what is the best way to pick horses

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Hither are some initial tips to get you started with our E-Z Win^® Course.
We will be publishing handicapping manufactures periodically on the site.

- Horstradamus^®

Follow The Tiers
This is the most of import concept when reading my handicapping picks. The horses are grouped into color coded tiers. The tier colors are displayed as the background color of each equus caballus's program number. The colors range from dark green to yellow.

The greyness tier is a special tier which means I did not rate that particular horse. Although, the gray tier is listed at the bottom, this DOES NOT indicate that this is a bad horse. It is a rare occurrence that a equus caballus is unrated. It is usually due to a lack of information for foreign horses. Examine these horses manually to see if they pose a threat.

Inside a given tier, the horses are ranked from best to worst. Notwithstanding, usually the horses within a tier are shut in power and it is hard to choose one over another. For single race bets (e.g. Exacta, Trifecta), I would primal or box the horses in this beginning (night light-green tier). For multi-leg bets (e.g. Selection 3, Pick 4), I take all the horses in the top tier. Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, I add ane or two horses from the second tier or from the grey tier.
Handpick Your Races
Although I am successful at predicting many races, it is common sense that you must be selective when choosing the races to bet. You will not exist as successful if you bet every possible race. Typically, I look for races with smaller top tiers (one or ii horses in the tier). I also skip races if there are i or more horses in the grey tier.
Information technology Takes Money to Win Money
While you should handpick your races to conserve your bankroll, be prepared to commit enough money to make a proper bet when you lot detect a race yous like. Exotic wagers such equally Pick 4s, Choice 6s and Superfectas usually require a significant outlay to have a realistic chance of hitting the bet. I cannot tell you how many times eliminating ane or two horses from your combination to endeavour to relieve a couple of bucks has cost a bettor hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost winnings. If you cannot afford to outlay enough funds for the more exotic bets, stick to simpler bets such every bit Win/Place/Prove, Exactas/Quinellas and Doubles.
Workouts, Workouts, Workouts
Too my selections themselves, workouts are the second virtually important gauge of a horse'southward ability. Past performances indicate a equus caballus's basic ability. Contempo workouts are an indication of a equus caballus's current course. When choosing betwixt two horses with similar by ability, the horse in the best current course will often prevail.

We analyze the quality of workouts for you. Workouts highlighted in red are quality workouts. In improver, if y'all see the "Monster Workout" icon for a equus caballus, keep an eye out! Click here (or view the right sidebar) for the description of the icons on the prediction form.
Turf vs. Dirt
Horses are either primary track horses or turf horses, not both. It is very rare that a horse will run well on both surfaces. Breeding plays a major gene hither, every bit there are concrete aspects of a equus caballus which make the horse improve on the turf or dirt. I will hash out this in further depth in a later article.

It is enough to know that if a horse looks terrible on the dirt (but has shown some promising short distance workouts), there's a expert risk the horse volition perform well on the turf. A horse that is predisposed for turf tin can look like a completely different horse when moving from the primary track to the turf. The aforementioned goes for horses that are terrible on the turf. They may adopt a dirt course. For get-go time turf starters, I incorporate a pedigree analysis and charge per unit these horses accordingly.

Another fashion to gauge if a equus caballus volition similar the turf is to encounter if the horse always ran on a wet clay track (Good, Muddied, or Sloppy). If the horse ran significantly better on the off runway than a Fast track, the horse may take well to the turf.
Track Status
It e'er amazed me that well-nigh handicappers never take track status into consideration. This is a HUGE cistron. Similar to the dirt vs. turf upshot, some horses prefer a dry track while others prefer a wet track. This applies on the dirt besides as on the turf. In fact, this is oft the instance with European turf horses. The turf courses in Europe are ofttimes soft, and European horses usually don't run as well on a firm form here in the States.

