Author: Lindsay Griffin
While many consider gambling a vice, and it can certainly be taken to harmful extremes, gambling is what has financed the operation of the Sport of Kings since its inception.
Gentlemen would place sizable wagers on their own horses, and many still do, but these were often private bets. The bettors that are the backbone of our sport are those of the everyman. There are skillful exotic wagers from bettors who know the races well enough to make their living gambling, two-dollar bets from fans who want a quick return, and everything in between.
Every bettor is going to have their ups and downs, and the horses always have a surprise or two to throw at the betting public. You can check this betting guide if you are just starting or simply curious: twinspires.com/betting-guides/beginners-guide-betting-horse-racing
Even still, there are ways that racing fans can, if you’ll pardon the pun, increase their odds of making their betting ventures probable. Let’s take a look at some common mistakes people make when placing their wagers.
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- Leaning Too Hard On Morning Line Odds
People who bet using a racing program or the Daily Racing Form can see the morning-line odds for each entry printed along with the horses’ past performances and basic information. While this information can be useful for the ability to basically classify an entry as a favorite or a long shot, many people inexperienced with the wagering process do not realize that the morning line odds are very unlikely to reflect any given entry’s actual payouts.
Parimutuel betting, which all tracks in the United States use, involve odds that fluctuate as more money is wagered. Oddsmakers set the morning line as a starting point for wagering, but the odds are only set in stone at post time. A horse could be set at 5-1 on the morning line, but gather more attention at the betting windows as the day goes on and go off at merely 2-1; another horse could also start at 5-1 on the same morning line for the same race, be ignored as the race nears, and have post time odds of 10-1.
If you want to keep track of your choice’s odds, you will instead need to watch the odds at the track as they change, or bet online through a program, which will continually give you the most current odds.
- Leaning Too Hard On Speed Figures
Speed figures are numbers assigned to each racing performance that can be used to, theoretically, compare the speed of two horses in two different races that will account for environmental factors such as track condition.
However, what many relative newcomers to the racing scene do not realize at first is that there are different types of speed figures, and those figures are all calculated in slightly different ways. E Speed Figures, Beyer Speed Figures, and Ragozin sheets are three of the most common figures, and each system has its own merits and flaws. Also, it is not entirely uncommon for those who calculate figures for major races to go back and alter the figures after further consideration.
Bettors would be wise to look at Speed Figures as a tool, but not the gospel truth.
- Ignoring Track Biases
For those among us who utilize off-track betting either through television or the internet, it can be easy to forget just how different each track is. It all may just look like sand, mud, or sod to the casual viewer, but all of the subtle differences in composition and condition aren’t so subtle to the horse and jockey who run over it.
One of the difficult things about taking track bias into consideration is that the track itself can also vary from day to day. A track that heavily favors speed one day could play fairly the next day; a dead rail could become “the place to be” as a track dries out in the sun.
Bettors would do well to keep track of how the track they’re gambling on is playing that day, as the races go on.
- Letting Superstitions Get In The Way Of Common Sense
Racetrack people tend to be a suspicious lot.
In the old days, many horse people swore up and down that horses with white feet had weaker legs and hooves. They also believed that gray horses were, by nature, slower than horses with brown-based coats.
We know now that color has nothing to do with a horse’s talent; the white coloring on a horse’s legs does not denote any kind of weakness, and while gray horses are certainly less common in Thoroughbreds than many other colors, they’re not inherently slower.
Those particular beliefs are less common at the betting windows than they were a century ago, but there are still superstitions to be heard (and dismissed). One that was particularly prominent until a few years ago was “The Curse of Apollo,” which held that no horse who did not race at age two had won the Kentucky Derby since Apollo in 1882.
There was no curse. Instead, the reason that the streak had lasted so long was that trends in racing in the twentieth century put greater emphasis on horses racing at age two. Track superstitions are great for entertainment, but not for collecting payouts.
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- Not Keeping Track Of Payouts vs. Expenditures
Speaking of payouts, one of the most common mistakes a bettor can make is accidentally spending more than intended, or spending in ways that make it unlikely you will break even.
Betting involves a lot of numbers, and for a bettor to utilize the more lucrative exotic wagers, a betting calculator can be an invaluable tool. These calculators are apps or programs that can help a bettor determine the precise expense and payout for any given exotic wager.
Regardless, handicapping and betting are skills, and just like any other skill, practice makes perfect.
