Horse racing is a very exciting and lucrative sport. Anyone who hasn’t been to a good track is missing out. Winning lots of money at horse racing is very possible. In fact, it tends to get overlooked in the sports betting world. Think about this. If you were going to wager on a baseball team that was far better than the team it was facing, you might have to lay down $2.50 to $3.00 to win $1. In horse racing, you can often wager on a horse that’s superior to the rest of the field (even a small field) and receive a much better line.

Since this is a primer, let’s talk about the basics of horse racing itself. A horse race can consist of two or more horses. The field, as it is called, varies from race to race. There are three main finishing points in any horse race—Win, Place and Show. Win is of course first place. Second place is called Place and Show is third. These three spots are known as “in the money.” A horse that doesn’t finish in the money is referred to as “also ran.”

Horse racing offers a plethora of wagering options. For instance, one can wager on a horse to win, place and show—also called “across the board”—or any mixture of the three. There are also other wagers, which are called “exotics”. One example of an exotic wager is a Trifecta. A Trifecta wager consists of three horses that will finish in the exact listed order. For example, if a bettor placed a 5-8-1 Trifecta, the 5 horse must finish first, the 8 horse second and the 1 horse third.

Another example of an exotic wager in horse racing, and a popular one, is the Pick 4. Horse racing bettors play Pick 4’s constantly. When a bettor makes a pick 4 wager, he or she is picking the winner in four consecutive races. Winners of the Pick 4 are paid from a pool of wagered money. There’s also a Daily Double, Pick 3 and Pick 6. In the event that there’s no winner, the money is carried over to the next day. This happens often with the Pick 6.

One of the best things I like about horse racing is the quickness of the races. Unlike a baseball game, I don’t have to wait three hours to find out if I won or not. Additionally, unlike other sports, there can be up to hundreds of races on a single day. A typical racetrack will run eight races or more per day. There are many racetracks around the country. There’s a lot more to horse racing, but this primer will start you on the right path.

Horse racing handicapping should include analyzing the human element, especially in claiming races when a horse makes his first start for a new trainer. It’s quite common among novices simply glance at a horse’s speed indexes and final times when making their selections, but wise handicappers compare the records of the current and previous trainer. The several questions may arise: when is the right time to wager on a horse in a new barn, why does a horse suddenly improve or regress for a new trainer, what rules should we understand about a newly claimed horse?

We must first analyze the record of the former conditioner before we judge whether a trainer can improve his recently claimed horse, for instance, if high-percentage trainer claims a horse from a trainer with a poor winning percentage, we can assume the horse will improve in his new surroundings, and if a low-percentage trainer claims a horse from the track’s leading trainer, we can conclude the animal won’t improve – more than likely, he will regress.

Quite often, we are able to eliminate from consideration a betting underlay when the horse goes from a high- to a low-percentage barn. Indexes of a high recent speed horse for a leading trainer often has declining figures for a new outfit. This may result in betting overlay when a horse with dismal recent form for a low-percentage trainer hooks up with leading trainer in wins.

On the one hand, a claimed horse returned at or below its last claimed price used to be considered a negative but with higher purses nationally, a claimed horse can earn a sizable pot even if he is returned at the level he was purchased. More trainers are willing to risk possibly losing their newly claimed horse for the same or even a slightly lesser price because they would still earn a profit from the purse winnings.

It’s easy to understand why some trainers are willing to run their newly claimed horses at or below their claimed price – they place their horses where they are most likely to win, and even if another trainer claims one of their horses, they will show a return on their investment if the horse wins or hits the board.

Always consider jockey and equipment changes – a horse claimed from a low percentage stable is likely to have a top rider for his new barn, and a leading jockey on a newly claimed horse would be a big improvement over his previous riders who might have a low win percentage.

For a successful analysis of a newly claimed horse, we must know as much about the new trainer as we do the horse. Remember, handicapping the horse and trainer separates the novice from the veteran.

I have been gambling since around the age of sixteen. I see it as a bit of a hobby and really enjoy playing poker and bragg. I go to the casino as often as I can and also love to go to the horse racing and to the greyhounds. This article is a story about when I lost a lot of money on a horse which was supposed to be a racing certainty.

As well as gambling, I love to have a few beers. It was during one of my nights out drinking when I met an old school friend. His name was John and we had not seen each other for around fifteen years. The conversation soon turned to talking about various forms of gambling and we realised that we had very similar interests.

John told me about some of his more profitable days and I responded by talking about some of mine. I must say his seemed far more impressive than what I had ever won. John then told me that he was very good friends with a local trainer and that he had some information that I might be interested in.

This night was becoming more interesting by the hour and I enquired as to what type of information he had. He started talking about a horse which the trainer and its connections thought could not lose. The horse was going to run in ten days time and was of a far higher class than what the other horses in the race would be. The trainer wanted the horse to have an easy victory so that it would gain some confidence from the race.

I told quite a lot of people about this horse over the next few days, this was to be a big mistake, a mistake I will not be repeating in the future.

The big race day arrived and I was very excited. I will not tell you how much I placed on the horse but lets just say it was a lot of money. The odds were five to one and I believed that this was going to be the easiest money I would have ever obtained.

The race in question was a three mile hurdle and with only three fences to go the horse was cruising. It was challenging the long term leader who was fading and being strongly ridden. Approaching the second to last fence the horse took the lead but disaster was to strike, yes it fell at this fence. I could not believe it, the horse would have won if only it could have jumped those last two fences.

These are my horse racing tips, beware there is no such thing as a racing certainty and only gamble what you can afford to lose. Gambling can be lots of fun and you can have some great days and nights out, I now treat it like a hobby and have decreased the amount I bet as I now have a family to support.