Race Selection Articles | Horse Betting

By: Richard Bleuze

Race Selection

Some races are better than others when it comes to making money.  Knowing which races to bet on and which to avoid will help you to generate consistent, long term profits.

Let us begin with the main types of races which you should consider avoiding if at all possible...

Amateur Races
These are races in which all participating jockeys are amateurs.  If a race comes under this category then this will be indicated in the title of the race itself.

For example a race which is listed in your newspaper as the "Gold Cup Amateur Riders Chase" is clearly one which is restricted to amateur jockeys. 

Races which are restricted to amateur jockeys are not usually the best betting propositions.

When you place a bet, you want to be as confident as possible that your horse is going to be ridden as well as possible.  Races which are restricted to amateur jockeys make it impossible for many of the top jockeys to take part.  It therefore makes sense that if the best jockeys are not allowed to participate, the runners may not run to the best of their ability, and the race should be avoided as a betting proposition.

Races of 5 and 6 Furlongs
Races which are run over five or six furlongs are commonly referred to as sprints (8 furlongs equal one mile) and are very specialised.  In these races the horses have to be very quick off the mark to stand a chance of winning and if any runner gets hampered at the start then it is very difficult to secure a winning position over such a short distance.  Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule, but in the main races of five and six furlongs should be ignored.

Races with more than 15 Runners
Most bettors are attracted by the generous odds which are available in races which have a lot of runners, but it should be remembered that odds are only greatly generous and that the bookmakers think there is little chance of you picking a winner.

Races which have more than fifteen runners can make it difficult for some horses to manoeuvre.  Horses can get "boxed in" by other competitors and thus never make it to the head of the racing pack even if they are physically capable of doing so.  Horses can also be badly hampered and even brought to the ground by other competitors when space is fight.

If you truly want to succeed in horse racing then forget the generous odds available and ignore races which have more than fifteen runners.

Two and Three Year Old Races
These are races which are restricted to horses which are either two year olds or three year olds.  Often the form in these races is unreliable, and although some people specialise in these kind of races, many more prefer to ignore them altogether.  I suggest that you that you stay away from these races as far as betting is concerned.

Sellers
Races which are described as being "selling races" or "sellers" should also be avoided.  The horses which run in selling races are often unreliable or have been secretly trained in order for the stable to land a "coup" - a win at wildly exaggerated odds.  Picking winners in selling races is more difficult than in many other types of races, so don't even try.

When you disregard these types of races you may find that you have disregarded the whole day's racing.  This doesn't matter.  It is far better to keep your money safe in your pocket than to risk losing it on a poor race just for the sake of having a bet.

And so we progress from talking about the worst races to discussing the best races a person can bet on....

Races with 8 to 15 Runners
Although races with less than eight runners should not be overlooked as a potential source of betting profits, races with between eight and fifteen runners are my personal favorites.  Having eight runners or more in a race allows the bettor to place each-way bets and be sure of collecting some kind of return so long as his horse wins or gets a second or third place.

Feature Races
These are races which are main events at given horse racing meetings.  They are usually quite good betting propositions because they attract top class contenders which tend to run to form more often than not.  This makes it possible to narrow the field down to just two or three runners - from which the most probable winner is likely to be found.

Another advantage of feature races is that, because they attract a lot of betting action from horse bettors, the available odds tend to be more generous than usual.  This, of course, means that there is more potential profit to be made.

Non-handicap Races
It is becoming increasingly difficult to pick winners in handicap
races simply because the handicappers now use computer technology to help them penalise the strongest horses and come closer to their goal of giving each runner an equal chance of winning.

Non-handicap races, by comparison, do not aim to give runner an equal chance of winning.  No horses are penalized according to their abilities and this helps people like you and me to pick a higher ratio of winners.  Of course, the odds available in non-handicap races are almost always lower than those offered in handicap races, but once again we must not just think of the odds available.  We must also take into account how easy it is to pick winners.  Non-handicap races are, in my opinion, the easiest of all to make money in.

All of this leads us to the discussion of a daily process of race elimination.  The idea here is to formulate, some simple rules based around what I have said so that you automatically concentrate on betting in races which are the most favorable to you as far as generating wealth is concerned. 

Thus, I suggest the following:

1. Turn to the racing pages of your normal daily newspaper.

2. Cross out all races which have more than 15 runners.

3. Cross out all sellers - those are races which have the word "Selling" or "Seller in the title.

4. Cross out all two and three year old races - those are races which have the phrases "2YO" ("Two Years Old") or "3YO" ("Three Years Old") in the title.

5. Cross out all races which are to be run over distances of less than 7 furlongs.

When you have done this you should be left with races which are more profitable from a betting point of view.  If you don't wish to bet in all of the races then you might consider giving preference to non-handicap races in the first instance, and then to races which have eight or more runners.