Taking Notes

by Ed Meyer

posted on March 15, 2023 in Blogroll, General Discussion, Handicapping, Horse Racing, WinningPonies.com | Comments Off on Taking Notes

Go back to the days of staring out the window while your history teacher droned on about the historical happenings way back in the day. – When the bell finally sounded and you looked at an empty notebook, you know you’ll pay the price later when the test day arrives. – Same process as playing with the ponies. The secret to having the notes which will allow you to peruse back and plan your attack later.

 

  1.  Taking notes for a horses-to-watch list. – This goes back to the old days when bookies and big players would pay others to watch races and take copious notes about which horses may have had a bad trip, or faced tougher competition last out. Having a written account of trip notes will pay you off handsomely if handled correctly. Every race is not a bad trip and you’ll need to sharpen your eyes to know a bad trip from a wishful feeling about a wager you made. – Honesty pays off, and you need to watch the race live and go back and scan the replays. This will find your horses to play back next out and you’ll be happy you put the time into the process.

2.  Write down what you started with as a bankroll and bets made during the day. – Keep an accurate account of how you are doing and what percentage of your bankroll you dropped on a wager. – This will show if you need to scale back the number of races played and how much wagered. – When you find your best 12 for a marquee Saturday, cut them back to 10 events to bet. – Make your first bet, a 10% bankroll bet. If you have $200 for the day, make that first bet $20. Now, what is your type of wager? You need to stay away from bets you normally do not make and don’t chase the big multi-race wager if it’s not your cup of tea. – Keep to your 10% bet and when you identify your two best wagers, kick them up to 20% if your bankroll allows.

3. Identify which tracks are your strength. Do not deviate on marquee days or play a race card just because it has graded races. – If you’re a turf player, start scouting horses to follow. Hot trainers and bad trips. Look for a high percentage rider change, medication changes early in their career, and a rider/trainer percentage of 20% or better as a team. – Play outfits that are 20% or better of the year or the race meet, and look blazing hot pace trips that are suicidal for speed and sometimes tough to close into.

By keeping your eyes peeled, you’ll find your game moving upward. Put in the time instead of staring out of the window making “hot head” bets where you are hungry to get the first winner of the day. Patience and hard work pay off in the long run and you’ll enjoy playing the races more than ever. – Best of luck from your friends at Winning Ponies!