| ADDING PHYSICALITY TO YOUR DAILY HANDICAPPING VIA THE RACETRACK FEED-----Part 16 (conclusion) | ||||
|
| Friday, 07 September 2007 | |
|
By Joe Takach FINAL THOUGHTS I have a close friend back East who is a great handicapper and perhaps the best “paper cruncher” that I’ve encountered in my entire horseplaying career. He’s been making his own speed and pace figures for over 40 years and I’ve never seen better to include my own. He gathers trip notes on every horse, running profiles, running biases, “track-specific” breeding by racetrack, trainer/jockey information that is broken down to types of races and a myriad of other “proprietary” data that serves him well. He’s a winning horseplayer and has been for as long as I’ve known him. He very rarely makes it to the track and when he does, he sits in a box overlooking the finish line and enjoys lunch, a few beers, and some “horsetalk” with anyone within earshot. He never goes to the paddock or watches pre-race warm-ups and post race warm-downs. After encouraging him for over 20 years to do so while willing to teach him at his asking, I gave up! He simply prefers to sit in a box and enjoy himself and has often told me that he was at the track to have “fun” and not to work every minute he’s in attendance. He simply doesn’t care what a horse looks like in the flesh, nor if he’s offered a proper pre-race warm-up. As you must know by now, that’s pure heresy in the Takach playbook. My friend, however, is very interested in game day “physicality” when if comes to NFL football which is his other passion. He subscribes to every report that offers him some inside information as to who is playing hurt and who isn’t. He watches complete replays of many prior games looking for “key players” who might be limping a bit, or seem not to be as quick as they were in prior games. He scrutinizes quarterbacks like a vulture for his lunch, looking for any signs of slightest injury. He once remarked that he could tell the health of any quarterback’s arm by the mere rotation of his spiral and the arc it was thrown on. I didn’t have a clue as to what he was saying and still don’t to this day. But then again, I couldn’t tell you who won the Super Bowl last year or the teams involved in same. He’s told me countless times that game day “physicality” is his edge. Gee, that sounds vaguely familiar doesn’t it? Were I betting football, it’s a “given” that I would want to know who is playing hurt and who is totally healthy----just like in horseracing! Yet, there are countless horseplayers that fail to improve their game for any number of reasons, all of which to yours truly are nothing but excuses for being lazy. Yeah, I said lazy!How hard is it to lift your eyes off the past performances long enough to watch the entire post parade? Does your horse have good energy, color, and attitude? Does he hold good bodyweight with muscles clearly evident? Is his tail well off his rump, or flat against it? Is he walking short? Is he adding front wraps today implying a new ankle or tendon problem? Has he added any new negative equipment, such as blowouts, stops, a martingale or a run out bit? If you can answer those above questions on your horses and wager accordingly, you can cut your losses in half! If your horse flunks in any “physicality” category, merely pass the race. Saving a “bad bet” is the same as cashing on an even money winner! Good hunting!
|
| Next > |
|---|
