Paddock watching...

[alexmac]

There was an interesting 3 day long article in the RP about paddock watching. That was really useful, and I learned alot from reading it. However, I still have on or two questions.... When people say 'He/she looks like he/she is a bit thick in her coat', what exactly does this mean??? I gather it has something to do with how the horse has wintered? Are they just saying that basically the coat doesn't have the right 'shine' to it just yet...? Secondly, (and I think I know the answer to this-just checking really). When a horse is carrying 'some condition', are they basically a bit porky...? I have got much more into my paddock watching recently, and want to keep it up... Anyone got any tips/advise...? Cheers! :ok

[billy the punter]

Re: Paddock watching... It is to be used as a guide only. It is more important for certain races. It's more useful for the early season and debutants. Looks, saved me today with Championship Point. You need to know how horses look usually though. Some never look well, some always do. Greys always look the part for example. Watching them travel to post is just as important as paddock watching. Condition is weight, yep. Sometimes horses have their winter coat later than they should. That is what they mean by that. You wouldn't want to be backing anything now that still had their winter coat. I laid one last week at Folkstone that still had it, 2nd fav, beat a distance. Not always like this though - its a guide, remember that. Anything that is 'coltish' before the race usually loses, well I'd say 80% do.