This is going to sound dumb, but can anyone give me a kick in the pants toward some sort of data not associated with software/tote-boards that may give me clear insight into what might separate horses on a given track as contenders?
I'm talking horses with less than 12:1 M/L odds - not for big longshots. I have working angles for those horses, but right now I'm just struggling with fields filled with a bunch of close favorites. example: 7 horses in a field of 9 that are all <8:1 odds.
I am also open to the opposite of centenders in methods which may eliminate or move down certain horses from hitting the board.
I'm looking for like half data that is on Past Performances (pen & paper) or printable form datas, and then the other half maybe some sort of angle I haven't considered over the years. (something unrelated to a specific horses past performances like track bias, jockeys, trainers, etc)
I have been using and adjusting various angles in pace, lengths, speed/times, earnings, and field vs finish. I have also looked at Jockey/Trainer data but can't seem to find themes.
I have always been under the impression that there are some shady characters in this sport as well as sometimes horses are just unhealthy(injured/sick) and/or could lose their rider, etc. so I'm not looking for something that wins every time, because it doesn't exist, I just need a point in a direction where some usefulness may be, even if I have to figure it out myself.
Also I'm open to any good simple math formulas that are easy to do and useful for comparing data and sorting (by hand on paper).