Looking at the Racing Form

[vic4417]

I'm try to get into the game and learn as much as possible. What is your mythod on reading the information inside the form?

[newtothegame]

I'm try to get into the game and learn as much as possible. What is your mythod on reading the information inside the form?

Vic....I too am very new in relative terms but I will show my inexperienece here and take a stab at your question. Just keep in mind this is only MY perspective and "you should NOT try this at home" lol

First I look at the conditions of the race such as state bred..open company...distance...purse....etc in the opening portions of the stated race.

secondly, And this is for the local tracks only that I TRY to cap...
I begin to look for certain jocks who have certain mounts (trainers). I think in alot of areas a case can be made for jockey/trainer combos. I also like a top jockey in a ceratin track who may have ridden two or three of the entries. The one he selects in THIS race usually gets a bit of a nod from me as I move on.

thirdly, I then look to see which horses actually fit the conditions of the race. (I guess this is why in this step, i really struggle with fist timers).

I try to identify the pace of the race based on the entries last few races as long as they fit the same conditions stated above. Weather plays some factor as in whether a horse is coming out of a sloppy race and todays will be good weather, then I usually toss the sloppy one if that makes sense.

I usually don't like horse comming into this race after an extended time off (unless the trainer stats would otherwise say different). I usually think most horses need a tune up...but again this could be deciphered sometimes in the work patterns. I look at whether a horse is stepping up in class..or down. I Usually dont like horses dropping in to a race with lower conditions then previously ran (especially if dropping in for a claiming price for the first time). Again, this is ME...and I know some here will disagree.

Once I have ATTEMPTED to figure the pace of the race, I then try to determine based on the above factors who has a shot at it.

Usually by the point, I have figured who I think doesnt have a shot as well and begin to eliminate horses..
I look at shippers in...especially if its an allowance or larger then normal purse.
I look at works for the horses to see who is in shape and if they have a regular work pattern. Although, Ive got to tell you for horses I determine to be closers, I dont worry too much about times as I do consistency. For front runners I like to see sharp quality works.

Ive got to be honest though, I usually narrow the what I believe to win down to about 3 horses in most cases.
I know there are some who use the par numbers...but to be honest, I havent gotten that far. Usually I am overwhelmed with information and start confusing myself anyways lol.
Thats about what I do...I do look at how a horse responded in the past at THIS track if they have a larger racing background.
I do briefly look at past beyers leading up to this one and how long ago that race was as this may help to identify if he is in shape in my opinion. Hope this helps. Now I am sure ive left out some stuff...but hope it helps ya

[kenwoodallpromos]

The first thging I do is look in the front of the section off PP's for the track- I elinimate sprints and short field races where 1 or 2 horses have very low morning Lines and the others are much higher. I look at Brisnet Handicapper's edge to see if favs, low posts and/or front runners are doing well at this track. Then i go to the PP's to see who had too many gaps in races and workouts, if then horse is consistent, normally fades, has trouble in comments or at a certasin weight.
Mine The Bird seem to do well the 2nd race of a type like stretching out, lost the 1st time carrying over 120lbs. I want Revenge reared the last race, then got a foot problem. Musket Man and General Quarters kept beating each other. Only a few Derby runners won more than 2 races of any kind. Very few of them ran on an off track.

[andymays]

Read a Horses running lines from the bottom up, making notations along the way. Start with workouts since last race and end up watching video replays of the last couple of races.

Each Horse has a story to tell. Then make an educated guess as to how that Horse will do today.

[JustRalph]

people still use the form?

[newtothegame]

people still use the form?

Yeah...unfortuneatley until I become prficient there...I feel i shouldnt go further :)

[fmolf]

Yeah...unfortuneatley until I become prficient there...I feel i shouldnt go further :)
it is a great place to start. if you want what i feel is better info then use brisnet ultimate pp's. i feel these are best!...any way i start out from the bottom of each horses pp's and mark which races were run at todays conditions or better with a big black dot in the left hand margin...then i circle each win or finish within 1 length of the winner(circling the actual class of race won on the pp's).....then i circle each speed figure matching or exceeding par(same for pace when using bris pp's)this method usually points out which horses will be competitive for this race!I also throw out all horses who have not run a fig at least 6 pts of the par .....8 on bris #.....recency matters less to me now then it did ten yrs ago lots of trainers now are capable of getting horses ready to run fresh and if properly placed and having good workout pattern i do not toss... andy is right projecting improvement can lead to a lot of nice horses at nice prices!

[Relwob Owner]

I'm try to get into the game and learn as much as possible. What is your mythod on reading the information inside the form?


Congrats on getting into the best game ever....my answer is based on the analysis/betting aspect so I hope it fits what you need.


Some people like Andy Beyer, some dont....I do so my advice is based on that....I would say to read Picking Winners, The Winning Horseplayer and then Beyer on Speed....they show his basic premise and methodology plus his gradual acknowledgement that there are more factors than just his speed figures........my only other piece of advice is to read a book on money mangement and to follow Beyer's advice on "action" bets vs "prime bets"


Whatever you do, good luck!

[Grits]

You're doing fine NTTG, absolutely fine. Stay with the DRF, learn to read it inside out, forwards and backwards. Learn Beyer figs, etc, etc. Most of all, understand conditions, first.

Unlike fmolf, I think Bris pps may benefit you more later on down the road. There is far more added information, a lot of which can confuse you, early, in your learning curve--making your decisions, your toss outs, etc, more difficult to arrive at.

Go one step at a time and progress with each. You are well on your way.

Much good luck. Wishing the same to Vic44. And, Welcome to PA.

