- Fitness
The physical fitness of a horse is paramount when deciding if you will bet in on it. Since it takes both training and competition to become fit, check out the last few races your horse has run in. The more recent these races have been, the more likely the horse is fit for the current race. If it’s been a while since the horse last raced, two months or more, than it is probably out of practice, and it will have a more difficult time making a comeback. You can still examine the morning training routines for your horse, however.
- Distance
Horses have different strengths when it comes to how well they do with distance. Most horses good at short distances are not good at long distances, and vice versa. Examine all the races your horse has participated in, and make sure you take a good look at the length of races that it does best in. You can’t expect a horse to do exceptionally well at something that it has not done exceptionally well at in the past, so always make sure your expectations are in line with the past distance history.
- Consistency
When betting on horses consistency is key. Research not only the horse’s record for the year, but also the record it has for over its lifetime. If the horse is inconsistent on either of these counts, then it is not a good horse to bet on. A good consistency to look for is a horse that has finished in the money for at least 50% of the races it has run in -any lower than this, then you can expect that the horse will not repeat strong performances. Poor consistency means that the horse is not good at what it does.
- Weight
It isn’t easy to determine how weight affects a horse’s ability to race, as a good, strong horse may weigh over a thousand pounds. Even ten pounds more on a horse is much less likely to slow it down than five pounds on a human, since their sizes are so different. However, weight becomes more important in longer races, when a horse with too much extra weight may tire more easily. Five pounds is about the right amount of weight that you should consider a factor in a horse’s ability to run. However, weight probably doesn’t make much of a difference in most situations.
- Trainer
The trainer of a horse is very important to consider. Some trainers are better than others, and the best can be worth a lot more money than the worst. They must be very knowledgeable, experienced, and be very organized to coordinate the stables, and have a very good report with the horse. A horse with a good trainer is way more likely to be a good racer than a horse with a bad or even mediocre trainer. It’s important to pay attention to trainers’ careers. If a trainer has past winners under their belt, it’s more likely that their current horse will also be a winner.