Favorite Circuit

[QuarterCrack]

What is your favorite circuit to play? I've dabbled in a few different ones over the past couple of years (WV/Ohio; NYRA; Louisiana) and am interested in really truly putting all my efforts on focusing on one single circuit for a long period of time. My biggest criteria would be value and field size (of course, value is frequently a function of field size, I suppose). Just curious what you all think is your favorite circuit to wager on.
:ThmbUp:

[twindouble]

What is your favorite circuit to play? I've dabbled in a few different ones over the past couple of years (WV/Ohio; NYRA; Louisiana) and am interested in really truly putting all my efforts on focusing on one single circuit for a long period of time. My biggest criteria would be value and field size (of course, value is frequently a function of field size, I suppose). Just curious what you all think is your favorite circuit to wager on.
:ThmbUp:

QuarterCrack; I don't know how long you've been playing the horses but I think your on the right track with your thinking. My fav tracks are, Finger Lakes avererage field of 9 at times, some days less. Then Belmont and Aqueduct, not the winter meet. The one that suits your criteria that I play now Mountaineer, average fields of 10. I struggled somewhat to begin with at Mnr but as of last few MO's it's coming together for me. Another ones I'm tempted to get involved in is Evangeline Downs and Charles Town, I got exposed to them in the War Room.

Keep in mind, the only reason I picked on Mountaineer was I went back to work and needed a track I could bet on in the evening. My bread and butter tracks run during the day. I have to watch the races and be in on all the changes and so on. It's not like me to bet early and go to work. I've got a couple days to handicap Mnr, been in the War Room unprepared as of late, even so I had a good month of July. Now I'm in the mood to get down to business and hopefully this job will end in a couple weeks.

Aside from that, concentrating on one track for the intire meet will benifit you without a doubt, getting to know the track, trainers, jocks, bias and so on will lead to profit because you'll get a feel for the overall prevaling conditions. That knowledge will carry over to the next track you play, horses, trainers and jocks move around and most tracks don't run year round.

From what I gather here on the West Coast they are having trouble getting horses, short fields.

[Zaf]

MNR. Full fields and plenty of throwouts !!!

ZAFONIC

[QuarterCrack]

Yea Mnr was always pretty good to play - that was actually the closest I have come in the past to concentrating on one exclusive track. But that was back in '02-'03 when double digit payoffs (some astronomical) seemed very very common. It seemed like it became a lot more chalky in the past year or two; that's what made me switch tracks in the first place.
Maybe I should revisit it.

[cnollfan]

I like the second half of the Chicago season. Once Churchill closes it adds a horse or two to many Arlington races. Although the dirt races at Arlington are plagued with short fields I love their turf course and turf races. Hawthorne's fall/winter meet is usually very good. They have had a horse shortage in the spring but not in the fall.

I get bored with year-round racing at the same track. A change of scenery perks me up.

[toetoe]

AQ, Bel and Sar. Also, Fairplex was brought to mind when someone mentioned plenty of throwouts. NCal fairs used to be good to me, but they've made the tracks up there so "fair," they may as well be Equitrack, that fake dirt.

[dav4463]

I like SH, RET, MNR, PEN, EVD, DED. Prefer the small tracks .... not so much a certain circuit.

[BillW]

I like SH, RET, MNR, PEN, EVD, DED. Prefer the small tracks .... not so much a certain circuit.

Same here - small tracks, full fields

[Nickle]

NY for me

[nobeyerspls]

I like the top Kentucky tracks and Gulfstream which is its own "circuit". Decent fields and big purses. I emphasize maiden and nw2 races and these tracks offer many of those.
Perhaps the other commonality is that they draw jockey players, the easiest group of wagering opponents to beat. With Day retiring and Sellers gone it will be interesting to see what two legged animal the handicapping-challenged bet in Kentucky.