A simple way to decide if a horse likes an off track, is to bank check his Moisture record on my tip sheet or look at the equus caballus'south individual by performances on a wet track. Luckily, I practice the analysis for you for all rails conditions. In add-on, I likewise analyze turf races for the dirt (just in case they come off the turf due to inclement weather).

Merely select the dirt and turf atmospheric condition on my predictions form to reflect the current conditions. It is important to change your selections during the racing day, if the runway condition changes. If turf racing is moved to the main rail, simply choose OFF as the turf status. You will then encounter my dirt selections for all turf races for the dirt track condition you have selected. Sometimes racing may come off the turf just one large turf stakes race will remain on the grass. In this instance, kickoff you select the current turf condition. Then, go to each private turf race and y'all can override the surface to Dirt for the races that came off. Simply get out the surface set to Turf for the turf races that remained on the grass.
Class Dropdowns
Another thing to watch for are horses that are dropping in class. Horses that are significantly dropping in class from their last race, are usually a threat. Some examples of significant grade drops are: Maiden Special Weight to cheap Maiden Claiming, Claiming to another Claiming with a significantly lower claiming price, Allowance to Claiming and Graded Stakes to Allowance or Claiming.

To determine if a horse is going up or downwards in class, only look at the very right of the horse'due south section on my picks sheet. If yous encounter a dark-green down pointer, that means the equus caballus is dropping in class. A red upward pointer means moving up in course. The class comparing is based on the equus caballus's last race on the SAME surface as the electric current race. Click here (or view the right sidebar) for the clarification of the icons on the prediction form. Yous tin also meet the class of the final race run by looking at "Prev Race:" on my tip sheet. This is simply a quick indication of the rail, grade, and end position of the horse in his final race (eastward.g. 3/7 means the horse finished tertiary out of 7 horses). Of grade, if you want to come across the by performance in detail, view the past performance matrix.
Layoffs
Layoffs are of import in the post-obit 2 means:
1. If a horse hasn't raced for more than than 45 days since his last race, the horse is currently laid off. Horses that are significantly laid off, tend to non perform to their normal standards because they need a race to get dorsum on rail (no pun intended). However, the importance of layoffs varies from track to runway. At tracks with better horses (e.g. Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park, Hollywood Park), even a short layoff can transform a horse from a contender to a loser. Still at tracks with cheaper horses, horses tin win their first race back from a long layoff.
2. If a horse's last race was coming off a layoff, the horse is spring to improve this time out. The past race was "needed" and will usually not signal the equus caballus's truthful ability. In the past performance section if a race was coming back from a layoff, I highlight the date of the past performance in red.
Medication Change
At that place are essentially two kinds of medication given to racehorses, Lasix and Bute. Bute is only legal at sure tracks (typically on the Westward Coast).

Any horse that is using Lasix for the first time will almost always amend. I indicate this on my tip sheet with a special icon. Click here (or view the right sidebar) for the description of the icons on the prediction course.

On the other hand, Bute is very different. A horse either needs Bute to run well, or can't run at all with Bute. By looking at a horse's past performances, you lot can tell if they run better with or without Bute. The medication cavalcade on the past functioning is indicated past a 'B' if the horse was using Bute. If a horse runs well with Bute and now is off Bute (I use an icon to indicate this), the horse volition typically run downwards and run a terrible race. However, if a horse has ever ran with Bute and didn't do well, the equus caballus may run a big race the first time running without Bute.
Jockey/Trainer Change
Many racing enthusiasts make the mistake of betting a particular jockey. Information technology is true that jockeys may take significantly different winning percentages. All the same, these people do not realize that the most pop jockeys likewise get the best mounts. A jockey cannot brand a horse run better than the horse'southward natural ability. Conversely, a jockey can ruin a horse'southward chance to win by giving the horse a bad ride. Information technology is the case, however, that some jockeys "know" how to ride a particular equus caballus better. Past looking at the horse's past functioning matrix, you can see which jockeys typically rode the horse well. I personally put minimal weight on the passenger of the equus caballus.

