Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Handicapping

Even if this is the first time you've ever been to a harness race, you can learn to do the most exciting thing in all of sports - picking the winners! Don't be discouraged by the complicated numbers in this program. They will be explained elsewhere. Instead, we're going to give you a quick way to translate them into the answer to the question, "Who is going to win?" Our system is called the "Check Mark System".

The Driver Factor
Drivers, much as other athletes, possess varying amounts of ability, and even the good ones have slumps. Fortunately, we keep track of how a driver is doing for you. Right next to his name, we list his/her statistics at Hazel Park Raceway. For example , you might see something like this:

KEVIN WALLIS blu-yel (112-23-15-11-.313)

Simply stated, driver Wallis (who wears blue and yellow colors) has driven in 112 races, winning 23 of them, finishing second 15 times and finishing third 11 times. His "Universal Driver Rating" - a number calculated like a batting average - is .313. Any number of .300 is considered excellent. Check the drivers in the race you're handicapping; find the horses being driven by the drivers whose average is .300 or over and put a check mark next to the name of the horse. Next, let's see how the horse's average stacks up.

The Consistency Factor
Consistency is, perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of the harness horse. Good horses are able to perform well week after week. Here in our program, we keep track of that, too. In the upper left-hand portion of each horses' past performances, we list the fastest winning mile of the year, number of starts, wins, seconds, thirds, and money won for this year and last. It looks like this:

2000 19 1 4 4 $10,530 2:00 HP

1999 33 4 6 6 $15,664 1:56 HP

Lifetime: $26,410 3, 1:57

The bottom line in his career summary, showing how old he was when he won the fastest race of his career and how much money he has earned, all-time. If a horse has been 1-2-3- at least half of the time this year, put a check mark next to his name; if he's won at least one-third of his races this year, put another check mark there, too. Now, let's see how he stacks up versus the competition.

The Class Factor
Class as the term is applied to horses, comes from one thing and one thing only - Horses who can go faster and earn more money are said to be "classy". Better horses race for more money - that's why some races have higher purses. Thus, the purse will be our key to class. The purse for each race is shown on each past performance line.

If tonight's purse is less than what a horse raced for last time he's "dropping" in class; conversely, if the purse tonight is greater than he raced for last time, he's "moving up" in class. Horses dropping in class have an advantage, so find them and give them another check mark. Next, let's look at our starting position.

The Position Factor
Post Position is another key. While it's true that "It's not where you start, but where you finish" applies to harness racing, post position is of great importance.

Horses starting from the inside simply have less distance to travel. The key to post positions is identifying the horses who will benefit from being on the inside. Put a check mark next to the names of the horses in posts one through five, and give another check mark to the horses in posts one through five who had been in higher post positions (six, seven, etc.) in their last start - they're going to have an easier time of it! Next: How fast?

The Time Factor
Time, and how it fits into the handicapping picture, depends upon many factors. Just because a horse won in 1:58 last week, he may have raced against classier (and thus faster) horses.

In general, though, a horse who recently won a mile racing in 1:58 should post a similar time tonight. Our "Check Mark System" here calls for checks to be given - one each - to the three horses who posted the fastest final times in their most recent races. Next, some fine tuning.

The Form Factor
Current Form is a term used to describe how well a horse has been performing. While class, time and post position also help tell us how well he might do tonight, yet another symbol, the parked-out symbol ("O"), which appears in the program when a horse raced "outside" (with another horse between him and the rail), might tell use even more.

Such parked-out symbols, especially where they appear in winning or close efforts, are mighty signs of fitness. Give a check mark to horses who were parked-out in their last race - but only if they won or were within a length of the winner at the finish.

To Sum It Up
It's That Simple. After checking this and checking that, it should be obvious that we'll want to bet on the horse with the most check marks. After devoting a few moments to the most important handicapping factors, we've learned a lot.

Soon, you'll become more familiar with the horses and drivers; come to know more about the importance of the factors at Hazel Park Raceway; and be able to figure times and class.

Remember, picking a winner in each race is like solving a puzzle. What's the reward for all your hard work leading to our solution? A visit to the cashier.

Article: Permission to reprint granted by http://hazelparkraceway.com.