BMeadow |
03-01-2016 01:31 AM |
I reviewed See How They Run: A Guide To Financial Freedom At The Racetrack in the Sept. 1997 issue of Meadow's Racing Monthly. The book is 130 pages plus charts in looseleaf format, so it wouldn't be in any public library. Here is part of the review:
McCormick has some useful handicapping points to make.
Basically, he believes every selection needs to qualify on three elements which he calls fitness, class, and controlling factors.
McCormick recommends using velocity ratings to analyze the performance of thoroughbreds, breaking down each segment of a race. He’s certainly not the first to advocate this--I first read of this method in a book with a 1934 copyright date, and it probably was in use long before that--but he does include easy-to-read charts for each distance that remove much of the drudgery from these calculations.
He breaks each performance into a Velocity Form Rating (overall number) and a Velocity Class Rating (a number which takes into account how far behind the horse is at the second call). He then lists a number of form angles that he suggests using after you’ve calculated each horse’s numbers. One of them, for instance, is slow-fast-slow, meaning the horse’s second race back was its best. These are explained in detail.
McCormick also includes adjustments for different distances, different tracks, and the Racing Form variant for the race.
He then describes various angles and rules, though he says his method is not a system. Some of these can get complex, or perhaps incomprehensible. For instance, from Class Aspect for 1/8 Physical Form Angle (exactly as written):
"All raising in class must have finished 1st or a very close 2nd in the last race and adhere to Win & No Best Number rules. Last race winners must fit both the 1/8 and the Win angle to be a play."
Or this suggested play:
"Combined with any of these Physical Form Angles: Up & Good, Win & best Number, Win & No Best Number, Short E and Short Delay (plus) the last race VFR is 1.50 fast to 1.40 slow over the next to last race and the last VFR is .90 fast to 2.00 slow over the 3rd race back."
McCormick does give many examples of his angle plays, which helps. However, all the examples are out of context--only the pp’s of the winner are given--so it’s difficult to evaluate the accuracy of the analyses. And since there are no long-term stats, simply listing winning patterns doesn’t tell you whether they’re profitable patterns or they merely win every so often.
Fortunately, just about the time that all these angles and rules are starting to blur into one big morass, McCormick conveniently summarizes his angles (both positive and negative) on a single page (123). And most of them actually make sense.
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