Horse Race Betting Handicapping

Many people get involved in horse betting looking to make money. Let’s look at basic horse race betting handicapping and the factors to consider when picking horses.

Horse race betting handicapping should begin by looking at the Daily Racing Form. This is where you will get the majority of your horse race betting information. You can begin your handicapping by finding races that appeal to your horse betting style. The six different types of races for horse betting are claiming, maiden, starter handicap, allowance, handicap and stakes. Some of these races are easier to predict in horse race betting than others. Traditionally the maiden and stakes races are tough to predict in horse race betting. Maiden races have horses that have never won and anything can happen while stakes races are oftentimes very competitive with multiple horses having a chance to win.

Once you have targeted the type of race you want to bet you can begin looking at other factors. The first number to look at in horse race betting handicapping is the speed number. This tells you how fast the horse ran in his last race. Look at the past three races and separate the contenders in horse race betting. Also look at the distance and make sure the horse has had success at this distance in the past. Some handicappers will also consider whether a horse is dropping or raising in class but this factor is not as important as it once was in horse race betting.

You also want to look at the jockey and trainer and make sure you have a combination that has had success in the past at the track. You rarely want your money on a jockey or a trainer that is having a poor year when you are involved in horse race betting.

Remember that it is not easy to win money consistently in horse race betting. The favorites win about a third of the time but betting them every race will not make you money. If you want to win money in the long run you really need to consider playing pick three’s, pick four’s and pick sixes in horse betting.