Quote:
Originally Posted by thaskalos
Serious answer. I would have liked to have read only one book in my entire handicapping life...and that book is Cary Fotias's book Blinkers Off. All the other handicapping books that I have read have been a gigantic waste of time... the cost of which unfortunately took me about 35 years to realize.
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"Blinkers Off -- New Frontiers in Form Cycle Analysis" is one of the most beautifully written investment books I have ever read. It is every bit as good as Ed Thorp's "Beat the Market" when it comes to clarity and literacy.
Mark Cramer says "his analysis of the skill of handicapping in the 21st century is perceptive and on a cutting edge. And his writing style is pleasant, often entertaining, and consistently literate. The author knows how to turn a phrase, and with the clarity and precision necessary to follow his arguments with ease."
James Quinn called "Blinkers Off" "revolutionary".
Even the skeptical Barry Meadow spoke well of the ideas in Fotias' book saying, "there is enough solid handicapping advice to make the book worthwhile even if you never buy a single one of his sheets."
I had the privilege of being a friend of Cary Fotias. He was the most passionate horseplayer I have ever met and he poured that passion into his book and his figures. You're right about his book -- it did sound like a commercial for his product, but his product was incredible. His pace and speed figures were second to none. They were velocity based. Even though the concepts can be used with other speed figures you may or may not get the same results. He did large scale statistical analysis to test patterns in his figures. He gave the patterns names like -- Turf Decline Line, New Pace Top, Cyclical Top, Turnback, Plungeline, and Reversal, etc. The patterns were new and unique so he trademarked them. "Bounce" was a Ragozin or Thorograph concept, but I've heard bounce mentioned by Hong Kong racing commentators! Unfortunately, Fotias' pattern names will probably never make it into the every day racing lexicon and for that reason they still have valuable pari-mutuel value.
Sadly, Cary died young. His company was sold. His figures will never be duplicated to the same degree because they contained two secret ingredients that only he could provide -- passion and love.
