Which races to bet on ?

Welcome.

pier to pier sight
hth

Avoid handicaps and you've got a chance

lay favs in races where the variation in ratings is less than the variation in odds

The Arabs

Lay Marts win bets and back his lays and you will soon be able to retire!!!

My own approach,avoid backing odds on,only lay odds on.That apart be patient and study plenty and then the races to bet on become more apparent.

be patient and study plenty

sound advice in many fields

If movewiththetimes is correct,Ive been doing something wrong
for the last 40 years.Guess ive  just been lucky.

Here's what I do to get the " betable " races down to a reasonable number . I leave alone 1 Two year old races , 2 five furlong and six furlong races . 3 races where several runners have little or no recent form , 4 sellers , 5 hunter chases , 6 the first three months of the flat season .

If movewiththetimes is correct,Ive been doing something wrong
for the last 40 years.Guess ive  just been lucky.Wink

Fair play hong kong fooey 8 hour a day min on handicaps and even ten your runs can kill you unless you're hardcore which you are 40 years and still running, surprised you wasn't on beat the bookies.

*then

Texas hunter chases can be a goldmine

Movewiththetimes    09 Aug 19 18:29 
Avoid handicaps and you've got a chance




I only bet in Handicapss
Class 1 or 2 at Grade 1 racecourse.

You are spot on MWTT,i do spend many hours trawling through back form {mainly class
5 or 6 Hcaps}.The losing runs can easy go on for weeks. Unlike your username.I have
not movedwiththetimes and i would find it difficult to change my method at my age.Your
modus operandi is obviously working for you,and long may it continue.All i can recommend
to anyone is.If you are showing a profit and are comfortable with your betting stick with it
Good luck for the rest of the season.

I bet mainly in Handicaps but actually do better in lower grade class 5 and 6 handicaps

The clue in this answer and others is of course keep records and then you are able to see if you perform better in certain races or maybe certain distances

Spot on.
Keeping records is essential.

I agree  with the Facts and OliasOfSunhillow

And here lies the problem, most people do not want to keep records because its pretty painful losing but to faithfully log them down is doubling down on the pain. Today however you have no excuses, Betfair does all that for you. Even if you mix your betting with Bookmakers and betfair you can simply place a token £2 bet on here when you have bet with a bookmaker.

Records to me means,

Date,
Race
Type of race
Selection
Class
Form
Sp f/c
Weight
Days since previous run
No.of runners
Distance
Result

I  love keeping records - it's one of the reasons I do this. Totally fascinating to look back on. Its snakes and ladders but you develop a clear and instinctive feel for what works.

steerforth - best username on the forum imo

steerforth

Absolutely correct.

I have loads of Records ...

Unfortunately - My Turntable has packed in.

1.01

I do reasonably well by leaving certain types of races alone . My main problem is - Do I sift through all the meetings to find selections ? This is probably the best thing to do but it sometimes takes me a couple of hours to select and place my bets . Or do I just select from one or two meetings ? I've been trying to find a way of choosing which meetings and have tried leaving out ones where the going is extremely heavy or just selecting the meetings with the best prize money . I would welcome any ideas . Thanks in anticipation .

I think it's best to specialise in certain races, whether it be by age, distance, class or whatever, far too many races and horses to get to understand the form for all of them.
I generally don't bother with 2 yos, 3 yos till about July/August, most maidens unless there appear to be only 2/3 with a decent chance, and try to keep my main bets over 7fs/1m2fs in handicaps, keeps me busy enough.

I use mainly low grade hcap 5/6F sprints

My record overall in big races would be very tragic.

Class 1 and 2 h'caps are my favourite races, like 16 runners plus.

Don't keep records of bets but keep an eye on how much is in my betting accounts so know how I'm doing.

I love studying racing form and spend any spare moment doing that. I find it so interesting and that helps a lot.

A great way to save a lot of time, and probably money, is to ignore races with 10 or more runners. Even if you were backing value horses in these races, you can get incredibly long losing streaks, which sap your confidence as well as your bank balance.

SOULDANCER  -  There are NO - "Class 1 Handicaps"

Sorry onlooker...Any h'cap over £20,000 usually, but I've lowered that since prize money is down.

Some interesting and informative responses . Given that there are only certain types of race that I bet on , what do I do in a typical situation when there are , for example , six meetings ? Do I sift through every meeting to find my right kind of race or do I just pick my selections from certain meetings ? By the time I have searched through three meetings I find it becomes very time consuming  . Do posters , for example , select only certain meetings and if so how do you pick ones which ? Perhaps you narrow it down in some way such as choosing the meetings with the highest prize money or ignoring ones with extreme going conditions .

"which ones" not "ones which" !!

Most of my stuff is identifying runners that are running off the wrong mark or havent been giving 100% so that dictates which race I play, I then obviously work out if i Like the look of the horse in question against the field and track etc.

Start keeping records
Then you will know good or bad

I like Novices/Maidens where a little pedigree knowledge can go a long way. I'm no expert & it doesn't always work out but I find it interesting and it can be profitable.

I rule out all of the following - Class 3, 6 & 7 h/caps, sellers, maidens and football betting. I do well in class 4 & 5 h/caps and claiming races (so I stick to them).

I'm also wary of betting at many northern meetings eg Newcastle A/W (where I can't remember the last time I had a bet) because I usually watch my horse finishing nearer last than first and hear myself saying "never again".

Just checked using the .csv file from here: Half my profits are from Novice/Maidens and Handicaps the rest. I have done terribly in Group and listed races. Some reason I find these difficult and will have to stop punting them. The pedigree's on show tend to be seductive.