Andy Beyer Retires From Writing

[ReplayRandall]

Originally Posted by Cratos

It is very odd to me that posters who claim to have an in-depth historical knowledge of figure making, but none of them have mentioned the name of one the best figure makers ever in Phil Bull, a mathematician and one of the founders of TimeForm; and the creator of “timefigures” back in the 1930s.

Timefigures are usually transcribed into their equivalent ‘time-ratings’ in pounds.

Timeform was established in 1948....If you mentioned Phil Bull, why didn't you also mention his talented associate, Dick Whitford?

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Great stuff everyone.

Beyer is a legend. A game changer in the horse racing business.

When your figure is THE figure in the biggest racing publication for well over 2 decades, I think you can claim you have changed the industry. An industry that is now all about figures, and numbers, and the crunching of those numbers to find winners and/or winning plays.

Toss in his incredible contributions from a penning standpoint, and he is truly one of the giants.

Godspeed Mr. Beyer.

[Broad Brush]

That was a great article on Andy. I think is truly a one-of-a-kind.

My mother gave my father a copy of Picking Winners in the late 1970s
as a gift. My father never understood the figures side of the book but I
soaked it up like a sponge. I was making speed figures when I was
in High School. Years later in the mid 1990s I created my own pace
figures using some of his calculations. I needed par times for some
distances not listed in any of his books. I wrote a letter to him, telling him
what I needed and why. He was kind enough to take the time to type
a detailed letter including the info I had requested and sent it to me.
I still have that original copy of Picking Winners on my book shelf.
I have a copy of all of his books. "My $50,000 Year"---I still use a lot.
If I have made a series of bad decisions and get in a slump--I always read a few of the stories in that book and it seems to snap me out of it.

I hope to meet him someday. I wish him nothing but winners....

[AltonKelsey]

Originally Posted by the little guy

Not exactly.

Well, memory fades. Was it $25, $30, Percent of Handle, Percent of Profit, or how many times Marty 'Mr Dirt" accosted you on the day, divided by 1.376?

After all we're going for accuracy here!

[Tom]

I hope to meet him someday. I wish him nothing but winners....

The first time I met Andy was at Laurel in the 90s.
We were in a small room off the main sports book, and I will never forget what he said to me that day: "How did you get in here?"

Great guy! He even arranged for a security guard to carry my laptop out to my car for me!

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Originally Posted by Tom

The first time I met Andy was at Laurel in the 90s.
We were in a small room off the main sports book, and I will never forget what he said to me that day: "How did you get in here?"

Great guy! He even arranged for a security guard to carry my laptop out to my car for me!

You drug a laptop to the races with you in the 90s?

Must be a time traveler. How do you ever lose?

[Tom]

Toshiba - 3.5 inch floppy drive.

[AskinHaskin]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

there are plenty of racetracks on the edge of demise whose management would love to do more for the people who bet on their races, but really aren't in a position to be able to do it

That is absurd.


They are all in a completely advantageous and enviable (from the standpoints of other competition for the gambling dollar) position where it concerns "doing more" for their bettors, but they are collectively too stupid to lift more than the one figure to the racing fans as a group.


It is more that track management has known only a long tradition of doing zero for their patrons, and so continuing that pointless and senseless tradition is the only path they know.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Lemon Drop Husker

You drug a laptop to the races with you in the 90s?

Must be a time traveler. How do you ever lose?

They were slow back then but definitely around.

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by AltonKelsey

Well, memory fades. Was it $25, $30, Percent of Handle, Percent of Profit, or how many times Marty 'Mr Dirt" accosted you on the day, divided by 1.376?

After all we're going for accuracy here!

That made me laugh.....thanks.

Dirt actually still comes to Belmont sometimes with Rocco. He screams at me every time I see him so I try to keep our "visits" to a minimum:-)

As we said later, bigger bettors paid more back then, on an honor system.

[Elliott Sidewater]

I remember Andy describing his life changing win on Sun In Action at the old Liberty Bell track just outside of Philadelphia. That was around the time my own interest in racing switched from harness to thoroughbreds, and in the early 70's his teachings on speed handicapping made me a winner. Later in the decade I started making my own speed figures, and that gave me an edge that lasted for almost another decade. His explanation and examples of track biases in "My $50,000 Year at the Races" is the best information ever to appear in any racing book, ever, in my opinion. I owe Andy Beyer a great debt of gratitude, and I hope he reads how and I and others here respect his work, his great writing style, and his generosity as a teacher. And you know what, the "change of pace" angle still works in maiden races

[cj]

Originally Posted by Cratos

It is very odd to me that posters who claim to have an in-depth historical knowledge of figure making, but none of them have mentioned the name of one the best figure makers ever in Phil Bull, a mathematician and one of the founders of TimeForm; and the creator of “timefigures” back in the 1930s.

Timefigures are usually transcribed into their equivalent ‘time-ratings’ in pounds.

Time is only a small part of Timeform ratings. They do have a speed rating also but few take it seriously...with pretty good reason.

[JBmadera]

Picking Winners got me hooked on this great sport in 1976. Every now and then I pull it out and re-read some of my fav parts. A true gift to horse racing.

Thanks Andy!

[cj]

Originally Posted by ReplayRandall

The name of the book is:
"Consistent Handicapping Profits"
by E.W. Donaldson- 1936

Barry Meadow writes:
"I first heard of this book at Handicapping Expo 2004, where Jerry Brown, the originator of the Thoro-Graph sheets, claimed that Consistent Handicapping Profits was an important, uncredited source for much of what both Thoro-Graph and rival Ragozin Sheets do today. Among the features covered in Donaldson’s book:

o A parallel time chart from 5 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles
o Explanation of a method to graph each horse’s race, by race segments,
then using the graphs to measure a horse’s loss of speed throughout a race
o A discussion of track-to-track adjustments for shippers
o A ground-loss chart with adjustments for number of paths wide per turn
o A detailed discussion about how weight affects final time, emphasizing
its greater importance in route races
o Some mention about how wind, atmospheric pressure, and track
moisture affect final times
o A thorough discussion of how figure patterns can signal improvement
o Using analysis of each running line to account for variations in
performance (e.g., helped by a rail trip or hurt by a fast pace)
o Use of feet-per-second calculations
o A theory that a lighter horse will be more affected by weight than a
heavy horse (although in the U.S., horses are not weighed before post)

In this book, and in a second volume published a year later (How To Select
Winning Horses), Donaldson reinforces several important points of handicapping that serve players just as well today as they might have in the 1930’s—or earlier. Some of today’s handicappers may be surprised to learn that many of the same principles they thought were original were in fact being used by players from a much earlier day."

Full article:
http://www.trpublishing.com/wp-conte.../ATM_04_15.pdf

Yep, that is the book I was referencing. If it was published in 1936, the figure making had to have started much sooner. He didnt whip that up in a few weeks.

I'll take some pictures and post tomorrow.

[AltonKelsey]

Originally Posted by the little guy

That made me laugh.....thanks.

Dirt actually still comes to Belmont sometimes with Rocco. He screams at me every time I see him so I try to keep our "visits" to a minimum:-)

As we said later, bigger bettors paid more back then, on an honor system.

I have to say I'm pleased to hear he's still around, not a bet I would have made unless I was given Trump odds or better.

Knew him pretty well back in the day, but I , like most , couldn't take the 'heat', which was , even for the racetrack , in asbestos territory. He was an early adopter of sheet play, have to give him props for that.