While reading the racing form is essential, knowing how to interpret the statistics can be a real advantage when handicapping races and placing wagers. Depending on the type of bettor you are, knowing how to read a betting line can be the difference between a winning session and a losing session.
Let’s take a closer look at how to read a betting line – from the form to the stats – so you can place winning wagers.
The Form
The starting point of any sports bet is the form guide. This indispensable publication will list all the runners in the race, along with their form expectations. Knowing the form of the horses is important, not only to help you make the right selection, but also because it provides a measure of how the horse is racing. In other words, if you have a particular horse in mind, you can check its form in the guide to get an idea of how it will perform.
Take a look at the form of the runners at the top of the leaderboard. Is this a horse you would like to place a wager on? Or is this the type of horse that you are completely dissuaded from entering in the first place?
The Track
The second key factor to consider when reading a betting line is the track. This term refers to the location of the race, and will be either inside or outside the state of New York. You need to make sure that you are correctly taking into consideration the surface temperature and weather conditions of the track in question. It is also essential to check whether or not there are any windfalls in the forecast, as these could have a huge impact on the outcome of the race. Finally, you need to look into whether or not there are any upcoming clashes with other sports events that could throw a spanner into the works of the racing schedule. It would be a shame to miss out on an important football match because you were busy placing a bet on a horse race!
A track is a very diverse sporting location. It could be a dirt track in the American South, a frosty Northern track, or even a track made of synthetic materials like polyethylene or synthetic turf. What is more, the surfaces used for racing could be either natural or synthetic, so you will need to be on the lookout for either one of these when checking the form of your favourite horse. This is something else that you need to check before placing a wager!
The Odds
The third and final point to bear in mind when reading a betting line is the odds. These are the probabilities of each runner winning, and they can vary significantly. If you are familiar with statistics, you will have noticed that there is often a large discrepancy between the betting odds and the form expectations. This could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. From the betting point of view, you are looking for a discrepancy in the direction of your chosen side; that is to say, you want to bet on a horse that has an above-average chance of winning. On the other hand, if you are a form aficionado, you will want to bet on the opposite, as these are usually the horses that are most likely to deliver the form expected of them. In this particular scenario, you are effectively throwing away money, as these types of horses are generally considered to be bad bets. It all depends on the perspective you adopt, and this is something that is governed entirely by your betting strategy. You shouldn’t be afraid to deviate from the odds, as long as you know what you are doing and why you are doing it. Just make sure that you keep your eye on the big picture, and avoid getting caught up in the minutiae of the numbers game!
Once you have checked the form of the horses and the track, it’s time to turn your attention to the statistics. The next part of the guide will delve deeper into those numbers and how to interpret them.
The Stats
When it comes to betting, the numbers can be quite tricky to interpret, even for experienced handicappers. The key is to familiarise yourself with the terms used and how they are compiled. Here is a simplified guide to what you are looking at when browsing the stats for a horse race. This is in no way meant to replace reading the guide in its entirety, but it could be a quick and handy reference when needed.
The first thing you will need to do is identify the entrants. These are the horses that are actually participating in the race. This is often shorter than the field, which refers to the group of runners. For instance, in the New York Grand Prix, the entrants would be the 12 horses that are entered for the race. The field would then be all of the other horses that are not participating in this year’s edition of the race. So in this case, the field would be made up of 11 other horses. In most cases, the entrants will be the same as the field, but it depends on the draw. Sometimes there will be a discrepancy in the number of runners, and in those cases you will have to go through the information leaflet (usually provided by the racetrack) to see what happened. If you still can’t work out what is going on, it could be a good idea to contact the track administration for help. They will be able to provide you with the form of the runners and a detailed explanation as to why there are fewer entries than usual. This is a very important point to make: in most cases, the stats will be completely unreliable until the point when they are officially released by the track. At that point, all the teams, individuals, and corporations that are participating in the race will be disclosed, along with the results of their individual entrants. This is when the stats become reliable and you can start building your bankroll based on sound bet principles.
The Money Line
The money line is one of the most popular betting options, and for good reason. This is essentially where you place your wager simply based on which horse you think will win the race. You are not betting on overall performance of the horse, but rather its position in the race. For example, if you think Tiger Woods is the best player in the world at golf, but he is playing this weekend in a tournament you haven’t heard of [trophy hunting], it could be a smart move to place a wager on Tiger Woods to win the tournament. This is known as “taking the long way home”, as you are effectively saying that you expect Tiger Woods to show up and win the tournament by any means necessary. The longer the tournament goes on without a winner, the more you will have to pay out on the wager. In most cases, this will mean you will have to spend a greater portion of your bankroll, as this is a longer wager with higher odds of loss. If your hunch is correct, this could be a smart move, as you will win in the end (hopefully!).
As a beginner, it is recommended to start simple. Simply choose your favourite horse and bet on it to win the race. Once you are familiar with this option and know how it works, you can branch out and try different horses and different races with confidence. Just be sure to keep in mind the key points discussed above, and you will start seeing results very quickly!