Public Selectors

[douglasw32]

Okay heres one- same idea as the morning line, does anyone use the public picks in the drf.

i.e. no one picks the horse anywhere...eliminate it.

any stats in this area out there?

[betovernetcapper]

If you hate to do your one hanndicapping and have some time on your hands-you can create a file on each one and track how they do in MSW-claiming-turf routes-stakes whatever. On each day use the best handicapper for whatever he seems to excell in.
How bad could you get hurt?

[1st time lasix]

In NY... I make a note in the margin of the DRF PP's of the top two selections that Litfin makes. He sometimes uses some angles that can uncover an overlay. I do not necessarily play them...but I look at them a bit more to see what he considers relevent.

[Indulto]

If you hate to do your one hanndicapping and have some time on your hands-you can create a file on each one and track how they do in MSW-claiming-turf routes-stakes whatever. On each day use the best handicapper for whatever he seems to excell in.
How bad could you get hurt?Some who have done so not only can prove that certain public selectors are superior under specific circumstances, but also that the overall selections of some of them are profitable when adjusted with regard to final odds as well as late scratches and jockey/equipment changes.

If you're in love with a horse entered in NY who isn't mentioned by Litfin or Hammersly, your analysis and the odds better be damn good. Same for Free and Hammersly in So Cal along with Jeff Siegal in local newspapers here.

It's a good sign when my selection is mentioned in the DRF by one of the preceding, but NOT the consensus. I salivate, however, when nobody mentions it.

[njcurveball]

The Form Handicappers get paid very little from what I have heard. Something like $25 per track. Don't expect them to put more than an hour into the days card.

Some guys like Litfin, Brad Free, and Art Gropper are very detail oriented and can give you good reading on things you may have missed. That is the value in their picks.

Remember that the Form is published 2 days and sometimes 3 in advance. Many times they handicap one card while watching another. Use the information for just that, information.

If you want to be profitable using someones picks, you won't find Easy Street. The most profitable days include horses that most people won't play. Missing a $60 horse can be the difference between a winning month and a losing one.

Although you can learn a lot about WHAT the public bets by checking out their picks. Knowing your competition is always a plus!

best of luck,
Jim

[balarat]

I happen to know a few of the handicappers from the DRF and I know they make much more than $25 a track, and I also know for a fact that they are very dilligent and take great pride in their handicapping and are very concerned as to how their picks do. They ( at least the several I know) put lots of time in their selections and realize that many people are depending on their picks. This is also true for the 3 or 4 public handicappers I know that handicap for their local newspapers.

[BlueShoe]

When not one DRF selector picks my runner 1st,2nd,or 3rd am absolutely delighted,Even better still is when the "A closer look" commentary also knocks the horse.Price reasons,pure and simple,you may gain a few of those precious percentage points.However,sometimes you get fooled.Race day you see that your unloved by the selectors pick is the ML 3rd choice at 9-2,then it gets heavy betting action.Your potential $30 winner that had you excited last night has turned into a very ordinary $7.00 one.Happens all the time,although once in a while you do get your boxcar winner.Considering the obstacles that public handicappers face though,it is to their credit that that do as well as they do.Sure would not want to have to make selections two days in advance not knowing track conditions or scratches.

[dav4463]

I'm sure there are those who "handicap the handicappers" and base their selections off of that information. If you know a certain handicapper is outstanding with maidens at his track, you should take an extra look.

[46zilzal]

newspaper capper was called The Tooth Fairy: one of the worst of all time. Well named.

[pressman]

Russ Harris in the NY Daily News is hitting close to 40% of his top choices and almost at the break even point Ive been following the News?post selections using the DRF consensus along with the public handicappers top selection gives you 4 horses a race and is hitting aound 75%-80% performing about on par as the first 4 public choices.

[douglasw32]

what about just any not mentioned by anyone, post/daily news/drf...as eli,inations ???

[Indulto]

what about just any not mentioned by anyone, post/daily news/drf...as eli,inations ???If you get enough opinions, you're bound to find every entrant mentioned at least once. Check out the DRF selections page on BC day or Derby Day to see what I mean. I always enjoy Crist and Beyer going head to head, and like to get a consensus with those two, Hammersly, and Gropper.

Every once in a while one of the non-handicapper columnists mentions a longshot winner that no one else does. My impression is that Free, Litfin, Klein, et al, do best with cards at their regular circuits, respectively.

[njcurveball]

I happen to know a few of the handicappers from the DRF and I know they make much more than $25 a track


How much do they say they are they making? Check the form out, there are some that do five or more tracks per day. I know if they are the "feature" handicapper they get paid more. Let me know how much they make per day.

If they get $100 per track and do 5 tracks, that is $500 per day. If they do it 6 days a week, that is over $150,000 a year. How much do you think the Form pays, for real now?

And I got the $25 straight from one of the guys who DOES 5 tracks or more per day. I didn't make it up.

best to you,
Jim

[Steve 'StatMan']

I work for a racing newspaper/tip sheet company. For the small listings, with a graded handicap for the card, with no comments, I get between $20 and $25 per track. I get more for a featured layout with commentary (well under $100). Some times I may do 4 to 7 small listings a day, or maybe 2-3 smalls and 1 big. For the non-feature handicapper in DRF, njcurveball's figures are right in line.

Any public handicapper who works for someone else's publication who earns $100 or more for a full card with comments and only assigned one track should consider themselves very fortunate indeed. There aren't many jobs like that any more. Most local newspapers have made drastic cuts and/or elimination of handicappers selctions and even daily/weekly race results/reporting. In Chicago I know most of those higher pay positions were either eliminated, or reduced, with perhaps some reduction in column space and requirements. There are plenty of people who would 'love' to be a newspaper handicapper, and would do it for $50-$75 just to get paid to handicap, and there goes someone else's nice $100 a day job.

Trust me, what I do have I'm very happy to have, and glad to be making what I do, and doing what I do. But thankfully I'm not married anymore nor have any kids.

[PaceAdvantage]

Perhaps Balarat is talking about feature guys like Litfin and not the guys that do the side columns and such....

[pressman]

Russ Harris in the NY Daily News is hitting close to 40% of his top choices and almost at the break even point Ive been following the News?post selections using the DRF consensus along with the public handicappers top selection gives you 4 horses a race and is hitting aound 75%-80% performing about on par as the first 4 public choices.

As of 10/20 Belmont
Russ Harris 103/292 Win%35 p/l (-$30)
Jerry Bossert 89/286 Win%31 p/l (-$12)
Dave Little 64/213 Win%30 p/l (-$57)
Mike Lipick 68/289 Win%24% p/l (-$36)
Trackman 63/288 Win%22 p/l(-$172)
DRF 96/290 Win%33 p/l(-$33)

[PlanB]

I did an informal Brad Free analysis; his top picks win less that 22%.
Short calif fields & some major software & < 22%, ummm. Maybe its
the last minute scratches & surface changes? Yeah that's it.

[cj]

Wasn't kenwoodall a public selector? Maybe he can provide some insight?

[balarat]

I'm not talking about Litfin and Free and those guys who also write
columns. The handicappers, the guys who make picks, write closer looks and
some of the analyses, are paid an annual salary, and they are well
paid.

You might be talking about the "stringers", guys who get paid for every
"Closer Look" they write. Some of those guys ARE paid per race, yes,
probably in the neighborhood of $25 per race. But the full time
handicappers are not paid by track, or by day, and they make a fairly good
salary, trust me.

[PaceAdvantage]

Define "fairly good." Now you have me curious....

[the little guy]

Define "fairly good." Now you have me curious....


It's all relative.