Races have up to twenty post positions - so how do you decide where to put your money? This decision, called a handicap, can be spontaneous or as deliberate as you want it to be. The horses are the athletes, and their records are published in the Daily Racing Form. You’ll want to pick up a copy as you head to the racetrack so you can read up on each horse’s performance and follow the day’s race program. Along with the horse’s record, you may want to consider the record of the trainer and of the jockey. Keep in mind the condition of the track, whether its “fast” (dry and firm), “soft” (damp and yielding) or “sloppy” (wet and muddy). A horse with a record of winning on a fast track can falter on a sloppy one; give a sloppy track champion a fast track and watch him fly! Of course, you can always look at the odds. Race wagering is run on a pari-mutuel system, which means that the official odds reflect the bets which have already been placed, and will change as more money enters the pool. The horse with the best odds is called the favorite, and favorites win races about 33% of the time.
Every bettor has his or her own theory on picking a winner. You can be impulsive, superstitious, or intellectual; make a quick pick or spend hours pouring over charts and statistics. But ultimately you’ve just got to feel it in your bones. You can bet on a horse to win, but also to place (come in second), or show (come in third). And if you really have faith in your instincts, you can bet on an exacta (first and second place winners, in that order, also called a perfecta), or a trifecta (first, second and third place winners, in that order). For the true gamblers, pick the first four horses across the finish line and put your money on a superfecta.