Re: Handicapping first time starters (1591 Views)
Posted by:
Leamas57 (IP Logged)
Date: August 26, 2010 12:30PM
That's a great question. I really enjoy trying to handicap them, too. Here's what you do:
Find a patch of soft dirt or dust and, using a dried baobab branch, draw a grid on it the night before with as many rows and columns as there are horses. The next morning, hoping it doesn't rain, examine the bug tracks and the row/column with the most traffic is your winner.
I thought NYC made some good comments. Some of guys on the board here know which sires' offspring mature faster/slower, too. For sprints you can look at the works, of course. I always like a longer work in there. For routes, it's more pedigree for me, though it's nice to see if they have worked on the surface and track they will be running on, too.
Trainer stats help because some trainers just don't place the emphasis on pushing that first outing. To me, it's a combination of pedigree and work tabs--and bug tracks, of course.
Leamas