Super Horse System

[bobozoid]

Has anyone heard of a system called (Super Horse) I believe it was developed back in the early 70"s for S. California tracks.

[hurrikane]

This sounds very familiar. Who makes it?

If it is the one I remember it was a classification system that didn't do me much good. But then i was really into my own speed figs back then

[NoDayJob]

Has anyone heard of a system called (Super Horse) I believe it was developed back in the early 70"s for S. California tracks.

:lol: Superhorse was another product of NMS Publishing, 5711-14th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11219. I wrote a program using their system and it was a Super Loser. You could do much better with a handful of darts and the Daily Racing Form. The examples were carefully gleaned and screened to make one believe you could make big money with little or no work. What a laugh. The advertisement was 100% correct in the opening statement. "WARNING The Statements, Claims and Results You Are About to Read Will NOT Seem Believable to You." They weren't then and they aren't now! :lol:

NDJ

[First_Place]

Yeah, I 've got a copy. In fact, it was the very first system I purchased back in September of 1990. Contrary to NoDayJob's opinion, with a li'l tweaking (e.g., using speed figures instead of final times, among other things) it does work pretty good, though it usually picks low odds horses. A few of the quick pick angles in later chapters aren't bad either.

As with all systems, you just can't accept the 'numbers' at face value. Some common sense handicapping should be applied to all numbers. For example, a horse with a 20 point speed figure edge (and in form) is being ridden today by a blind jockey--the 'numbers' don't mean crap. Of course a blind jockey can't ride a horse, but hopefully you get my point.

I don't know about others out there, but I like to tweak a lot of so-called "losing systems" and make them winning systems. Sort of like taking a crappy running car, replacing some faulty parts in the engine, giving it a razor-sharp tune and go out and burn some rubber! :-)

Anyone else?

FP

[NormanTD]

Oh what memories. SuperHorse was the first "system" I ever saw and the first one I ever used to bet with. On the very first win bet I ever made and the very first exacta bet I ever made, I won my very first race. Winner paid $15-$16 and the exacta paid over $100. I was hooked and ready to quit my day job. Fortunately for me, the next 9 races were losers so I decided not to quit my day job. :D

[NoDayJob]

Yeah, I 've got a copy. In fact, it was the very first system I purchased back in September of 1990. Contrary to NoDayJob's opinion

Sort of like taking a crappy running car, replacing some faulty parts in the engine, giving it a razor-sharp tune and go out and burn some rubber! :-)

Anyone else?

FP

:D Since the SuperHorse system was first published in the late 1970's, they may have inproved it. IMO, you'd be hard pressed to take that bucket of bolts and make anything out of it other than a compressed hunk of scrap iron. No way will it show a profit over the long haul. SORRY wrong number! :D

NDJ

[First_Place]

The very first time that I ever used the Superhorse system--and that's without any prior handicapping knowledge, a total greenhorn if you will--I picked 3 winners out of 6 races at Monmouth Park in late summer of 1990. In fact, it was the very first time I ever went to a race track. Nothing big, just two dollar bets. I didn't know the difference between a cheap maiden or claiming or better allowance race. I just input the numbers strictly by the book and was pleasantly surprised with the 50% win percentage. I also was relieved that I didn't get ripped off by a seemingly too good to be true system of making money--unlike other times with non-horse racing related get rich quick schemes.

I know what you're saying, "beginner's luck." Maybe so. But I also have handicapped many races since then using the SH ratings along with some of my 'tweaks' which has enhanced its effectiveness and to this day still have positive results whenever I choose to use it--mainly when I'm tired and don't want to do full-blown handicapping.

Of course, possessing additional handicapping knowledge along with experience allows one to pick the correct pacelines as well as eliminate non-contenders which only muddle up the ratings--something that I've found makes Superhorse far more efficient. No, it's not my main method. It's a quick and easy system, like I said, when I don't feel like spending much time handicapping a race. It's just one of many tools in my handicapping toolbox.

And speaking of Superhorse, for old times sake, I pulled out my copy, and for the entertainment of some here, I typed-up what was written by Al DeCuir in his introduction:

THE TIME THEORY...

It began when I was in the service. I did encoding and decoding as a cryptographer in the Air Force for almost five years. It was then I learned that there were many ways to scramble a message before transmission overseas. The scrambled message I started with in the Racing Form is similar. I think of it as trying to break a coded message to find the real contender in a race.

Unless you had scientific help working for you on the many aspects of time, pace, class and consistency, and using a computer, chances are the genius' theory (Al was talking about Einstein--FP) would have been of little help to you in your quest for success.

Fourteen years ago my original system started out quite complicated. After thousands of races I began to make a breakthrough. This system metamorphosis is the result of doing nine races everyday, at different tracks, to prove out and make simplifications until I arrived at a less complicated, yet just as potent formula.

