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jfb
03-14-2007, 03:45 AM
When you are considering whether or not a handicapping book is worth taking seriously, what indicators help you with that decision?

I am interested in effcient methods of evaluating the content, regardless of who wrote it.

ryesteve
03-14-2007, 10:08 AM
I would say search this message board and see if most people have said positive things about it.

andicap
03-14-2007, 10:39 AM
I would say search this message board and see if most people have said positive things about it.

That's a good idea. A nice cross section of people here so at least you get an idea of what'sin the work. I've found a few at Barnes & Noble, (Borders has very few racing books) especially the DRF Series stuff so I browse them there before deciding whether to buy.

One thing I would NOT depend on are "reviews" or blurbs from the usual expert suspects. They all just "log-roll," that is take turns saying nice things about each other's work. Nothing devious in that, just a courtesy -- and no one wants to get bashed so they tend to cooperate.

For what it's worth -- depending on your level of play -- my recommendations
in no particular order

-- Blinkers Off by Cary Fotias. (Great on form cycles)
-- Modern Pace Handicapping by Tom Brohamer. Great pace primer.
-- Speed to Spare by Joe Cardello, another good treatise on form cycles.
-- Odds Must be Crazy by Len Ragozin, hard to find, but a good form cycle read even if you don't use the Sheets.
-- Betting Thoroughbreds by Steve Davidowitz, best overall work on handicapping.

Honorable Mention

--James Quinn's book on Class. (can't recall name) his seminal work.
-- Mark Cramer's 11 winning exacta situations.
-- Cramer's Kinky Handicapping (the original, I never read the second one). For an alternative, Gonzo look at handicapping. He's always a fun read.

There are other good books too -- these are just my faves, ones that I read over and over again after buying them. To me that's the real mark of a good handicapping book: How often do you go back and review them?.

Tom
03-14-2007, 11:28 AM
The Handicapper's Condition Book by James Quirin is the one you're thing off,and agree - very good stuff. If you couple it with good pace handicapping, the results improve.

ryesteve
03-14-2007, 11:28 AM
-- Mark Cramer's 11 winning exacta situations.
I think this is the only Cramer book I've missed.
How does this one hold up? Has it lost relevance because it's dependent on inefficiencies that no longer exist? (eg "backwheel an odds-on favorite with anything under 10-1")

Overlay
03-14-2007, 06:41 PM
I look for concepts or ideas that I think will retain their effectiveness as handicapping tools (from a positive or negative standpoint) over time (even if they may be subject to loss of parimutuel value). And, just based on my own mindset, I like quantitative information that lends itself to statistical analysis.

jfb
03-14-2007, 09:29 PM
There are other good books too -- these are just my faves, ones that I read over and over again after buying them. To me that's the real mark of a good handicapping book: How often do you go back and review them?.


Thank you for the recommendations. I have not read many handicapping books lately. But my approach in other pursuits is to find the best resources I can and focus on their main points.