Geoffrey Hutson's Watching Racehorses

[so.cal.fan]

Has anyone read this book?

Is it any good?

[mistergee]

http://www.bettingsystemreviews.co.uk/2009/05/watching-racehorses-by-geoffrey-hutson/

[DeanT]

Enjoyable. Just like some handicapping books put info out there as fact, which is not backed up by long term stats, there are several "behavior" items I have heard over the years that I took as a negative, which GH explains have no/little effect.

[Native Texan III]

I did not enjoy this book at all.
There are far better ones which concentrate on the really important causal factors, not 60 irrelevant ones that fog the issue.

[gm10]

Very enjoyable read but no so easy to put into practice.

[so.cal.fan]

If he lists 60 factors, I agree with Native Texan.

What caught my eye was mistergee's link.

Claims that one can use the factors to rate favorites, and if a favorite passes the factors, you can turn a 5% loss into a 10% gain.

This of course, is in the UK. Here in the US, we have different medication laws and most likely higher takeout and breakage?

I do think it may be possible to bet favorites who stand out in the paddock and on the track on physicality and turn a 5% loss into a 5% profit.
Maybe.

Thanks for your comments

[crestridge]

I think the general summary/discussion, is a quiet, attentive horse, calm in affect.

[nalley0710]

I've done very extensive research into body language and used it as a core method to my handicapping for almost 2 decades. Although I welcome any book on the subject, I disagree with his conclusions and do not think he fully understands how body language connects with the other handicapping concepts.

[crestridge]

I myself have read books, watched videos, attempted to watch horses and frankly, haven't been very successful with these methods of determining/qualifying horses.

Nalley, if you could maybe elaborate, say on some basic concepts you've discovered. Like, "kidney sweat", "short walking", "ears flicking", "ears back", "white eye", "head up", "hand held", "lolling", "tail flared", "tail flat", "grinding", "snorting", "chewing", "prancing", "salivating", "fractious", "no warm-up", "leg tapes", "balking", "bucking" etc., and how do these concepts relate, establishing either positive, negative or neutral signs, for handicapping purposes. And how or what is the best method of relating physical appearance to handicapping with say stats/figures and computer programs?

[so.cal.fan]

I'm confident that I have an edge if I can judge the condition of a horse in the paddock before it races.

So much so, that I will not wager, even a small amount, off track.

It's difficult and time consuming to learn all the nuances and the important things to watch. Most folks just don't have the time or resources to do this, only years of close study can make it worth while.
Can you profit without using physicality? I'm sure some of you do, but I'm not one of you.