SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING By ROBERT L. BACON ‘AMERPUB COMPANY 461 Eighth Ave. + Now York |, NAY.copyRiGHT 1982 by AMERPUB COMPANY CHART CREDIT ‘The results charts nd past performance chars this book ate reproduced through the courtesy of Triangle Publishing Co, publishers of The Moraing Telegraph, Daily Racing Porm in various cities, the American © muta PxisrINe Racing Movil and the Daily Racing Form Monthly Chae Books. ‘THE AUTHOR AND THE PUBLISHER “Te following work i oer tothe render a+ mane of [MANUFACTURED 18 THE UNITED STATES “efor, wiser inraton 8 opgeion tae Be indage in ‘y Alin S Browne, Ine, Bratlebor, Vi. na ecaiionCONTENTS 1. The Insiders’ Sceret of Turf Profits 2. Nowadays I's Easier to Beat the Races! 3. Equipment Needed for Professional Play 4. Keep Ou of Those Switches... 5, The Principle of Ever.Changing Cycles Inside Dope on Conditions of Races. 7. ‘The Horsemen's Hidden Weight Secret! 8. How the Professionals Use Percentage 9. How to Make Advance Price Lines -..-- 10, Pieesborgh Pails Own Handicapping Method 11, How to Get Started on Small Capital. 12, You Must Speculte=You Cave “Grind”... 136. Best Ber Picking without PP. Charts 14, Professional Play without P.P. Charis. 15. Exposing the Secrets of Fractional Time 16. Make Your Results Charts Before the Races! 17. Colonel Bradley's Mechanical 18. The Inside on Overweights ..... 19, Handicap Races Give the Longest Overlays 20. How Professionals Dutch the Feature Races 22, The “Double Spot-Play” Principle! 22, All-Year Picker Plan for January 23, February Method for Live Longshors! 24. Trainers’ March Wake-Up Route Race Plan... 25, Workouts Select the April Winners . * Mo CONTENTS Insiders! Weight Angle for May Profit! July Isthe Time to Win with Parlays! 1 ss-One System Wins in August Picking September's Wake-Up Longshots \ Speeia. Winning Angle for October! Roaind Robins for Big Noveniber Profits All-Year Longshot Play for December The Universal Weight System Gveriny Pay for Fraction-Mile Tracks » Dv sble-Reversal Plan for “Tough” Races . Sccial Winter Track Wake-Up System + How to Play for Overlay Daily Doubles Professionals Avoid "Stiffs" in June -.. 18s 194 199 205 mu 29 24 cod ast 29 267 2ILLUSTRATIONS Chapter | THE INSIDERS’ SECRET OF TURF PROFITS People who know the facts of life have called racing “the poor man's opportunity”. An opportunity, because ie is always possible for a poor man, ora man who has filed at every other profession or business, to get started at race betting with mere * peanuts” [cis always posible for him co go on and “runt up” invo sizeable fortune. Any race-any day any track-can ay the foundation of betting success! Its posible for any man (or woran) who has the required «ven temperament for curf operations to “(gee off co the races” ‘with small capital, Perhaps with capital as small asa day's pay! ‘That isto say, itis posible—IF—the man or woman has the proper viewpoint and the knowledge of the fundamental principle of beating the races. Plus, 2 knowledge of how to ash in on the application of this principle. And in this frst chapter, we will sare right off by learning the BASIC IDEA of beating the races once and for all. ur firs, ie must he understood that while i i possible for ANY man or woman to getstarted with a lonely deuce o saw back and ran ic up toa handsome amotut, i i atthe eae time pore for EVERY man ar woman t0 make a living a the races ‘The careless, the inconsistent, the people who muse be “in action” every minute, the stabbers at the moon, the followers 1e 2 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING of free public selectors, the people who go to the races “jst for fun”, the players who are ignorant of the principle of win- ning, the people who do not keep up to date with all the new ideas and trends~all such people must lose. “That is true beeause every cent of the purse money, the jockey fees, the track upkeep and amortization, the trainer's Tiving, the plater owner's living-and the profits of the con sistent bee winners~all must come out of the money lst by the careless and uninformed public. (A “plater” in track slang isa cheap horse that rons only in claiming races. The word is used inhat sense above, although in the insider's technical language, a plater isa horseshoer.) ‘Every legally operated racetrack on this continent exists on ‘what is known asthe “take”, Ie isa certain eut, a percentage fixed by law, thatthe track takes out of every betting pool, actually and physically, before the horses reach the finish fine ‘of each race. Iemust be understood, of course, ehar mutuel and twee track beating is mevely a poolselling opera. Every body bers as much ashe likes. The amounts bet on each horse are pooled together. The track takes from 8% to 15% of the pool and then gives the rest of the money back to the holders of winning tickets, pro ata. Forinstance, say the toal amount bet on a race s $10,000. If the legal take is 107, the track takes out $1,000 before any re~ turn s made tothe winners, Ths thousind is counted our snd esracted physicallyitnever goes ack to the bert. “The remaining $9,000 is cut up among the winning tickets, If there were 50 tickets sold on the winning hors, a& $2 ach, there was §100 bet on the winner. The original scake of the bettors rerurned, leaving $8,900 net profit for the $0 win- ning tickers. The holders ofthese tickets collet §180.00 for cach $2 invested. (This