Uncle Clyde’s Horse Racing

Horse racing tracks tend to show favoritism to certain post positions and certain types of horses. This writer refers to the first tendency as “lane bias,” but there is no commonly used term for it. The second tendency is commonly referred to as “speed bias.” The two tendencies are called “track bias” when grouped together.

The betting public pays pretty good attention to track bias, especially when it comes to early speed. Early speed gets bet extra anyway, and on a speed favoring track it becomes difficult to find decent longshots. Difficult, but not impossible; Speed Points offer an opportunity to uncover a good longshot. The first step is to actually figure out each horse’s Speed Points. The second step is to keep track of the first, second, third, and fourth place finishers in each race. The third step is to look at the upcoming races to take advantage of this work.

Past performance rags offer information about the bias of the meet in the form of winning post position statistics and articles about recent speed bias or lack thereof. Bettors should keep aware of the meet’s tendencies, but be careful to not rely on historical information too much. Many things influence track bias, including weather and track maintenance. Speed Points help horse players discover the effects of these influences and hence that day’s track bias. Whether the track is favoring inside speed or outside closers, bettors using Speed Points can find out what is up fairly quickly and then enjoy an opportunity to pounce and hit a big payoff.

The idea of paying attention to what post positions and type of racing styles are winning that day is not new. In fact, the past performance rags even write about it occasionally. But they do not give away the whole enchilada. Instead, they provide their readers with what is called “The Holy Ghost Method,” as in “The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost.” The method suggests paying attention to which post positions are winning that day, and if two horses win from the same post position, look hard for a third good horse from that post position. This is called “The Holy Ghost Method,” as in “The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost.” It works, and it does not require any Math. Different parts of the track are faster than other parts. Good jockeys know this, and will steer their horse into the fast lane. Bet on a good jockey in a winning post position.

Doing the Speed Points Math helps in the cases when no post position wins more than once. This happens to be quite a common occurrence. On days when speed horses have won from the number one and number two post positions, a speed horse in the number three post would certainly be a good bet, but Holy Ghosters would miss out on the opportunity.

Just because the track has favored speed throughout the meet, do not expect that tendency to hold up on any given day. Track maintenance crews have many tools to use to influence the tracks bias, and they do use them. They can easily rake the track deeper one night to make it slower the next day, rake only the backstretch to slow just that part down, or add sand to add speed to the track. Sometimes that information gets posted somewhere in the grand stand, and sometimes not. Bettors with knowledge of the types of horses racing and winning that day quickly uncover that day’s variance and enjoy a distinct advantage over less aware bettors. Again, Speed Points come to the rescue and help horse players make money rather than lose money.

Once the track bias for the day has made itself known, do not hesitate to try to maximize the return from the opportunity. Many tracks offer exactas, trifectas, and rolling double and pick three bets, and a little well placed money on these exotics can really do wonders for the day’s take. Just because speed is not winning the day you are at the track does not mean it is not coming in second, and if it is, then why not bet the speed underneath in an exacta? You get the idea.