Scientific Handicapping The book
I had to go to a lab to get my blood work done and anticipating a long delay I selected a book to read. My selection was Scientific Handicapping by 2 College Professors from Long Beach State. Since one was a Poly Sci Professor and the others major was english I thought this might be an amusing read. I was wrong these guys really nailed it. The book was published in 1963,but I don't remember when I bought it. They considered speed and pace as the primary handicapping factors along with class and forum. They outlined a method to calculate early pace like the drf did for their speed ratings. They had par times for the various distances on both major tracks and bull rings. They also addressed how you had to evaluate the running styles of the horses in the race. These are the tools I use now to handicap a race, the only thing different is that we have better numbers. I was amazed that they had outlined this in the early 1960's
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