Hi housten,
I don't know much about harness racing allthough I bet on them all the time at Mowhawk but I have some experience in the Thouroghbred field. For over 10 years I bred raised and raced TB's at the Ontario and northern New York state race tracks. I luv horse racing as much as the lottery and roulette ... if I think about all of them together I had better go to a GA meeting
Our first horse named Step King won 4 races in a row at the summer meet at the Fort Erie track and the last horse we raced - Tri A Lady came in first in a stunning longshot win in her first race at Woodbine. I had bet just for fun $30 to win .. it paid back over $3000 ! I kissed the horse after the race.
Anyhow before I get rambling in my excitement of remembering some thrills at the track .. you wanted tips.
Two Major tips for all ventures of chance ... 1 - "you can't win if you don't play" and 2 - "never wager more than you can afford (emotionally as well as fiscally) to loose".
Heres a good horse racing tip that always worked for us. This is the stategy instructions that we always gave to the jockey as the trainer mounted him up in the owners circle just befor heading to the starting gate. "As soon as you are out of the gate - gain the lead - then continue to improve your position"
.. this tip only works for sprint distance races not the mile and 1/4 etc.
Another tip on what NOT to bet. After Step King had won 3 races in a row I was getting confident (another tip .. never be too confident with a horse race) I bet $1000 to win. Step King was overtaken in the stretch by a horse called Silver Spark. Step King dug in and as they both hit the wire for a photo finish Step King stuck out his lips and won the race by about a centimeter. I aged about three years in one minute and also thought how stupid I was to risk so much on "confidence". The other stupid thing that I had done was to bet it all to WIN. By placing a thousand dollar bet "on the nose" I brought down the odds for the win payoff. A lot of trackies watch what the owners and trainers bet and if they see an owner bet a large amount on their horse (BTW .. it is illegal for an owner to bet large on someonelse's horse) then they think that someone has some "secret" knowledge and they all bet the same bringing down the odds. My $1000 bet returned $3000 but I would have got a lot more than 3 to 1 if I had bet the $1000 on Step King in an exactor, on top to come in first and then wheeled him with the field for a big exactor payout when any of the horses came in second. In this particular case Silver Spark was not a favourite and an exactor payout would have been really large. So the tip is alway play combo bets like exactors (and tri actors if you are brave) and just like in Pick 3 always box your exactor bets so the actual combination of whos first, second, third does not matter.
This tip used to work good ... probably still does. Check on the racing form for the lasix symbol. Lasix is a drug that is given to a horse to releive pain ... like a big tylenol. It would probably work great on humans as well
lasix used to be illegal to use in Canada (it was allowed on the US tracks). The rules got changed and lasix use became ok in Canada. Lots of times I have bet on the horse that is "on lasix" .. the horse is feeling no pain .. and many times the horse payed off.
One final tip. I have asked every trainer that we have hired the million dollar question. What is the single most important factor in determining which horse will win? Factors that seem logical to me like the weight of the jockey? .. In one of Step King's last races he won the "Female Jockey Championship" race at Fort Erie by about 3 lengths. Here you just get the luck of the draw jockey. Unlike all other races the owners don't pick the jockey they randomly are given a jockey out of the total group. Well I hope that the jockey is not reading these forums because I'm going to say what a "tubbo" she was. When I saw the trainer nearly getting a hernia lifting this girl up onto the horse I thought for sure we would come in last. But I guess weight isn't a big factor.
The main factor that all of the trainers consistently identified was "track condition". ie wet, dry etc. Look on the form for the "mudder" symbol which shows that that particular horse is not afraid of slipping on the muddy track surface. Only go to the track on rainy days and only bet horses that are mudders and you should do very well.
Whew .. haven't typed this much is a long time but the topic of hosses gets me chomping at the bit