Information, the Handicapper's Primary Weapon

The science of thoroughbred handicapping feeds upon statistics. Without statistics, the handicapper has little to base his decision upon and might as well choose the prettiest horse as his guess as to who will win the race. Modern horse racing analysis has become a science, and as such, requires detailed information about each horse and how they've performed in the past. That information is usually obtained from a printed horse racing form or its online counterpart. Wherever one obtains his horse racing information, it is the basis for the handicapper's decisions, so it must be accurate and complete. The following are some of the data that a handicapper uses when performing his horse racing analysis.

The first piece of information that a handicapper usually considers is the length of the race. It has been said that a horse's best distance can be measured with a yardstick. That's why it's essential that a horse be entered in a race that suits him. The handicapper will look at the horse racing form and determine the optimal distance for the horse under consideration. The horse's optimum distance is compared to the length of today's race, and if they are a close match, the horse is considered a contender. Otherwise, he is eliminated from consideration. Sometimes half of the field can be eliminated on the basis of this one piece of horse racing information.

The winner of the race is the horse who runs the race in the shortest elapsed time. That basic truth indicates that speed is a primary consideration when performing a horse racing analysis. The horse racing form tells the handicapper the time that each horse ran, and it gives a speed figure for each horse in every race. A speed figure is a numerical representation of a horse's speed in a given race and is adjusted for track bias and condition. A proper set of speed figures allows accurate comparison of a horse's speed on different days, or even at different tracks.

A vital piece of horse racing information is the class of the horse. Class is that mysterious factor that nobody can define, but one knows when he sees it. Some horses are simply of a higher class than other horses. Perhaps they have more heart or determination. Others simply have more talent. The purse size at which a horse is competitive can be used as a rough index of his class. One can't just say that an Allowance race is for higher class horses than a Claiming race, however, because some high-price Claiming races offer a significantly higher purse than some low-grade Allowance races and attract better, classier horses. That's why it's best to compare the purses that a horse races for.

There are many factors to consider when analyzing a race, and the more information that one considers, the more precise his predictions will be. That is why many of today's top handicappers are now using computers and handicapping software. Horse racing analysis is complicated and requires much information, but with the proper information and the right tools, accurate predictions are easier than ever before.