I believe the only three

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

They are amazing aren't they.

When you read a lot of that silly stuff you get from the racing press ... it's pretty easy to see why guys like Andy Beyer and Steve Crist are as great as they are.

With those two .. you're talking about guys who are both excellent writers and have a great understanding of the sport in terms of both racing and gambling.

Those two names are company I never have to worry about keeping ... because I couldn't pass a 10th grade English class and only can get hired as a small fry racing writer because of my ability in other areas.

It's the exact opposite with a lot of the guys you see writing on racing ... they're very good writers in a lot of cases ... but they don't really understand racing. Some of them out and out have no idea what they're talking about.

You do also have some that are very good writers/handicappers that have a good understanding of racing .. but have a less than stellar understanding of the betting aspect.

It's a good observation- horse racing is a unique sport in that it is intrinsically tied to gambling, and any sort of informed gambling on racing requires some pretty good math skills. And there aren't many people who are equally strong in math and in writing, and sports writing, to be specific.

(I also think it's one of the big reasons horse racing has trouble with the casual fans- nobody told them there would be math. )