| There are probably hundreds of ways to handicap | | | | earnings for the year, or you can divide each |
| a horse race, including systems that range from | | | | horse's earnings by the number of starts to get a |
| computer programs to simple and easy to use | | | | per race figure. No matter which method you |
| comparisons. One way to pick winners is by | | | | use, when you decide on the money horse, put a |
| getting the big picture and then seeing which | | | | dollar sign beside it and circle it. |
| horses have a big advantage. Some people | | | | Finally, let's look at the connections. Circle the |
| argue that the favorite must have the advantage, | | | | horse with the jockey with the highest win |
| but that is not always easy to quantify. | | | | percentage and put a J beside it. While you're |
| For instance, in one race, a horse may have a | | | | circling horses and marking your program you |
| slight edge over the field while in another it may | | | | may notice that some horse are the best in more |
| lay over the field and easily win the race. That | | | | than one category. If that is the case, simply |
| can be reflected in the odds, but the odds don't | | | | put the letter or dollar sign beside it. A horse |
| always tell the whole story. A horse may be | | | | may have the best jockey, so it has a J beside |
| much better than all the other horses or it may | | | | its name. It may also have the highest speed |
| be much better than most, but close in ability to a | | | | figure, so it has an S beside it. That is perfectly |
| few others. | | | | alright. |
| When you start to handicap it helps to get a | | | | Once you have done this for the race, and it |
| general idea or feel for the race to know what | | | | should only take a minute or two, you will be able |
| you are looking at. I suggest that one method | | | | to see if one horse really does have a big |
| or system for starting the handicapping or picking | | | | advantage by being the leader in more than one |
| process is to scan the race and circle the horse | | | | category. You will have the big picture and know |
| with the top speed figure in its last race and put | | | | just how hard the favorite will be to beat. If one |
| an S beside it. | | | | horse is the favorite based on a speed figure, but |
| Next find the horse who raced for the highest | | | | is racing against a horse that earned a C for class, |
| purse in its last race and circle that one. You can | | | | a J for best rider and a $ for the best earnings, |
| put a big c beside that one because it ran at the | | | | you should take a hard look at the horse with |
| highest class level in its last race. It doesn't | | | | three marks and decide if it really does have a |
| matter how it finished in that race. | | | | chance to beat the speedster. It certainly |
| Another important factor is how much a horse | | | | appears to have a lot going for it. |
| has actually earned. That is important because it | | | | Ask yourself, "How did it earn all that money, |
| tells the real story of how well it has been running | | | | why is the best rider on it, and how will the class |
| at a class level it can handle. But the number of | | | | drop help it?" Those are all good reasons to bet |
| starts may be important, therefore, you can | | | | on it, if the odds are right. |
| either just circle the horse with the highest | | | | |