How to Bet on Horseracing
What should you look for in a horse? Nothing. Seriously. There are people out there who know everything there is to know about what makes a great racehorse. They have inside information you can never hope to get. They know what the horse eats, they know when the horse is not at his best, they know which kind of track condition the horse runs best on during every month of the year. There are people who have spent their whole lives around racehorses and can instantly spot whether an animal is in peak condition or looks just the littlest bit tired. There are people who can tell which horses run best in short races and which horses excel in the long races. There are people who can look at the parade of horses up to the starting gate and tell you which ones have the best muscle development for racing. And you know what? Every single one of them bets on a horse that loses more often than they bet on the winner. So if all these people with all their knowledge can’t look at a horse and know which one is going to win, what makes you think you can? Forget about the horse and improve your odds through other methods.
What about the jockey? Should you consider him? After all, it seems like the same jockeys make it into the Kentucky Derby every year. Does that mean I should bet on a big name jockey if he’s riding in the race? There are plenty of reasons why it seems like the same jockeys are in the Kentucky Derby every year and the fact that they are the best in the business is the least important one. Most big name jockeys have been around for a while. They’ve established a reputation and also a relationship with the big name trainers whose horses make it to the Derby. And there’s no denying that the jockey is an important part of the sport, and a good jockey can win a race with less than terrific horse, but making a bet based on the fact that a famous jockey is aboard really isn’t the best way to make money. In fact, betting against a big name jockey is the better thing to do since the odds on the horse with the famous jockey will be driven down by people betting on him. In the end, you’ll win more if you bet against the big name.
Post position is the horse’s place within the gate. And inside post is the position closest to the inside rail. The farther away from the rail, the longer the horse has to run to make it the front. Therefore an inside post position is preferable. Naturally, there are exceptions to this rule. For instance, some horses just plain prefer to start from an outside position. And at some tracks, the inside position has softer ground and softer ground means a slower horse. And sometimes there’s a lot of juggling for position among several horses at the inside, allowing an outside horse to make up room. So while it’s probably in your best interest to bet on with an inside position who otherwise looks good, it’s not a 100% good thing to do.
What about betting on a horse that won his last time out? Or who comes in with a winning streak? Here’s the thing about winning streaks. They only count in retrospect. Every time the horse races after a win, everything reverts back to normal. A horse doesn’t get some kind of advantage for having won before. So as far as streaks go, forget about them. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take into consideration how a horse performed his last time out, however. For one thing, if a horse is coming off a particularly impressive performance, you can bet there will be a lot of money put down on him, so you aren’t going to get any better odds by betting on a horse who just won. In the second place, many horses are notorious for running badly following a strong win. And that includes some Triple Crown caliber horses. For that matter, just look at the Triple Crown. It takes three wins in a row to be a Triple Crown winner and it hasn’t been done since the 70s. So you decide: is it a good idea to bet that a horse who won his last time out can do it again?
Should you ever bet on a favorite? What is meant by favorite is the horse the best odds of winning. If you bet on the favorite ten times, chances are you will go home after picked the winner at least a few times. The favorite usually wins a horserace about 30% of the time, give or take. Now winning 30% of your bets may sound like a good deal. If we were talking about the daily lottery, in fact, I’d say go ahead and try to make a living on it. But this is horseracing, not the lottery. Even when you win by betting on the favorite, you don’t win much. That’s why he’s the favorite. Lots of people are betting on him to win, driving the odds down. You may increase your chances of winning throughout the day by betting on the favorite, but that guy who takes the chance of betting on the longshot of each race will go home with more money if even he only wins once and you win more than half the time. In fact, if the longshot odds are long enough, he could go home with more money that you even if that was the only race the favorite didn’t win all day. Does that mean you should never bet on the favorite? Not at all. Just do it when all other considerations point to there being no serious competition. In other words, bet on the favorite occasionally, not the majority of the time.
As you can see, the title of this article, how to bet on horseracing, is a bit misleading. That’s because giving advice on betting on the horseracing is incredibly difficult. It is far better to know what to look for when betting on horseracing and take it into consideration on each individual race. Every race is different. You can get an advantage only by understanding that you just never know.
