Putting entities alongside each other and predicting which one’s going to finish first in a race is an intrinsic human interest, one that traces its roots to thousands of years ago. Fast forward to today, we’re still just as bananas about it, especially horseracing, which gets a tremendous amount of attention during this time of the year. If you’re thinking of making money out of horserace betting, we have some tips for you.
It’s best practice to know the horses in a race before risking money on them. While horseracing isn’t an exact science, the best horses win more often than not. And you could tell which ones are trending towards having great performances the next time on the track by simply inspecting the records of the participating ponies. If you’re eyeing a certain horse, you could check first how it has fared in his last three, five, or even 10 races to get an idea of how it’ll fare. The proliferation of online databases of horses has given bettors a convenient way to look up a horse’s history. Sites like Horseracingnation and Equibase are just some of the resources you should be poring over.
#2 …and the jockeys’ and trainers’ background, too
The animals are the stars in this game but don’t forget that it’s the humans responsible for guiding and training these beasts. Maximizing a horse’s potential is up to its jockey and trainer, who have different responsibilities with shared goal of winning. And since there are also available records out there to see whether a trainer has been doing well with his horses or whether a certain three-year-old has improved since transferring to that trainer’s stable. A trainer which has won around 15 percent of his horses’ races is considered great.
#3 Know the wager types
You’ve selected which horses you like and studied their track records while checking on their jockeys and trainers. The only thing left to do is bet. But before that, do you know what type of bets you’re going to go for? There are plenty of betting types but among the most popular, especially for beginners, are the straight bets.
In straight horserace betting, you can predict whether a horse will win, place, show, or do all three (across the board). A win happens when the horse simply finishes first in the race. A horse places when it either wins or places second. A show is when a horse wins, places second, or finishes third.
There are also the so-called exotic wagers which are a bit complicated than straight betting. Among them is the exacta or perfecta in which the bettor selects which ponies will finish first and second in exact order. Another example of an exotic bet is the trifecta, which would pay a bettor if he correctly predicted which horses will finish first, second, and third in exact order.
