What do I need to know?

skeleton_boy

After a few years of passive interest in racing I'm looking to start following it more intensely again and add to my limited knowledge of the sport. I think now is a good time to get going as we're right at the start of the flat season. Is there any tips people can give me to get started. Apart from the likes of timeform & the racing post, is there any other sites that I should be aware of? Any advise would be most welcome

Pj!

It depends on what sort of information you are looking for?
There are some links in my signature which might be of some interest.
Along with those just keep an eye on the news sections. www.irishracing.com, www.racingpost.com, www.guardian.co.uk/sport/horse-racing, www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/

Nulty

Like Pj says, it depends on what you want to know.

News? Form? Stats? Tips? Forums? Prices?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/horse-racing/
http://www.britishhorseracing.com/ (Pain in the hole to navigate)

skeleton_boy

Some stats and form sites would be great. Just trying to get my head around it all at the moment. Can't seem to pick anything that's out of the first 3 or so in the market in most races.

Pj!

Lots of form and stats on the Racing Post. It really is a good site.

Still not sure what you are looking for though? Are you more interested in the racing or the betting? Are you looking for advice and tips?
I think you just need to read as much as you can. There is no great guideline to picking outsiders. You learn as you go.
It's a long learning process. Enjoyable though!

skeleton_boy

Interested in learning more about racing for the minute. Want to be able to watch races and spot future winners, spot horses who would enjoy a longer trip ect. There's no quick way about it I'm sure it just seems tough to begin with about 5 meetings a day to look at.

Oscars Well.

Try Attheraces aswell, gives previous form, video footage of previous races, tipsters, timeform comments etc.
http://www.attheraces.com/

Nulty

You will want to know at least a little about breeding then. When you see a soft going description you'll want to know which sires to pay most attention to. Some sires produce precocious 2yos and others youngsters take time to develop and mature. Some horses have attitude and some are pigs (don't have a competitive edge).

Also trainers are often creatures of habit and will target races they like or enjoy or their owners like to have winners at certain tracks - Koukash at Chester. He'll have 3 in a race there sometimes.

Its the subtleties of racing you want to know and that takes time, you gotta read the news, quotes from trainers and pundits.

If your trying to find winners - patterns is what its all about. If you can find a pattern that a horse follows i.e. likes a strong pace on a flat track in extreme conditions (heavy ground) then his form is likely to be littered with bad performances when he was tried in allsorts of unsuitable races waiting for his conditions. That's when you find a horse with a nice price.

Racing Post is the best for form study in my opinion. Just wish you could search the database yourself :rolleyes:

Find a trainer you like or a jockey you like and follow them and see what patterns you can find. See what tracks they race at most often. Watch their horses in different races to see which tracks suit them best. The variables are endless so its hard to start anywhere in particular.
I've already lost the run of myself there and don't know what I'm talking about anymore but hopefully you can discern some use of that ramble

Nulty

Watch racing. Thats is the best thing you can do. Watch some races more than once because you can miss lots just watching it once...you can't watch 12 horses all at once first time round!

ste2010

Nulty wrote: »

Watch racing. Thats is the best thing you can do. Watch some races more than once because you can miss lots just watching it once...you can't watch 12 horses all at once first time round!

Definitely - watching races every week for one full season from maiden to champion will give you a good opinion and will help form your perceptions on horses, by the end of it you should be able to see trends, horses to follow (this should start from jan 2012 to punchestown for jumps) like nulty said watch all horses though not just the winners..especially in some races you'll see horses who run on very well only to be produced late or mistakes from 1 or 2 out that might cost them the race but may have won otherwise) certain trips and courses suit certain horses eg somersby in ascot.

Another thing Is time, how long since last run and how hard was the race before.

And one I always like to follow as an additional and it got me a 25-1 winner yesterday is how far the delegation travelled with 1 or 2 horses for a race. Eg don cantillion brought over an unraced horse from uk to contest in the bumper yesterday. He has another in a race today but not sure how much of a chance it has, haven't looked t te card yet. For small stakes this is not to be betting your house on

Pj!

ste2010 wrote: »

Definitely - watching races every week for one full season from maiden to champion

While the suggestion is fair I think he would prefer to get stuck in sooner.

Have been thinking about this and this is what you need skeleton_boy. Peter Braddock wrote a book called Braddock's Complete Guide to Horse Race Selection and Betting.
This will set you on your way. It's a good read. A few years old now but definitely still the best one out there for somebody like yourself.
Have a look on Amazon. Second hand copies are going for the 1p + postage.