The original Superhorse evolved into Super Rate which evolved into the computer formula, which can be used in both long and short form, sprints and routes. To be informed, read both, but when you are ready to handicap, the computer formula is what I have used the past six years. I show you my 90% wins for a two month period which I have not been able to duplicate. Close, yes, but not 90%. I also give you my knowledge, whatever I have observed, learned and anything which has benefited me in picking winners. For those who don't want handicapping, I include many quick-pick methods and spot plays that have worked for me. Having many tools to work with makes success easier. You own a formula for success. Learn it well.

Al DeCuir, in fact, was a real guy--unlike some (or many) of those guys behind the systems that are sold. In fact, he even knew Doc Sartin and mentions him in the brief chapter on money management on page 94, called Playing a Percentage of The Bank, which I quote for Sartin groupies:

"I have a friend, Dr. Howard Sartin, who lives in a beautiful home high on a hill overlooking the approach to Palm Springs. He is a computer expert and helped clarify my questions on playing a percentage of the bank. I gave him my win average for a two month period of 71%, and the 5.20 average win mutuel, to figure what the best percentage level might be. He simply turned on his IBM money management program and within a matter of minutes tore off a print-out (which I've saved to this day as a momento) so we can say this on good authority."

Al's Superhorse method is actually a 95 page softcover book--containing a lot more than the three versions of the Superhorse method. It also has several quick pick techniques, in addition, a Parallel Time Chart for workouts at various distances with corresponding numerical ratings, a page covering Positive Betting Action, The Effect of Weight, Class Rating Using Win Equivalents, a chart showing the Odds Difference Between First and 2ND Favorite and the corresponding "dollar spread increases from the left column to the right", a chapter called BULLETS ON TARGET another quick pick method that uses bullet workouts, etc. It certainly has far more substance than your typical horse racing system which consists of far fewer pages and focuses only in one area.

Go ahead, laugh. If it wasn't for the hype regarding Superhorse that I received in the mail back in the summer of 1990, and my subsequent sending away for it, I may have never become interested in horse racing, and the fantasy (now a reality) of deriving a full-time income from this endeavor may have never been entertained, which eventually allowed me to leave behind a blue collar job that I absolutely hated and was vastly underpaid for doing, and if only for that, I'm extremely grateful to Al DeCuir and cherish my copy of Superhorse.

FP

[First_Place]

Like I said, NDJ, go ahead, laugh. Just because YOU can't make money with SH doesn't mean that no one else can.

Ha-ha-ha...

FP

[NoDayJob]

Like I said, NDJ, go ahead, laugh. Just because YOU can't make money with SH doesn't mean that no one else can.

Ha-ha-ha...

FP

No program or method that I've seen will produce a profit, "out of the box", over the long haul. The exception would be a "home grown" method or software, whereby, no one has access to it except the author. Case in point, you "tweaked" Superhorse and I'm happy that you were able to do a work around and show a profit.

NDJ

[midnight]

I'd amend that statement to say that "no program or method will make a profit 'out of the box' for long." Some do, but eventually too many people find out, hop on the bandwagon, pound it at the windows, and turn it into an underlay. Which makes the qualifier true, which is that a homegrown method will usually stay good since nobody else has access to it. I'm sure there are a lot of guys out there who have them and keep quiet about it.

[Overlay]

I totally agree that any system (out-of-the-box or otherwise) that focuses solely on picking the winner of a race through reliance on one overriding handicapping factor, or that tries to narrow a field down to one horse through a process of elimination, without paying any attention to the selection's odds, will eventually find itself priced out of profitability through overplay. However, the factors employed by these methods may still be of fundamental importance in the overall handicapping picture, and remain perfectly valid as predictors of actual winning performance. And the further you stray from them in an attempt to develop an angle that the public hasn't caught on to yet, the more your overall performance will decline. To me, the way around this contradiction is to consider a variety of basic factors (class, speed, pace, condition, etc.) when handicapping, and to use them to develop a betting line which will provide a firm basis for passing individual horses or entire races when the odds are too low. Using this approach means that you don't then have to keep continually revising your whole methodology or coming up with new undiscovered performance variables to stay ahead of the public. And, in fact, because you would be betting with the basic realities of racing rather than against them, you would have a sound basis for increasing the volume of your play while actually enhancing your return on investment. (And, as a side comment, I also believe that it's possible to do this without necessarily requiring the use of a computer.)

[BeatTheChalk]

Al De Cuir was the author of the system back in the 70's. He lived in
Palm Springs..and we actually met him there one weekend ! My friend in
PS knew him ( not from racing ) Al was a pretty good party animal in his
day :) I am sure that " Obie " Oberdorfer started marketing the system
from its prestigious Brooklyn address. I will say one thing for Al ..he
believed in his system 110 % == However that did not turn belief into
making money. As for Obie .. you ALWAYS get your money back ..if you
are nice .. and willing to wait at least 6 weeks. :bang: