Handicapping

Handicapping has evolved in an art form nowadays, and it refers to the skill of predicting the winner of a horse race. The process takes into consideration each horse’s demonstrated abilities. Then, they are put in the context of the track conditions and other outside specific elements that each horse racing track has.

In order for them to evaluate the horses’ abilities, handicappers take past performances into consideration, as well as published records of previous races. These results may ultimately indicate the horse's speed, its class, its pace, its ability to win, and whether the horse is on an ascending or descending performance curve.

The independent conditions under which each horse will have to race are: the race’s competition quality, the track length, the racing surface (it can be either dirt or grass), and the state of that surface around the moment of the race (fast, sloppy, etc.)

It takes a pretty long time and some experience to become a good handicapper. However, if you are new to the game or simply don’t want to make a profession out of this, you can easily feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you need to work with and process.

However, I will give you a tip that can help you in your endeavors. First of all, begin your handicapping of each race by eliminating the horses which have the highest odds, and make them be half of the total number of horses present at the start of the race.

So, for instance, if a race has 12 horses, eliminate the 6 horses which have the highest odds. If the horse has an odd number of horses, 11 for instance, you need to round up. So if you divide 11 by 2 that is 5.5, which rounded up is 6. Keep the 6 horses with the lowest odds, and throw the 5 with the highest odds out of the list.

This is an approach only recommendable to beginners, but I don’t need to tell experts what to do, they know it better. The truth is that pure statistical numbers show the fact that the great majority of all the winners come from the top half table of the horses with the lowest odds in a horse race. And for players who just want to bet for fun, 6 horses is a lot easier to handicap than 12, isn’t it?

Handicapping also has a second meaning. It refers to the placing of extra weights in horses’ saddles in order to even out the competition in a horse race. This type of race is called a handicap race, and some of the world’s most important races are handicaps. The amount of weight each horse carries is determined by each horse’s class and skill.

Apart from the skills a person requires in order to accurately predict the outcome of a race, luck plays an important part also. After all, that’s why it is called gambling. However, good handicapping can win anyone a race and good money along with that.

About the Author

Dan Borlan is a professional SEO for Mike Filsaime Inc. If you require professional help you can contact Dan at: www.1certifiedinstaller.com