Betting Thoroughbreds by Davidowitz

[shoelessjoe]

Anybody playing the cheaper tracks should read Chapter 10 it's one of the best you will find on minor track handicapping. Shoeless

[GaryG]

if that is the chapter on conditioned claimers I agree. I have done quite well with last out impressive maiden winners in two lifetime claimers. When the pace figures are good this is one of my favorite plays.

[shoelessjoe]

That's the one I was talking about.You dont really see too many books that deal with minor tracks.Davidowitz was one of the first to write about conditioned claimers as well as key races.

[GaryG]

I learned plenty from Davidowitz but this chapter helped me the most, having been a major track player in the 60s and 70s. It was better when the pp's didn't designate the claiming conditions. I guess all this is common knowledge now.

[46zilzal]

Horses can't read the condition books however...they simply run to their ability and form

[headhawg]

Horses can't read the condition books however...they simply run to their ability and form
They can't enter themselves into races either.

[Tom]

:lol:

[Overlay]

I went back and took another look at that chapter today. (This was in the third edition of the book, from around 1994. I don't know whether there were any changes or additions from the earlier editions or not.) It gave me a renewed appreciation of the importance of thoroughly reading and understanding race conditions and trainer intent. (As Davidowitz himself titled another chapter in the book, "What is he doing in today's race?")

[kenwoodallpromos]

Yeh, but some can read the entrance signs with the name of the racetrack!

[Red Knave]

Horses can't read the condition books ...they simply run to their ability and form
...
They can't enter themselves into races either.

If two horses have similar ability and form, the classier individual will prevail.
Which one is classier? The previous race conditions can help you figure it out.
And trainers know this.

[shoelessjoe]

I guess the trainers dont read the condition books as well.

[shoelessjoe]

Actually there were a lot of good things in that book,Im going to read it again myself.Im from the DC area and remember years back when he used to do a daily radio show giving out selections.He turned me onto the King Leatherbury angle of playing his laid off horses with terrible workouts.That 's back when Leatherbury,Dutrow and Delp were the big 3 in Maryland racing.Shoeless

[hurrikane]

this was the first book I read on racing back in the 70s.

back then the minor track piece worked like a charm. The big problem now is that there are so many categories it's hard to form a pattern to work up a class level. One thing I have noticed though. Trainers that have horses ready at this level cannot wait and they cannot always find a race for them at the level they would like. So, they pick a race that they have a shot at some of the purse and maybe the win.
If you can find them they usually have big odds and play good in the exacta pool...and the win pool too.

this book is also the first place I had heard of the key race method. He used it for maiden races only I believe.

[shoelessjoe]

The key race method was used in all types of races in his book .

[46zilzal]

If two horses have similar ability and form, the classier individual will prevail.
Which one is classier? The previous race conditions can help you figure it out.

I hope MORE AND MORE people keep following that idea too.

[shoelessjoe]

I hope more people think that everytime a horse is entered in a race the trainer is trying to win.

[GaryG]

Another thing I think I learned from Davidowitz was to read the pp's from the bottom up. You can tell which trainers have a plan and which don't. For a smart trainer every race has a purpose and it is not always to win, despite whatever fancy figures the horse may have. It is still a flesh and blood game and I think some players get so caught up in their numbers that they forget that we are dealing with living, breathing equine athletes who suffer the same ups and downs that we do.

[Tom]

Steve did a track-sponsored seminar for Fort Erie at the Buffalo airport a few years back. Great spread - tip o the hat to the Fort for knowing how to treat cutomers, but anyways, Steve got the advanced edition of DRF as he walked in the door and, wearing a mike, he handicapped every race live, talking to us as he went thorugh his ritual of various scans of the PP's. The guy is really cool to watch - and listen to. He basically used everything in his book on the fly.