Betting Success
and
Horse Racing Form Lines

Is it important that the horse you back has good form lines around it? Is it important that the horses it has beaten have run good races after losing to it? Is it important that the horses it has lost to have run good races after beating it?

Here is a Punt to Win article about that:

"Many strong punters we talk to all agree on one point.
If you have done your form correctly and like a horse, the form around it, believe it or not, is irrelevant.

We can understand if you say that is ridiculous. After all, punters have been so conditioned by the horse racing media to look for those form lines. That is of course also how the media tipsters make their selections. However if you are doing sports betting and having a bet on Aussie Rules football you don't reason: Western Bulldogs beat Essendon, Melbourne beat Western Bulldogs so Melbourne will beat Essendon. So why do something like that with horses?

If the horse won its last race these strong punters take no special notice of how the horses it beat went after that race. If it ran a close second or third they take no notice of how the horse/s that beat it went after the race. As far as they are concerned they examine the merits of the horse's run by looking at its race, taking into account factors like video replays, weight carried, sectional times, run in the race, track bias etc.

If the horse that beat it last start is running earlier in the day, unless they have money on it, they hope the horse will flop because they know many punters will turn off their chosen horse later in the day and they will get a better price.

Interesting, isn't it?

Remember, to win at racing you can't take the same approach as most punters, or like them, you will lose."
First published in Punt to Win , September 8, 2000.