South American Racing

[KMS]

I notice that you can bet the Laurel simulcast of racing from South America thru Twinspires. Today it's Uruguay; I've also seen Chile and Argentina on there. And Trackmaster has speed figures for them. Anybody played these tracks?

[plainolebill]

I've been to the races at Vina Del Mar (Chile), Caracas and Rio De Janeiro but I can't offer any strategies about playing - my spanish isn't very good and speak no portuguese. In those countries they sell form books that have photographs of the horse's pp race at various points around the track and other information about the horses. It's been a long time but I'm pretty sure that there were no claiming races - the lower level races were all handicaps of different classifications.

Caracas was so poor that the minimum bets were pennies but the racecourse itself was very nice and I believe the purses were good. In Rio you could win a bet and lose money - heck of a deal and Vina Del Mar was strictly turf racing.

They should offer free pp info at Twin Spires like Youbet does for Austrialian racing.

[cj]

Andy Beyer spent several weeks in South America this year and wrote a couple articles about betting the racing. They are informative and entertaining. I'm sure you can find them via Google.

[price]

Yes I have and will continue to play.

[misscashalot]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031002717.html


Gambling Fantasy Goes South
Argentina has a rich horse racing history - brought to the fore by recent American success stories like Invasor, above - but remains hostile to wagering on the races. (John Sommers II - Reuters)

By Andrew Beyer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008; Page E03


BUENOS AIRES For years I have harbored a gambling fantasy: to live in a foreign country and play the horses seriously by using American handicapping techniques. I did so in 1990 when I spent three months in Sydney, declaring before my departure that I was going to become the King of the Southern Hemisphere. This didn't happen -- my profit was minuscule -- but the experience was such an adventure that I wanted to repeat it.

So last week my wife and I arrived for a month-long stay in Buenos Aires. The city is grand; the country has a long and illustrious horse tradition; the racing people I have met are astonishingly hospitable. I am armed with handicapping information that no one else on the continent possesses. Yet I already know the outcome of this venture. I will not make a meaningful profit, because Argentina's racing industry is discouragingly inhospitable to bettors.

SEE LINK FOR THE REST

[KMS]

I watched a few races from Madronas, Uruguay today. One in particular I "handicapped," although I didn't bet on it, and it turned about like I thought it should, so maybe it will be worthwhile to pay some attention to racing south of the equator. The track looks to be a mile or more in circumference, with sweeping turns, and the surface appears to be yellow sand, almost like a beach. The horses all look small, and the strategy seems to be go like a bat out of hell as far and as fast as you can, and whoever staggers across the finish line first is the winner.