Maybe. Maybe not. In the mid-80s there was a scientific study where diffferent bettors were given different amounts of handicapping information, & the conclusion was that although the players with more info felt significantly more confident than those with less info, there was no appreciable difference in results. There is a lot more info available since that study was conducted almost 20 yrs ago, yet the pct of winning favorites & the pct of winners among the 3 horses with the lowest odds hasn't changed, & it is the same in countries with a lot less, as well as those with a lot more, info than we have here.

Photos of alum & other pads, which as I understand it are inserted between the shoe & the hoof, appear in the newspaper article I referenced, which I assume means that the photos would also be in the online version. The only other possibility I can think of is that some tracks, like Kee, have a board with all of the actual shoes horses wear in races.