Sometimes a race will seem so fast or demanding that runners will be considered to have put in more effort than usual for their class. When some of the key race horses come back to race, they often win. If three horses come out of a race and win the next contest they enter, that’s a very good sign. Any other horses that are bred competitively in that key race should be given special consideration.
Obviously, if the race was demanding, most horses will need significant rest after such an effort, but if the horse rests too much, he can lose that great form he exhibited in that race. That’s why I don’t like to see a horse rest for more than a month after a key race. More than that and I’m beginning to suspect that he didn’t come back well after the race. He may be injured or lame or just exhausted. Any one of those things or a combination of them will be a reason to move on to the next race. A trainer who gives a horse too much rest is probably letting him know that something is wrong.
Which brings us to the angles of the coach…
Many of the past performances you can buy have information on the different moves conditioners make to get to the winner’s circle. The ones that work are used over and over again and also become common knowledge. That, as they say, is the problem. As soon as that angle becomes public knowledge, it loses much of its shine. Tipsters and tipsters all angle as if anything that is common knowledge yields a big win.
Angle combinations could be the way forward for the old tipster. Better yet, when a coach does something only once, he may want to take that move as an angle and play it the next time he shows up. You won’t know for sure how well it will work again, but the problem is that if you wait for it to be tested, it has very little value.
While angles have their uses, it’s best not to lean too heavily on them. A holistic approach might work better than anything. Consider the angles and other factors in the race, both dynamic and static, and then form an opinion on each of the contenders. While you can form your own hit values and add up the points to arrive at a hierarchy of probability, a little innovative thinking, such as intuition, can also help.