US Horse Racing - Stewart's Nap Selections 2010

[stewartd14]

First, a little bit of background: I think I eluded slightly to this in the ATR interview with BH, but no harm in repeating it. In the past year or so, my contributions to the tipping side of PL have diminished somewhat from when I first joined, and I want to get back into things with a thread that I know I am confident running for a long period of time. Excluding my speed ratings thread, which wont be active until the flat season starts again in March, I have had very little. So, I thought of this, a US racing thread with my NAP selections. While I still have a huge interest in UK racing from a personal point of view, I have done much better financially with American racing since I started seriously betting on it about 18 months ago. The way American racing works is very different to UK racing, and I just seem to manage to read the form, and read races better across in America. In addition to that, the amount of information available is so much better than in the UK - including sectional times. With this success on US racing, I was never going to be able to start a thread for UK racing and keep it going for a long period of time. Simply, because a) I am not as good at it and b) My staking on UK racing tends to be smaller than US racing as I just cant build up the same amount of confidence in my selections. So, with this thread, I can focus on my most profitable area of betting, and I can also introduce the ATR members to US racing, and the way it works. As a very small number of people know from seeing me, I post all my US selections on the US section of the Betfair forum, one of the most (or only!) knowledgable and informative parts of the betfair forum ! Post 2 contains some basic details about US racing, and I am perfectly happy to answer any questions. Lets hope for a long, and successful venture. There will be around 1 bet a night most weeks, and all bets will be between 5 and 10 points. All bets will be settled at the track dividend, and the Betfair price I manage to get. Therefore, there will be 2 P/Ls. :ok

[stewartd14]

Re: US Horse Racing - Stewart's Nap Selections 2010 Why is US racing different to UK racing US racing is a simplified version of UK racing. 90% of US races are run on dirt, with only a small number of races run on polytrack or turf. All the tracks are a simple oval configuration, and the vast majority of races are over 1 mile or shorter. This makes it easy for speed figures to be successful in America, and this is the main method of handicapping in the US. This is aided by the lack of handicap, and handicap marks. It is not unusual for a card to feature 9 claiming races, which are the most popular races in America. How to study form in America In the UK, collateral form is the way everyone works. If Horse A beats Horse B by 2 lengths, and Horse B beats Horse C by 3 lengths - Horse A should beat Horse C by 5 lengths off level weights. However, in America, every performance is given a figure, or a rating, based on the final time of a race (adjusted for track variants etc). For a more in-depth look at speed ratings, have a read of - http://ezinearticles.com/?Horse-Racing-Handicapping-Using-Speed-Ratings-For-Value-Bets&id=1978050 http://www.latekick.com/Support/Info.aspx It would be impossible for me to explain in full how to study form from a US perspective, so I will give the main form guides, and if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. The form sheets in America are completely different to those in the UK, but there is an example of how to read them http://www.drf.com/flash/drf_pp_tutorial.html http://www.drf.com/row/fan_ed/DRFFanEd.pdf If you want to get involved, I cant emphasise enough how good the 2 above resources are. They are lengthy, but they are worth a large time investment. www.drf.com www.brisnet.com www.brisnet.co.uk www.equibase.com www.latekick.com - Recommended. Note - All form guides cost, but if you get into it, the cost isnt that much. Race Types Purse Values - Note for all races The class of a race in America is determined by both the Grade of track, and the purse value/claiming tag. Each claiming race will have a purse value, and also a claiming tag - this claiming tag states how much the horses can be claimed for after the race, and is the best basis for how good the race is. So, for example you can have a race for $10,000 claimers (tag) and then a race for $16,000 claimers (tag). Obviously the latter is the better race. In non claiming races, the purse value and race type will dictate how good the race is. Maiden Claimer (MC) - Very common - races for Maidens, where any horse can be claimed after the race. Level weights unless stated otherwise in the race conditions Maiden Special Weight (MS) - Slightly less common - for higher grade horses, with no claiming tag - very unusual for a horse to step up from MC to MS and win. Claiming (CL) - The most common race in America - Similar to UK claimers. Allowance (AL) - Similar to listed races in UK, but can differ vastly in how good they are - all the way from $5000 allowance races to $50000 allowance races. Better than claiming races, and the logical step up after winning a MS. Starter Allowance (SA) - A stepping stone to Allowance races. Stakes (ST) - As a direct comparison, a stakes race would be a Listed, Group 3, Group 2 or Group 1 race in UK. If it just says stakes on the form card, it will be a listed race. The step up from Allowance Company. Where to bet on US racing All US racing works via pools and tote, so you can bet into this tote via most UK bookmakers, and also Betfair. Exchange betting is also available on US racing via Betfair and this is much much much the best option. How to bet on US racing As I said above, US racing is all tote and pari-mutuel based, apart from on Betfair. Therefore, you cant take prices and have to settle for the track dividend if you dont use Betfair.