i Gamers Corner

Regardless of whether you are betting on horses because of the sheer fun of it or because you want to make a little extra money on the side, it is always best to make sure that you know how to make the right picks for your bets.

So, how can you learn the best way to choose the right horses to bet on? There are as many methods out there as there are betters when it comes to interpreting the odds and choosing a winning horse. Some methods are more intuitive, whereas others offer more scientific precision.

Some people, for example, like to pick horses based solely on random factors like the horse’s name. But, if you want to be a serious better and make good horse racing picks, there are three critical steps that you should follow.

First, make sure you do your homework about the horses that will be competing in the race. There is plenty of information available, particularly if you will be making your bets online. Do your research and use the available information to your advantage.

Take advantage of the fact that you can find out practically the entire history of a horse’s performance online. Make sure you know how long it has been since the horse last raced and how the horse performed in his last two races.

Try to find horses that have raced recently. Avoid horses that haven’t raced within about the past 45 days, particularly if it’s been many months since their last race. If they have not won in the last couple of races, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t bet on them, but it is one more factor to take into consideration when making your decision.

Second, make sure you don’t forget to do your homework on the jockey that will be racing the horse on that day. While the jockey certainly doesn’t bear all of the responsibility for the horse’s performance, the way the jockey rides certainly does come into play.

You’ll want to know how experienced the jockey is, and how he’s performed in his past few races. If you find that a certain jockey has a performance of under 3%, then you may want to bet on a horse with a different jockey.

Lastly, do your homework on the track where the race will be happening. This is yet another factor in your decision that may play a role in the final outcome of the race. Knowing how the track is laid out can help you figure out if it is well suited to one of the horses that will be racing on a given day.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 3:44 am and is filed under sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.