Studying Form

[Jonny1723]

Hello fellas, As most of you probably know, I'm a total newbie to Horse Racing. However, I absolutely love it since I have got into it. I'm really only starting out though in terms of picking winners, and mostly have to follow others' advice. (Newspapers etc.) What I'd really like to do, is study the form myself, and see where that gets me. Trouble is though, I'm not really sure what to look for, and don't really know where to start looking in terms of form. That got me thinking - given there is such a wealth of knowledge on here, have any of the regulars (those who know what they are doing), thought about producing a sticky post of some sort, which would highlight what they do when they study a race. This could be something as simple as a list, of what they look for, with why etc. Maybe they could include the resources they use (Racing Post etc). I think this may help newbies like myself start on the right road. What do you reckon ? J.

[Martin]

Re: Studying Form I havent been doing this long myself and dont claim to be an expert but after trying in vain to find a system that worked, I settled down to good old form study and it seems to work. As a rule, I dont look at any races with more than 14 runners, sometimes 12, as well as ones with very few runners. This will narrow the card down right away. I dont touch maidens, claimers, apprentices, sellers etc as they can be unreliable. This will leave me with 2 races if I'm lucky and I'll go through every horse and note those I dont think can win and why. For me, I look for previous form on the going, over the distance (or a strong suggestion the horse will suit the distance) and the class of races the horse has run before I should then have a shortlist of three or four who I think could win and then I look at these in detail before arriving at my selection. It may be that I dont find one that jumps out at me, so I leave it. By sticking to these guidlines, I dont throw money away unless I'm sure the horse has a good chance and even then I keep stakes low. Look at my flat racing thread for an example of my method. Of course, everyone has their own method, and we are always learning. Have a look at this too: http://www.expertbettingadvice.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=218