[Valuist]

Nobeyerplease-

I agree those are the best circuits to wager on. Great combination of quality horses and decent field sizes. And so many horses ship from Kee/CD to GP that it makes it a must play track if you play the major KY tracks.

[alysheba88]

My favorite meet by far is the Belmont fall meet. Am a weekend player and just cant beat those Saturday cards

[depalma13]

Tampa, especially early on when the Calder shippers come in and score at long odds.

[kev]

I know the smaller tracks are great for full fields and all that good stuff. Question is looks like the big players is not playing these tracks, reason is I'll try and look at the pool size and looks like there small for the big boys. Reading threw the book about the pro players, alot of them plays NY, KY tracks.

[jotb]

Hello All:

The best racing circuit to play is the one circuit that you follow the most. There was a time if a person started to make a conversation about a particuliar horse stabled on the grounds in NY, I immediately knew what the horse did in its last 10 starts and was able to visualize the actual race to the T. I knew all the riders and trainers on the grounds and with this knowledge in front of me, NY was my racing circuit.

I spend most of my time today in CT but when I first came to CT, you talk about night and day. I didn't have a clue! All I knew was "wow the race is over". All I did was blink my eyes and the race was finished. I was so off and felt out of sort. This bullring with the 4.5F races was totally different to the mile and a half oval sweeping turns at Belmont. I was wondering if I could make the transition. It took time but I did my homework to overcome the obstacle. I wanted to know who these jockeys were,so what I did was watch, watch, watch, races. I eventually found out, like many other racetracks in the country, that certain riders win more than others and that's because they ride for trainers that have the stock to win. There are many trainers and jockeys and this goes for any racetrack that somehow don't get the job done. Some riders make the same mistakes over and over and if you take at look at some of the shedrows trainers keep, you certainly understand why they continously lose. As far as, speed figures go, you take them with a grain of salt here at CT. Most horses here at CT, go in and out of form cycles. You can understand this because the claim box is hot at CT, so many of these horses are constantly changing hands. This is a major reason why many of the speed figures do not hold up from race to race. The trainer makes a big difference here. Another obstacle to overcome at CT, is the ship-ins. Many horses win shipping in and many don't run a lick. A good method that seems to work for me to overcome this obstacle is to pick up the overnight and check the dates for horses. Charlestown has many ship-ins due to the purse structure. Since the money is good up here many horseman want to take advantage and steal a pot or two but in order to run here in CT, a horseman needs to establish a date first. You can't just enter and get into the body of the race because most of the races overfill. So, if a trainer is serious about winning a race at CT, he or she will establish a good enough date so the horse can get in. Once that date is establish the trainer could run that horse somewhere else but if that's the case then the trainer loses that date and will need to establish another date. So, if you see on the overnight a horse that has a good entry date and the trainer had the opportunity to get in at that racetrack then you know the trainers real intent is for this horse to run at CT. Here at CT horses close up early usually win the majority of races especially races going 4.5F. The middle distances races like 6.5 and 7.0 are usually won by horses that save ground most of the way whether it be close to the lead or in the back of the pack. The long races 8.5 and 9.0 are usually won by saving ground but another factor to use is the trainer. Not many trainers here at CT can build enough stamina into their horses so its best to watch for the trainers that win these long races. Try to stay away from trainers that stretch their stock out from 4.5F races to 8.5F and 9.0F. This is ridiculous but is common at CT and I would say most of the time it's the owner pushing on the trainer just to be on the program. You have a majority of trainers here that allow their owners to play trainer but a handicapper can use this as a tool to eliminate a pretender from a contender.

I'm sorry I went on and on but the main point was any racing circuit can fit to any handicapper as long as you put the footwork in. I do believe there is plenty of value here at CT but in order to have it jump out at look, you will need to do a substantial amount of homework...

Best regards,
Joe

[schweitz]

Same here - small tracks, full fields

DITTO.

[QuarterCrack]

Thanks guys - good stuff.
I think I'll choose between Mountaineer and Charles Town.