Regardless of the type of racing you enjoy, there is a bet that you can play on it. Horse racing tips allow you to gain insight into racing, but how do you know you’re picking a winner? Betting involves learning how to pick horses, how to bet on a horse racing and what bet to place. So, here we’ll explore how to pick a winner in more detail, so you can determine if your horse racing tip is a certainty.
Picking Winners
Even with the best horse racing tips, choosing a winner can be challenging, particularly if you lack betting experience. Essentially, picking winners is not just about picking a horse, but also looking at the trainers and jockeys. There are many fantastic horses on the track, but if they have not received the right training in the long term, or have the wrong jockey on race day, they will have little chances of being able to reach their full potential.
The skills and experience of the trainer are crucial to produce a top quality racehorse. As a result, skilled punters head to the racetrack early to watch the horse warming up, the trainer’s instructions, and the jockey’s riding. This provides a better idea of how the race could play out. Glancing over the current form of the horse and training is not sufficient, most of the time. Past performance can provide a good indicator of how consistent and steady a horse can be on the track, but it is important to look at the trainer to see if this trend will continue.
The next consideration is the jockey and their skills. Looking at their capabilities on the track depends on their past performance and experience. If jockeys have ridden specific horses in previous races, look at what distances the pairing performed best and more importantly, worse.
Race Cards
Race cards can provide a great guide for beginners to help them to get into the swing of betting and exploring the information needed to make an informed bet. Race cards list horses names, with a group of assigned numbers. The numbers indicate the amount of first, second, and third placings a horse has had in past races. If there are not very many figures next to the horse’s name, you will struggle to know whether a bet is a good idea.
At the right of the horse’s name on the race card, you should see a “C” or “D.” These letters indicate if a horse has had a win on this specific track previously “C” or whether a horse has won races at the same distance “D.”
The Race Itself
Finally, you also need to consider the race itself. This is another important factor; if this is the first time a horse is in a higher class competition, despite success in previous races, it is not likely you will see a win in this race. There is a general and basic way to measure the chances of success by looking at the race odds. If the odds are getting shorter, it is considered a favourite, and there is a better chance of a win.
Your Betting Checklist
Until you find your footing to take advantage of horse racing tips, there is a checklist to determine if a horse would make a good bet. This includes:
- Class: What class is the horse in? Is it now higher?
- Distance: Look at the horse’s times over previous races. Compare the same lengths to determine if your horse stands a good chance of a win.
- Running Style: Generally, there are three running styles; closer, stalker, and front runner. Closers run best if there is a lot of early speed, stalkers rarely lead, but can gain the momentum to overtake any tired front runners, while front runners take the lead or within a length or two of the leader.
- Post Position: Look at how the horse tends to perform at different post positions.
- Trainer: Assess the trainer to look at how many wins they have previously had.
- Present Form: Check the past track record of the horse. Look at whether they normally place high or if the placings tend to fluctuate.
- Jockey: How much experience does the jockey have, and how do they typically handle a horse?
- Consistency: Assess the past track record of the horse. Do they typically place high or have fluctuating placings?
- Weight: While this isn’t particularly crucial, it is a good idea to check if a horse is carrying more than 59 kilograms as this can be a little risky.
The Types of Bet
Once you have assessed the risk and decided you want to place a bet on your horse racing tips, you will need to decide what type of bet you should use.
- Quinella: This allows you to choose two horses to win first and second place in no specific order.
- Perfecta/Exacta: You must choose the first and second winners in the correct order.
- Trifecta: You need to pick the first three winners in the correct order placement
- Box Trifecta: Picking the first three winners in any order
- Standout Trifecta: You must pick the overall winner and the next two horses in any order.
- Superfecta: This is the same as the trifecta, but it also includes the pick for the fourth place horse.
- Across the Board: This means that your horse can take any of the first three placings.
- Daily Double: Predicting the winning horses in any two of the races.
- Running Double: Picking the winning horses in two consecutive races.
- Straight Six: You need to predict the winners of six winners in consecutive pre nominated races.
- Quadrella: Predict the winners of four of the pre nominated races on the day’s card.
