best handicapper

[Maxspa]

Rick,
There are other handicappers some on this board who are excellent as well. In the early 90's I attended a Sartin Pirco seminar. Many of the people who participated in the seminar included: Jim Quinn, Dave Schwartz, Dick Schmidt, Tom Brohamer, Jim Bradshaw, Michael Pizzola, Huey Mahl, Bob Purdy etc. Many
have gone on to develop their own niche as handicappers and computer software program developers. We are fortunate to have Dick and Dave as contributors on this board. I know there have been questions about Doc Sartin and his handling of certain situations but the fact remains that many of the people that were involved initially in Pirco have helped to develop many different handicapping approaches and expand the knowledge and understanding of this great game.
Max

[Rick]

Thanks again Max, I'll check it out.

[SignUpKing]

Originally Posted by Rick

Maxspa,

Do you know if Jones is going to write another book? Several years back he talked about writing one about how some tracks are much easier to beat than others. "Easy Pickings" was the term he used for the best tracks. The list he had at the time generally agreed with my opinion on the subject but I was hoping to see some more detailed studies.

In the seminars I saw, he selected horses in several different categories all the way from high percentage plays to longshots. Some of his longshots matched my own selections to I was generally favorably impressed. It would be interesting to keep track of his publicly posted selections now and see how they do. I wonder if anyone in Vegas has done that.

The interesting thing about the casino race books is now that most of them have gone parimutuel, they actually have an incentive to help players win in order to increase their handle.

Gordon Jones IS a documented winner.

[alysheba88]

John Piesen

[DanG]

Whew…using the old ‘way-back machine on this thread...

Side note: I REALLY wish “Rick” from Fallon Nv. still posted here. I enjoyed his posts very much and hope he’s in good health. They are worth the trip into the archives / search if anyone is curious IMO.

BTW: Impossible to proclaim the best WIN%, ROI, NET etc…but…Brad Thomas for a day in / day out public selector at Monmouth Park operates at a very high level IMO.

[Greyfox]

The best public selector, making calls at a difficult track, is
Howard Hong of Turf Paradise.
Hong does a good job handicapping cheap plugs. I only catch Jones when he's at Fairplex and have never been impressed.
I know several private selectors who can beat both of these guys and I'm sure many of you do to.
And Aussie, if she's so astute , how did your girl friend pick you?

[DanG]

I can’t verify it, but I’ve heard their documented record is 45% winners with an ROI of $2.69.

Just passing it along…

[njcurveball]

As per the title, the best handicapper each year is the one who wins the NHC. The list is below

NHC Hall of Fame

TournamentHandicapper of the YearNHC VIII 2007Stanley BavlishNHC VII 2006Ron RippeyNHC VI 2005James Michelson, Jr.NHC V 2004Kent MeyerNHC IV 2003Steve Wolfson, Jr.NHC III 2002Herman MillerNHC II 2001Judy WagnerNHC I 2000Steven Walker

[TurfRuler]

"Zig when others zag" Gordon Jones.

[silverfox]

Thats easy.The public 33% winners.Beat that for 10,000,000 races.

[Rick]

I'm still around and check back here sometimes. But I don't post much any more because I don't really have much to add to what's already being said. Also, over the last couple of years it's been more important to focus on investments to produce retirement income. A diversified portfolio of investments provides a much more reliable income than any horse racing methods ever will. Even playing thousands of races a year will result in large differences in ROI from year to year (well over 10% for most methods)!

However, I am still wondering what happened with Gordon Jones. The idea that some tracks are easier than others seems to be an important one.

I'm currently interested in things that I have more questions about than answers to, such as:

What is the correct time window to use when building a model for a track and how much should you expect it to change from one meet to the next?

How much of the apparent difference between tracks is real?

What measure should one use to optimize a track model? On this one I'm leaning toward something like the average of the log of win payoffs since it seems to be more stable over time than just looking at ROI.

Will polytrack surfaces make it harder to win since the tracks will be more similar to one another or will it be easier to win because of better consitency of performances over time?

[alysheba88]

Originally Posted by silverfox

Thats easy.The public 33% winners.Beat that for 10,000,000 races.

Are you serious? Do you really think hit rate tells you who is a better handicapper? Doesnt winning money matter?

[DanG]

Originally Posted by Rick

I'm still around and check back here sometimes. But I don't post much any more because I don't really have much to add to what's already being said. Also, over the last couple of years it's been more important to focus on investments to produce retirement income. A diversified portfolio of investments provides a much more reliable income than any horse racing methods ever will. Even playing thousands of races a year will result in large differences in ROI from year to year (well over 10% for most methods)!

Glad to hear you’re still in their swinging Rick;

I really enjoyed reading your thoughts through the archives and wish you nothing but the best.

[Niko]

Maxspa
"There are other handicappers some on this board who are excellent as well. In the early 90's I attended a Sartin Pirco seminar. Many of the people who participated in the seminar included: Jim Quinn, Dave Schwartz, Dick Schmidt, Tom Brohamer, Jim Bradshaw, Michael Pizzola, Huey Mahl, Bob Purdy etc. Many have gone on to develop their own niche as handicappers and computer software program developers"

I have no idea how they do as handicappers (other then through this site) but they all definately learned how to sell information for a profit through Doc Sartin......

[judd]

does anybody remember murray kram ?????
he was pretty good

anybody ?