How do you determine class especially on the Turf

[joelouis]

Learning how to handicapp sure would like if someone could explain how to determine the class. Help please :)

[magwell]

Learning how to handicapp sure would like if someone could explain how to determine the class. Help please :) Like porno hard to explain but you know it when you see it. :cool:

[Bruddah]

and it works very well today, especially for Turf horses.

Multiply the horses lifetime wins by 6. Places by 2. Shows by 1. Go through the PP's and give an additional half point for every fourth or fifth place finish. Take the sum total of points and divide into the horses lifetime earnings. The final number is very represenative of the horses earnings per in the money finish or MONEY CLASS.

If you are just learning to handicap, it's a good place to start to understand the difference in starters in the race.

[turfbar]

Simple-money earned, but that does not mean that they will win that specific race.

T

[Robert Fischer]

The level of races that an animal can be competitive at.

[46zilzal]

Turf is ALL about moves from the 2nd call to the finish line.

A)Find the velocity (on the best two turf lines) TO the second call
B)Find the velocity (on the best two turf lines) from the 2nd call to the finish,

Find the ratio of the two velocities B over A.

You best ones have ratios in the range of 102 and up, provided their 2nd call velocity puts them near the entire field.

[rufus999]

Probably the toughest question in the game because so many factors must be considered. But to be brief, on turf I pay close attention to breeding. It's wise and recommended that you memorize and stay current on strong sires and grandsires in the horses' lineage. This is particularly effective when dealing with fields of first timers.
On dirt, I pay attention to company kept by using purse value structure tables of each racetrack. DRF publishes it daily in the form. Again, it helps to know this stuff by rote and to update it every few months. I keep a chart handy on my desk as a reference. The principle is simple. Higher purse values attract keener competition. Just note that many tracks have inflated purse values that do not reflect the quality of the track because of the influx of gambling revenue from the casino end of the enterprise. After a while you get a feel for quality from watching races run at each particular track. Two examples: Monmouth Park has a 71K purse avg. which is too high and Charlestown Racetrack has a 19K avg. which is also too high. Both avgs. are the direct result of casino revenue.
As you can see I've only covered two points in this post and already have written half a page. In closing I would recommend Steve Davidowitz' book 'Betting Thorougbreds' for a very informative and authoritative approach to class.

rufus:9::9::9:

[Tom]

I now mix turf and poly lines, but not dirt.
For class, I use the highest class race the horse the has has performed well at over one of those surfaces.

[cj]

I now mix turf and poly lines, but not dirt.
For class, I use the highest class race the horse the has has performed well at over one of those surfaces.

You are wise man to mix those lines.

[jonnielu]

Learning how to handicapp sure would like if someone could explain how to determine the class. Help please :)

You don't want to determine class as much as you do want to identify ability for this specific surface. The successful turf runner has a talent that the dirt runner does not usually develop, except those that are better geared toward two turn distances.

The talent for turf is that horse that can get it rolling from the gate easily and comfortably without any unneeded expenditure of energy, the horse comfortably gets into full flight over the first 3f, and will reach just a little farther and kick just a little harder in the last 3f. The turf star does not spin wheels, he works patiently for the wire.

Horses may or may not have a preference for turf, but the surface has a preference for slow early horses.

jdl

[joelouis]

and it works very well today, especially for Turf horses.

Multiply the horses lifetime wins by 6. Places by 2. Shows by 1. Go through the PP's and give an additional half point for every fourth or fifth place finish. Take the sum total of points and divide into the horses lifetime earnings. The final number is very represenative of the horses earnings per in the money finish or MONEY CLASS.

If you are just learning to handicap, it's a good place to start to understand the difference in starters in the race.

Thank You. :)

[Tom]

You are wise man to mix those lines.

I read about that one on some website. ;)

[RaceBookJoe]

I now mix turf and poly lines, but not dirt.
For class, I use the highest class race the horse the has has performed well at over one of those surfaces.

That is my way now also. In addition I factor in closing fraction/half. Have always had good results using Beyer's chart in his turf chapter in "Beyer on Speed" when comparing different fractions. rbj

[Tom]

Joe, nice to meet you the other day.

I use the chapter onturf figs in Quinn's book - Figure Handicapping.
It assignes a beyer-like number to the final fractions, so that the longer the fractions, the more weighted the number is, to give credit for stamina and sustaining late speed. He uses the par for classified allowance horses for each tack, but I found that using :24 :30 :36 for all tracks, for 2 furlongs, 2.5 furlongs, and 3 furlngs works just as well.

[RaceBookJoe]

Joe, nice to meet you the other day.

I use the chapter onturf figs in Quinn's book - Figure Handicapping.
It assignes a beyer-like number to the final fractions, so that the longer the fractions, the more weighted the number is, to give credit for stamina and sustaining late speed. He uses the par for classified allowance horses for each tack, but I found that using :24 :30 :36 for all tracks, for 2 furlongs, 2.5 furlongs, and 3 furlngs works just as well.

It was nice to meet you also. Hope to do it again, next time I will make sure to have more time to spend. Figure Handicapping is probably the one main book I have never read. I will check it out thanks. Let me know if you ever get out to vegas. rbj

[classhandicapper]

and it works very well today, especially for Turf horses.

Multiply the horses lifetime wins by 6. Places by 2. Shows by 1. Go through the PP's and give an additional half point for every fourth or fifth place finish. Take the sum total of points and divide into the horses lifetime earnings. The final number is very represenative of the horses earnings per in the money finish or MONEY CLASS.

If you are just learning to handicap, it's a good place to start to understand the difference in starters in the race.

I've been handicapping for 30 years and I still think this technique is useful. :D

You can also do that for the horse's last 10 starts on the same surface, at a representative distance, without an obvious excuse etc... divide by the number of starts used (which gives you a points per race rating). Then you can sort of eyeball the class level at the which the points were earned. With a little experience, this will yield better results because you are weeding out the unrepresentative races, large purses for statebreds etc.. and staying with more recent races. I also put more weight on very recent races than older ones. I think this is especially useful for turf races because the better horses often get the job done without earning flashy figures and winning by large margins because of pace issues that are difficult to analyze.

[Bill Cullen]

Don't ignore EARNING PER START for turf races at a route distance using only the turf earnings box .If the highest ranking horse goes off at 4/1 or higher, you might have a worthwhile wager if the other factors line up in your favor as well.

Bill C

[mwilding1981]

Just to clarify is it points / lifetime earnings?

[JohnGalt1]

I have success calculating William L. Scott's Performance Class Ratings from his book Total Victory at the Track.

PCR can also be found if you use All Ways software.