Keep this in mind: If you give the all-time jockey the worst equus caballus, he/she won't hit the board. Withal, if you lot give the worst jockey the best horse, chances are he/she volition hitting the board and peradventure fifty-fifty win the race.

Yet, when there is a change of jockey, I highlight it on my selections form. I show the past jockey's record at the rail the horse concluding raced, and the current jockey'southward tape at the electric current track. If the record has a star next to it, that ways the data was not authentic and I had to approximate the jockey's record for that track.

Trainer changes can make a big difference, specially over the span of the horse's adjacent few races. Simply, you lot can compare the records between the previous and current trainers. Again, if there is a change, I highlight it on my selections course. If the record has a star adjacent to information technology, that means the data was not accurate and I had to approximate the trainer'south tape for that track.

Icon	Description
	This is the equus caballus's first start.
	This is the horse'due south first start on the turf. Click here to see the section describing Turf vs. Clay.
	The horse had 1 or more "Monster" workouts since his final race. Click hither to see the department describing workouts.
	The horse looked significantly better in his last outing compared to the horse's typical form. The horse could be in better form now or may have but had a fluke race. Typically, I rank horses by examining their course over their last several races. If the horse has improved, he could be better than his ranking shows.
	The horse had an excuse on his last outing. Either something bad happened (left at the gate, bumped, etc.) or the equus caballus was coming off a layoff and "needed" that race. Click hither to see the section describing layoffs. "Bad" events are typically highlighted in ruddy in the comments column of the past performance matrix. Since I rank horses over several by performances, their rank should be accurate. However, if y'all are looking at the by functioning matrix of a horse and examine his last race, y'all should expect to come across this equus caballus perform better this time out.
	The horse is coming off a layoff that was 180 days or more. There are also identical icons for 45, ninety, and 120 day layoffs. Click hither to run into the section describing layoffs.
	The horse's last race was recent and on a turf surface. Typically, main runway horses become much tighter afterward a recent turf race.
	The horse is a 3 twelvemonth old in a claiming race with a claiming tag. Typically this is a bad sign since decent 3 year olds would be protected.
	The equus caballus is a 3 year one-time in an allowance race. 3 year olds are usually better than older horses in these races as they take reached the same race condition (e.yard. Non-Winners of two Lifetime) in less time.
	Blinkers accept been put on for this race. Typically, this equipment alter benefits horses that become right to the lead and tire. Information technology helps them to settle in and salve ground.
	Blinkers have been taken off for this race.
	Horses normally run much meliorate with Lasix. Click here for a description of medication factors.
	Lasix is being used on this horse merely wasn't in his previous race. In addition, this isn't the get-go fourth dimension the equus caballus has had Lasix. In this example, cheque the past performance matrix to see how the equus caballus has performed in the past with Lasix. Lasix is indicated with a 'L' in the medication column. Click here for a description of medication factors.
	Lasix is no longer being used on the horse for this race. In this case, check the past performance matrix to see how the horse has performed in the past with Lasix. Lasix is indicated with a 'Fifty' in the medication cavalcade. Click here for a clarification of medication factors.
	Bute is beingness used on this horse only wasn't in his previous race. Horses that run well with Bute ordinarily run poorly without it, and vice versa. In this example, cheque the past performance matrix to see how the horse has performed in the past with Bute. Bute is indicated with a 'B' in the medication column. Click hither for a clarification of medication factors.
	Bute is no longer being used on the horse for this race. Horses that run well with Bute commonly run poorly without information technology, and vice versa. In this case, check the past functioning matrix to see how the horse has performed in the past with Bute. Bute is indicated with a 'B' in the medication column. Click here for a description of medication factors.
	This horse is dropping in class from his concluding race. Click here to run across the section explaining class.
	This horse is moving upwardly in class from his last race. Click here to see the section explaining class.