Yeah...unfortuneatley until I become prficient there...I feel i shouldnt go further :)

[DJofSD]

I'm try to get into the game and learn as much as possible. What is your mythod on reading the information inside the form?
Learn what is in the PPs and how to read them. Know what information is found in the PPs and how it is obtained. That's the foundation for most of your handicapping. But not all. After a while you'll discover not all information in the PPs is relavent to all races, and, not all the things you need for a particular race are in the PPs, e.g. equine body language, shoe information, etc.

[fmolf]

You're doing fine NTTG, absolutely fine. Stay with the DRF, learn to read it inside out, forwards and backwards. Learn Beyer figs, etc, etc. Most of all, understand conditions, first.

Unlike fmolf, I think Bris pps may benefit you more later on down the road. There is far more added information, a lot of which can confuse you, early, in your learning curve--making your decisions, your toss outs, etc, more difficult to arrive at.

Go one step at a time and progress with each. You are well on your way.

Much good luck. Wishing the same to Vic44. And, Welcome to PA.
well ... drf is a great place to start and we all started their....nttg their is a lot of info on bris and i guess drf as well as to reading and using their products....on bris i know you can go to sample pages with explanations or the have a link called library with all different articles you can read explaining their pp's.....i am not sure about drf someone else here may be....

[Bubba X]

Get past performances for the last 8 weeks. Watch those races and develop a sense of what happened and why. Pay particular attention to the relative strength of the last 2-3 fields the entered horses ran against. Field quality is imo is one of the two most important handicapping factors. There are vast differences in field quality in races at every class level. To me, race flow/dynamics and field quality are the two most important factors in handicapping. Trainer and jockey angles are ok, but are public information, are "worked into" the betting odds and are generally of little or no value. The subjective factors -- race dynamics and field quality -- are the ones that define success or failure. If you have not tried DRF Formulator, take a look. Good luck.

[DJofSD]

To follow what Bubba X offered, collect an entire meetings worth of DRFs PPs and results charts. Use that as a basis for research. Years ago I remember the DRF printed a Charts Weekly, however, that information is available for free online at BRISNET -- you just need to download it. I think starting out by not using a computer or computer program will keep the confusion level low. There's not need to try and learn a new computer program and the same time your learning some of the fundamentals to handicapping. Crawl first, then walk and pretty soon, you'll be running.

[Oaklawn]

it is a great place to start. if you want what i feel is better info then use brisnet ultimate pp's. i feel these are best!...any way i start out from the bottom of each horses pp's and mark which races were run at todays conditions or better with a big black dot in the left hand margin...then i circle each win or finish within 1 length of the winner(circling the actual class of race won on the pp's).....then i circle each speed figure matching or exceeding par(same for pace when using bris pp's)this method usually points out which horses will be competitive for this race!I also throw out all horses who have not run a fig at least 6 pts of the par .....8 on bris #.....recency matters less to me now then it did ten yrs ago lots of trainers now are capable of getting horses ready to run fresh and if properly placed and having good workout pattern i do not toss... andy is right projecting improvement can lead to a lot of nice horses at nice prices!

Speaking of marking on your brisnet pp's. I get where I don't print them anymore, just look at them in the pdf form. Do you know of a program that will let me make notations on the online form with my mouse? Thanks.

[DJofSD]

Speaking of marking on your brisnet pp's. I get where I don't print them anymore, just look at them in the pdf form. Do you know of a program that will let me make notations on the online form with my mouse? Thanks.
I believe, but do not absolutely know for certain, this can be done. However, I think you need to be able to edit the file and with the BRIS PDFs files password protected that might prove to be not doable. But, I could be wrong.

[DJofSD]

Yes, there is a way to mark up a PDF file. There is a sticky note tool like using the 3M Post-it Notes. However, for that PDF tool to work you must have rights to the document. D/L'd results files from BRIS will not give you that access.

Perhaps there is some other way to do that mark up for your own personal notes.

BTW, if the notes you wish to record are for a specific horse, you can add notes using the BRIS Custom PP generator.

[TimesTheyRAChangin]

Speaking of marking on your brisnet pp's. I get where I don't print them anymore, just look at them in the pdf form. Do you know of a program that will let me make notations on the online form with my mouse? Thanks.

Foxit Reader!An excellent tool!

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/reader-interstitial.html

[DJofSD]

Foxit Reader!An excellent tool!

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/reader-interstitial.html
If I read it correctly, to use the mark up tool, you need to buy the Pro pack at $40.

[TimesTheyRAChangin]

If I read it correctly, to use the mark up tool, you need to buy the Pro pack at $40.

No.
The free one is what I have,and it includes multiple mark-up choices.

[fmolf]

I believe, but do not absolutely know for certain, this can be done. However, I think you need to be able to edit the file and with the BRIS PDFs files password protected that might prove to be not doable. But, I could be wrong.
i do know that with formulator they have the capability to mark the pp's and print them with your notations on them...i would search the bris website for a software program that may enable you to do this they have several...none of which i have first hand info about...i just started getting pp's online since my son gave me this notebooki am on now...i am not very computer savvy at all sorry dj...perhaps others may know your answer?

excellent idea bubba i still do the same thing now...i tape the replay shows ..whatever tracks tvg and hrtv are airing and then handicap the races and do mock bets based on my perceived value...a great exercise i should have suggested it

[DJofSD]

No.
The free one is what I have,and it includes multiple mark-up choices.
OK, thanks I guess I didn't pick up on that.

Are the mark-up saved when you close the file, i.e. will you see those mark-up's again the next time you launch the application and open the same PDF file?

[TimesTheyRAChangin]

OK, thanks I guess I didn't pick up on that.

Are the mark-up saved when you close the file, i.e. will you see those mark-up's again the next time you launch the application and open the same PDF file?

Yes.