With the Derby Galloping towards us at increasing speed, there is plenty of news to monitor ... the preps are over ... the earning totaled ... feet examined ... whose on the injured list ... whose being highlighted on TVG's The Works and every expert has created their own list of contenders ... .
I thought it might be helpful for a reminder in some basic fundamentals when it comes to making your selections on the first Saturday in May.
First I must admit that I have been guilty of this many times in the past. I get so caught up in crunching my numbers such as turn times ... ability times ... pars ... pace figs ... track variants ... and looking for value that I forget to examine the actual horse in the paddock and post parade.
I gave myself a refresher course on body language recently and just paying attention to this factor I hit 4 of my 5 bets this past weekend at Gulfstream Park. I hit at 80% the week before.
The one thing that stood out to me was how many Favorites I was able to just throw out completely after viewing them in the paddock and post parade.
It also saved me a few bets on Horses that I had identified the night before that stood out on paper but did not look the part on race day.
One of the leading authority on this topic is Joe Takach. Joe has been around the game forever and he has a nice web site full of information relating to this topic. One of Joe's most popular DVDs is his Beat The Beam where he shows the viewer how to find the right horse via the http://www.joe-takach.com/OTB or your home computer depending how you play. So before you make your next bet remember to take that extra time to observe your selection and see if he looks ready to race today.
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