What got you here today?

[TravisVOX]

A lot of us have learned from others, read, taught ourselves etc.

What resource has been your biggest asset as a handicapper? Is it a particular book, a parent, friend, mentor...etc?

I would have to say mine would be peers. I've been posting on message boards only to learn new things everyday. I post a pick, others provide thoughts...I find stuff I hadn't realized or seen. It's great. But also a few pieces of literature, particularly Dave Litfin and Steve Davidowitz, but more so the discussions with others.

[DJofSD]

Other than my own willingness to work hard, I'd say my association with Doc Sartin, PIRCO and the various people I met and learned from through those PIRCO meetings, seminars at Beaumont and Las Vegas.

DJofSD

[shanta]

I learned the game from my mentor Louis Cacace ( R.I.P.). Louis played only the N.Y circuit from the simulcasting outlet at Yonkers Raceway. That's where I met him about 20 some odd years ago. Man did he know the game! He tracked biases both post position and paths on the track.

He also showed me a method of gauging F.T.S. based on workouts that to this day remains valid.

Louis always taught me from the beginning that it was most important to bet a little and have a chance to win a lot. He never bet chalk unless he was playing the D.D. or pick 3 and he had value elsewhere. He was teaching me way back when that I had to bet "VALUE".

He showed me these things and many others and at the time he was pushing 80 years young! Not too shabby ha?

Great thread! Rest in peace Louis. You are missed.

Richie Pizzicara

[BIG RED]

Mine was very simple. I loved horses. Being from the city, didn't bump into many. Went riding with my brother when I was very young and just loved the animal. Then my father brought me to the racetrack, have been hooked ever since. The handicapping part was also good because I like tinkering with numbers and figures(esp. female) Been doing over 30 yrs know and will never give it up.

[BIG RED]

As you can tell, I like math, not grammer.

[BeatTheChalk]

Started by reading Les Conklin's old book..." Payday at the Races"
The first race that I ever bet - using his method .. of course
was a winner ( As it is with any system ) Bought tons of systems
met folks at the California tracks .. and then .. met Doc Sartin
through a very good friend of mine....who was also a very good
friend of the Doc. Heaven forbid .. I also sold a few " systems"
in the late 80's early 90's. Yep .. and some of the ideas are still
valid today

[bettheoverlay]

Tom Ainslie's books got me hooked on handicapping. Wandered into the old Liberty Bell Park in Philly just to have something different to do, enjoyed the experience, and an older cousin recommended Ainslie.

Ainslies Private Method was the first system I ever purchased (many more to come unfortunately), and I still tinker with variations of it to this day.

[TravisVOX]

I have always read how to stay away from systems, but the more I remove myself from a system, the worse I do.

I don't mean: Give 3 points to any horse that does this, or that...

I mean what I do each race. How do I narrow down my contenders? How I determine the probable pace etc.

This is what I'm struggling with now. I feel burried in information while my predictions run up the track. Hopefully this turns around.

[kitts]

I lost for many many years until I got "Winning Thoroughbred Strategies" by Dick Mitchell. Turned me around.

[sjk]

My best resource (and the only one I have used for many years) is the PC. I used PCs for business purposes in the '80s and wondered from time to time whether a PC could be programmed to be a successful programmer.

In June 93 I bought a new (66mz) machine and Microsoft Office to attack this problem. My computer has been successful at a level that I could have never achieved on my own.

[Holy Bull]

Reading through all the HTR monthly newsletters. Amazing info and a great approach even for non HTR users.

[superfecta]

Dick Schmidt and Mike Pizzolla.Not what they picked,how they thought and approached the game changed my thinking on how to make my bets.

[andicap]

Very long story short:

Grew up a few miles from Yonkers Raceway, hooked on the trotters when OTB came in. Knew shinola about the ponies, but saw Secretariat win the Belmont, read Andy Beyer and switched when the trotters started paying $4.20 every race.
At first did all sorts of stuff, bought speed figs and trip notes from Logic Dictates for NYRA, kept my own trip notes from the NYRA TV show, tried to keep trainer records on notecards, bought trainer info from guy named Chris Bray, read lots of crappy books.
(Yes, someone gave me a copy of Ainslie's Private Method). Tried Scott, even the Dot System.
Was doing OK with trips/speed figs (losing less than the take) when I found about computers and Dick Mitchell -- long, long road of trying lots of software, reading even more books (Brohamer turned me onto pace), and eventually through lots of reading, this board and study -- much trial and error and frustration with "modeling" -- found a method I'm comfortable with and a software that does all the math and rankings for me -- custom version of HTR -- so that contender selecting is a cinch.

hardest part: separating the wheat from the chaff and finding a method I'm comfortable with.

[vespa7]

There's nothing better than watching a race play out like you predicted with your horse kicking clear near the line.

[timtam]

Started out at Pocono Downs with a few friends of my parents.Used to run and get them tickets and they always waited until the last second to bet. I'd be going down the steps while the rest of the crowd was going out to watch the race. You had to get into the seperate bet windows thank god they were $2 bettors and I didn't have to go to the separate w/p/s and exacta windows. Purchased the Metro Method for both trotters and flats and was on my way. Later I bought the Matel Horse race analyzer and discovered after countless hrs pounding data into the hand held computer I realized my picks were close to the betting choices. I bought a system for the Texas Insruments computer which I can't remember but it did quite well in sprints.Made many trips over to Penn National and down to Keystone Park in Philly and I was hooked. To this day my mom wishes her friend would have never introduced me to hoss racing and he is gone to the great racetrack in the sky but everytime I go to Pocono Downs I look up at the section those guys always sat in and think if I could only go get a bet down for them it would be oh so sweet.