Do you favor track or distance?

[Delta Cone]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

I always look at surface/distance before I consider track.

Agree. My play improved when I stopped lumping all sprints together and started looking for real differences in distance preference among 6f and 6.5f or 7f. Sometimes the crowd makes subtle mistakes in assuming they are equivalent.

But many horses have specific preferences and can wake up from a series of dull efforts with a small distance switch.

[shouldacoulda]

I prefer track over distance. I also look at jockey too. Assuming it was a shipper, If the there is a change to a higher % jockey then you know they will be trying to win. I remember reading about a workout within a race. Sometimes that's what the first race in a new track is. I have caught some nice price horses using this angle. It's also where I find computer based handicapping falls short. When I look at the races selected for evaluation by a program I can only wonder why.

[proximity]

Originally Posted by HandiTrack

If you've got one line where a horse ran (fairly recently) at the current track but not at the current race distance or race level, and another line where they ran (again reasonably recently) at the current race distance but not the same track or race level, which do you favor? Let's say they are both below the current race level to minimize variables.

Does that change if either or both are at the current race level? Both above the current race level?

I'm very inconsistent about which line I choose for my handicapping and I'd like some outside opinions.

i prefer a body of work approach to choosing a specific line but to give an answer to your question in most of the kinds of races i like to play i'd prefer track with evidence of being able to succeed at the distance.