Finished Handicapping

[cal828]

" I can't remember when the entire field has had such a low set of Beyers. "

I don't go by Beyers most of the time because I don't have a subscription to DRF; although I'm sure I could because I will be amazed, if the Derby is not their free Race of the Day on Saturday. I used to think DRF was the gold standard, but I have drifted away from their use and now I actually prefer the Brisnet PPs; however, one knock I have on them is they sometimes seem to make every horse in a race seem pretty much alike, especially in their speed figures, so you really have to do some digging to come up with some separation in the contenders. Course, that could just be me and others don't experience that at all and it could be that sometimes there are no standouts in a race that is well balanced among the contenders. Look at Race 9 on Saturday. It looks to me like almost every horse in the race could win it.

[DonGuido]

I basicslly look at early and late pace, see how they finished and lastly if needed the speed figure of the race and quality of the race. Consitency in all of those or improvement in their finishes is important. I also look trainers and jockeys, hot or not at a track or in general and those known for turf specialties or not. I like the turf races a lot. Bloodlines may influence me some if I'm still a little uncertain. Then there's always the dart board if I'm still scratching my head.

Honetly sometimes I will handicap races just using the DRF Entries and the ML odds are not always the key. I'll take this approach every once in awhile just for a change of pace. I have been pretty successful with that at times. I mean it's only for bragging rights and it's not real money.