horse racing

Studying Form by Numbers

It’s been said many times that the subject of studying form is an intricate one, but during the course of this article I hope to develop a step-by-step method of whittling down any field to a handful of likely winners as quickly and easily as possible. What legendary post-war bookmaker, Joe Lee, called the “glorious uncertainty” of racing guarantees that…

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What Is A Horse Racing Rating?

Ratings are a very mis-understood medium in betting. They are however exceptionally powerful if used correctly. Today I want to make sure that you don’t fall into the biggest trap that most punters do when using ratings. You cannot get away from ratings in horse racing. They are part and parcel of what horse racing is. If you look at…

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The Advantages and Disadvantages of Betting on Golf

When it comes to Betting on Golf, there are a range of both advantages and disadvantages and that is what we are going to look at today. Some people will not touch the golf markets, maybe because of their lack of knowledge and delving into the unknown… Hopefully after giving this article a read, you will have a little more…

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Kauto Star: The End Of An Era

If you’re not a fan of National Hunt racing, you may find it surprising to learn that there are, in fact, just four Grade 1 staying steeplechases run on the British mainland during the entire National Hunt season. However, such is the gravitas afforded to the four races – the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park, the King George VI Chase…

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Winning Isn’t Everything…It’s The Only Thing

It probably goes without saying that thoroughbred horse racing is all about winning, but it’s especially true for wealthy owners who may spend tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds on the initial purchase, training and upkeep of their horses. Ideally, what these owners are looking for is “black type” or, in other words, for their…

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Classical Gas: A Look at Next Year’s 2,000 Guineas Contenders

The November Handicap officially brought down the curtain on the Flast season proper, so before what W.H. Ogilvie called the “hardy, hefty humble-bred ones” – in other words, the National Hunt horses – take centre stage, it’s time to look back at some of the outstanding juveniles of the year to see if we can shed some light on next…

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Racing To Form

How do we know if a runner is likely to race to form, or if a particular yards horses are running to form? It is a tough question to answer and the best way is to watch every race. However, it’s possible to make a rating, and that’s exactly what the Racing Post have done to try and help you…

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Studying Form: Part II

Guest post written by Willy Weasel In my previous article in this series, “Studying Form: Part I”, I said that I’d outline the process of studying form, step-by-step, for a selected race. The race I’ve chosen is the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Fillies’ Handicap, due to be run on the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket at 4.45 p.m. on Wednesday, October…

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What Is A Book?

Following a question that was left on a recent article here I thought I would write on the subject of what a book is in sports betting. A book is what a bookmaker makes, hence the name. This is the method of creating a price on every selection in the race. With Betfair allowing us to take the place of the…

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Dutching: A Way To Make Your Betting Pay

Guest post written by Ed from Value At The Races. Have you ever fancied two horses in a race but sided with just the one and then watched it get beat on the line by the other one you fancied? This used to be the case for me until I discovered dutching. There are two ways to Dutch. You can…

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Racing Post Trophy Preview

It was a very disappointing run from Prodigality yesterday and hopefully today we can find the winner of the Racing Post Trophy which is being run at Doncaster at 15:05. This is a small race with just seven runners in it competing for the £122,000 prize. It is going to be a very competitive affair. If we look at the figures of…

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Racing Post Trophy Festival Day 1 Preview

Over the next three days Doncaster is hosting the Racing Post Trophy festival meeting. Today I’m going through the feature race of the day, the Racing Post / SIS Betting Shop Manager Of Year Handicap at 3:15pm. There are 22 declared runners and the official going is soft, which the going stick has confirmed. The weather looks like there will be…

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National Hunt Jockeys: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

The autumn equinox has come and gone and the National Hunt season is well underway, so it’s time to take a look at the leading contenders for the British Jump Jockeys’ Championship and, specifically, when, where and for whom they do best during the season. At the time of writing, since the 2012/13 National Hunt season began on 29 April,…

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Studying Form: Part I

Guest post written by Willy Weasel The subject of studying form is, by its very nature, a complex one, but it’s important not to get bogged down in trifling details. If you do, you’re likely to be distracted from more important factors that influence the outcome of horse races. Studying form is a means to an end, not an end…

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Fixed Stake Or Fixed Liability Laying

When we look at laying horses we have the option to place our bets to a fixed stake or a fixed liability. What is the difference between these two types of staking and is there a benefit to using one or the other? These are questions that I’m going to answer in todays article. First of all I want to…

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Measuring The Class Of A Horse

The class of a horse is often discussed in previews and by presenters, but what exactly is it? This is something that is very difficult to measure. Is it the personality of the horse, the ability of the horse or it’s breeding? I would say that it is a combination of all these things and then probably a bit of…

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Twister Season Profitable Angles

Guest post written by Ben Aitken. It is hardly a secret that the Nigel Twiston-Davies (NTD) bandwagon rolls into town in late Summer/Autumn time and sweeps all before it, it is a well know phenomenon and one that many a punter will be aware of. That, however, does not mean we can’t utilise it to our benefit and add a…

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Why Speed Ratings Are Powerful

Recently I launched a piece of software called Betting Speed Evolution, which not only finds winners on auto-selection but is also a speed based analysis tool. So, I thought that it would be appropriate to write an article about why speed ratings are so powerful. In the UK it’s commonly thought that speed ratings are only effective on the flat…

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Ayr Gold Cup 2012 Preview

Today we have the Ayr Gold Cup to look forward to. At the time of writing this post there are 27 declared runners and the going will be heavy. Let’s see if we can find who the strongest contenders in this race are. I am going to start with the ten runners who have raced over exactly the same conditions…

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All Weather Favourites

We are coming towards the beginning of the National Hunt season and All Weather racing is going to start ramping up. With that in mind, I thought it was appropriate to take a look at the statistics of favourites on All Weather tracks today. Let’s start by taking a look at the different All Weather tracks over the last 10…

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