Handicapping Horse Races by Jockey Instead of Horses

Nov 2
07:38

2011

Aliva Kar

Aliva Kar

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There are as many ways to pick winners as there are kinds of races. One way to play your favorite racing circuit and to find plenty of good bets is to...

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There are as many ways to pick winners as there are kinds of races. One way to play your favorite racing circuit and to find plenty of good bets is to follow a few jockeys. There are always a few top jockeys who get the best horses and win more races than the rest of the riders. Focusing on a few of them and using the following tips will help you to have plenty of winners and maybe even make a profit from your horse racing bets.

First of all,Handicapping Horse Races by Jockey Instead of Horses Articles don't spread yourself too thin. Just pick a few jockeys and stick with one or two circuits. The big circuits will naturally attract plenty of people, but don't overlook the secondary circuits with tracks that have smaller purses. A $10 winner is the same whether you cash a winning ticket at Belmont or Suffolk, Santa Anita or Golden Gate. If you start with a race track that you're familiar with the process will be easier.

As I said, the top riders win more races and have a higher win average. I wouldn't recommend using any rider with less than a 15% average. On the other hand, some riders such as Russell Baze, get bet so heavily that it is often difficult to make a profit when you wager exclusively on their mounts. What you're looking for is a good rider with good payoffs.

Naturally, if you wager on every mount that a jockey has you will find it hard to make a profit. You must be selective, but that is a good thing, because most people only look at the horse or horse and trainer and under estimate the rider's influence. Take some time and start writing down every horse a particular rider has and notice which ones he or she wins on. You will start to notice patterns in the odds and trainers.

A jockey may be winning at 16% but that doesn't mean he or she wins at that rate for every trainer or on every surface. You may find your pick wins 5% on the turf in sprint races, but wins 25% on dirt in route races. Look closely at those races and see if you can find any other factors that you can use as filters to narrow it down even more. For instance, what is the odds range that he or she wins with? Is there one particular owner that he or she wins for and if so, at what odds?

After a while, you will have to handicap the horses very little and only look at the race conditions, connections, and odds to tell if the mount is live and your rider has a chance to win. You'll find several good bets on most programs and if you follow several riders you'll get action in many races. On the other hand, you'll eliminate a lot of useless bets. That means more good bets and more profit for you.

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