Too Much Information??

[sq764]

Do we (as handicappers) have too much information? Is there a such thing as too much information when it comes to handicapping? Or are we just lucky to have so much info at our fingertips.

I just wonder if sometimes we miss the obvious because we are clouded with turn times, pedigree, raw fractions, post position, track bias, etc...

[Tom]

I do my best work when I focus on one main thing, like pace, or speed fig patterns, and use everything else as secondary and more of a way to seperate my top contenders.
when I start looking a everthing, I tend to emphasize the wrong things.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Never too much to have, but always more than needed! Make a priority list of what info is most important for each general situation, then you can add or subtract for the specific race. You can a lot more winners by using exactly the right info in the right race!

[JustRalph]

Then I can decide how to use it. I was in Vegas at the Stardust Race book. I put a small wager on a 41-1 horse in a race at Calder. He is in front and gets nipped at the wire. I am rooting him on a little with a friend. After the race an older gent comes over and is talking to us and wants to know how in the hell I was playing that horse. I pulled out my personal racing form and pointed out a few things (it was laying in front of me) including some database stats and the guy looks at me and says
" no wonder I am losing, you have more information on that one horse than I have in the whole damn DRF"

I would rather have the info, than not have it. The people who don't have all the info that I have, are called "the pool" as far as I am concerned. But only when I derive something from my info that I know most people don't have. If they are playing with a form from a Track, (unless it is a DRF) they are crazy to play with such limited info. But if you are using only the DRF you are limited in my opine. The difference comes from distilling the data.

Now I am a computer guy......it is my business. I am very quick to adapt to computer programs and applications. I find that to be of great value in my everyday life. It is no different in my opine when it comes to racing. I can adapt information to the task at hand, almost on the fly sometimes. I am not saying that good old fashioned handicapping isn't as good, it is just a whole different art. I do pretty well with just the DRF. I am better with my computer. The computer stuff can add a ton of information. If you are good at using it, I say you would be a fool not to use it. The first year I played without the computer stuff. The second year I added the computer fulltime. My profit went up 400%. I haven't played much this year, compared to last, and I don't claim to make a ton of money. But 400% is 400% ..............

[Zaf]

I like a lot of info , but not too much. It just takes me too long to handicap a single race. So now I look for a set of factors ( 5 -7 ) and take it from there depending on the type of race.

ZAFONIC

[Observer]

Originally posted by sq764
Do we (as handicappers) have too much information? Is there a such thing as too much information when it comes to handicapping? Or are we just lucky to have so much info at our fingertips.

I just wonder if sometimes we miss the obvious because we are clouded with turn times, pedigree, raw fractions, post position, track bias, etc...

Yes, I do think sometimes handicappers will miss the obvious because of all the extra information provided these days. However, even though we may miss a few here and there, hopefully the additional information we have to sift through at our own discretion provides us with many more winners than we would have had without it.