jumps out at me and nearly knocks me over by how much better he looks than the rest of them. The percentage of these horses winning is very high.

[fiveouttasix]

Hi Peakpros

I will not play a horse with any of the following:
1) Flat tail
2) Walking short
3) Washed out
4) Lethargic attitude

My favorite positive attribute is a good tail. (well away from the body)

I learned alot from Joe Takach's videos. Good Luck!

[kenwoodallpromos]

I let the track vet decided. Thant's their job.
I saw a horse in the post parade with tail high, prancing, acting fractious, and wanted to run off.
Then it took a dump and was ok.
Try a search for books on horse body language.

[chickenhead]

McShell Racing has some nice posts about this, you might want to do a search..

[CryingForTheHorses]

Please guys its...MCSCHELL_Racing...Thanks for the compliment

[dav4463]

I once saw a horse practically do a back-flip in the paddock. He was all washed out and jumpy...no way could I bet him after that. Of course, he wired the field at 8-1 !

[Bubbles]

The only thing I look at on a horse is the neck. If an odds-on favorite is sweating bullets in the post parade, before the real running has started, that's the horse to bet against, especially if it's a frontrunner. If he goes to the front, chances are the horse's stamina'll run out once the real running starts, possibly sooner.

[CryingForTheHorses]

Searched a earlier post to help answer your question..Hope it helps

Originally posted by McSchell_Racing
I love to see a horse come to the paddock bouncing..not stupid just happy,I also pay very close attention to the trainer!!..The trainer will tell you in 1 way or another if his horse is sore..For instant..You have a horse come to the paddock with cold water bandages..watch the trainer..if the kid with the horse takes them off before 15mins on the padock clock..He is giving other trainers a GOOD look...means he is hoping to sell him..I rip up my claim slip when I see that..I just claimed a old horse winner of 700k..Hell the horse almost ran with his cold waters on..Trainer was very late taking them off..hehe I took him..just got beat a nose...no claim for him..3 other claims in same race and not 1 hit the board. I also watch after the tack is put on...Watch the horse walk out of his saddling stall...you may see him walking very short..also watch him walk away from you...His tail should always be in the center of his body as he walks...Lots of times a horse with rear end problems will have a kink in their tail..tail not in the center of the hind end. I also look for excessive sweating...Sometimes means the horse is strressed out cause he knows it going to hurt when he runs, Lastly, watch the jok thrown up..Watch the reaction of the horse...does he squat a little as the jock sits down??..If he does he may have a sore back from running sore.Also watch him warmup before the race...Is his stride short..if it is..save your money.

[andicap]

Tom,

1. What are cold water bandages and how can I tell them from ones used for support? Don't trainers keep regular bandages on to keep their horses from being claimed?

2. Takich always talks about looking for horses that give a vigorous warm up on the track. Is this important to you?

[CryingForTheHorses]

First let me explain,Vet wraps are the bandages you see on a horse when he runs..The cold water bandages are the front bandages that hide the front legs and hide his vet raps,Horses stand in their stalls with standing bandages..if they roll or play in the stall they protect the legs..Cold water bandages are the bandages usd when a horse is in a ice tub..they come off to put on the vetraps and then are put back on to hide the front legs as the horse walks to the paddock,This hides big ankles,Bowed tendens etc..If you see a trainer dropping a horse,Most likely he will have his legs hid until 15 mins to post..Thats when the time expires to claim the horse..A lot of times my warmup for the post parade depend on the horse..If I have a stiff horse that is going long, Love to seem him jog a lot before he gallops and warms up,If I have a speedball that is goofy in the post parade,Love tosee the jock keep him calm as he will be a firecraker coming out of the gate.Younger horses seem to need to keep moving as lots of them are still learning from their races, A older horse knows whats coming and seem to reserve themseves until they break out of the gate..If you have a lazy horse, He will need a good warming up and woke up by the jock before he gets to the gate. Hope this helps ;)

[Turf2Dirt]

I like the watching the jockey get thrown up angle, I use that one everyday, If a horse can walk the same after that weight has just been put on his back, he is in good shape

watch where the hind feet land, if one isn't hitting parallel to where the other one hits, thats shorteness of stride and indicates soreness, Even if they appear ok at first see if this changes when the jockey is on his back

One caveat of looking for kidney sweats is they only indicate a bad sign if one horse sticks out, if the whole field is sweaty, its just the weather. even if it doesn't feel that hot

(Ex. I've read on numerous places, "OMG Smarty had kidney sweats, I should've thrown him out" Every horse in this years Belmont field had kidney sweat)