Martin Booth has been following horse racing since the early 1970s. During his time in sports journalism, including roles as a racing tipster, he won the monthly prize in the Racing Post naps table. He remains an enthusiastic fan of the sport, and a regular punter.
There’s a simple equation here: The more time you devote to studying racing, the better you are likely to be at finding winners, because there are so many elements to take into account. Principal among these are the handicap and the going; but you also need to consider the course, the race distance, the recent form of the horse and its trainer, and factors like first-time blinkers or visor, and how long since the horse’s last run. I also look at trends for each race, which can help you to find the horses that are unlikely to win as well as those that likely to. Finally, it’s worth being aware of the market. Strong early-morning support for a horse can indicate that the informed money is on.