explanation is given because some fans persis in holding to che weied notion that the tacks pay out theie own money to the winning ticket holders and thatthe SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 3 tracks have something to do with determining the payott prices Actually, the pli mas the prices) Bevin of ts eck “ae” percentage extracted frm each tering posh there mast be tore loses tan winners athe tack (ites noe tues theorcealy of bang aay-frome Theat beene bookmakers tsk tee wn money agent {he money of the players) However, i hasbeen ata that sme 2,000,000 people in this country ber on the races al. Been we oy aban that 95% of them muse Tosco keep the gue gong, that eves potential 5.000 00 Cntene winners The puros of hsb, of eOUs, 0 asmany redrs as possible into tis bappy els. “Tool aero the fetid thf of racing (which Rave acer been expse in pine nt hit book wis nen Tes ermine the habia lsrs andthe consent ‘Naners An examination brings to lighe the fact tha the losers ream cvershifng groups while she winners sem tobe the sine people throughout eines “The facesin the group of losers keep shifting, as unprepared, igoorany or unstable people try the game fr spore and excke~ tee They eaten ek hen et ny cone Ile aga and gai, a5 they have spare mead spare mney. Bur the winner gh ere every day in he clauses af the tncla ori the grandsand Doves (A most racks che cdoand boxes grea far bate iw ofthe backterch and Fah at ny Toston ine cramped 08 ot pos tion elathonses) “When the races are over, hese sme consent wanes re sie the sane comfortable homes retort eutagen ome ts erst for dinner. Then they confer with he roies Steir bars fora alf hour or so, before taking thee wives or Sreateans to the thease dog mts hockey game, ja ‘cireus, auto races, fights, basketball, night baseball, ot toa gay sighe cub, e4 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING ‘Next time you are atthe tack, note these successful people. ‘They are composed, quiet and wahurted, They keep their own counsel, talking to nobody before the races, merely nodding co sequaintances. They seem to bein the same seats season afcer season. They never boast. They never complain. They never talleco strangers when accosted. Bocif you watch them, you will see that once, or twice, or three rimes a day chey follow a race intently. And then after the finish pull handfuls of winning tickets from their inside pockets, to figure up the total winnings from the mutuels just posted. After waiting forthe first crush of eager-beaver ama- teurs to get paid off, they move casually co the cashiers’ wine doves to collect their winnings, These people are che professonals—the consistent bet wit ners. History records that they come from all wall of lf, al- though ie would hardly be sporting to lise any of their names here. History shows that they have been golf professional, bricktayers, clerks, barbers, bums—yes, actual bums judges, clerks, sports writers racketees. These quiet professionals are ‘quite inconspicuous, unless you look for them, because there are so many careless, gambling-crazy amateurs rushing this way and that way, motcering, shouting, jumping from one crackpot ides to another, betting on hope and fear and emo- tion—instead of knowledge and percentage ‘Now, what we want 0 now is: What isthe secret “key” thac keeps these quiet professionals (and their successful ccounterparts-away-from-the-teks) in thei places season af esson? In ther word why do they win whe others ‘Are chese professional so smart with college edueations—or something? No, they are not well edacated, for the most part. Some have had but a few years of elementary school and few Ihave completed high school. Maybe these professionals are so smart at handicapping by the use of time and weight and class SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 5 ‘condition? But no, char can't be the secret, because most of these professionals do not know as many different systems and schemes and formal handicapping plans as some of the frantic Josers inthe grandstands, In fac, afew of these winning professionals make litle effort 1 use either cime, weight, clas or condition to derermine the Dorseson which ro bet! ‘Then how can chey win? How can they win when better educated people lose? And here isthe answer—don'e regard it lightly-ieis che whole secret: These professionals win because they know che “inside” principle of beating the race, che same principle that mast be used co beat any speculative game or business from which a legal “take”, house percentage, or brokerage fe is extracted. That principles: “COPPER” THE, PUBLICS IDEAS AND PLAY AT ALL TIMES? That i roc abstract theory itis practical pereentage, as willbe learned in later chapters. To “copper” is an old expresion among the speculative fraternity, meaning “to bet agrinse”. It comes from the card game of faro, once the most popular card game in gambling houses. Played with a table layout, with cards deale out of a bo, the bettor can ether bet on a card co win, or he can “cop- pet the bet" and bet against any eaed winning. TThe “insiders” know thar their one chance to stay in the circle of consistent winners isto “copper” the public play. The public, as we lenened, muse be wrong. The percentage of wi fing post favorites at the major tracks varies from about 20 040%, The public must he wrong, on that basis, in from 60% 0 809% of the races, ‘Actually, the publics “wronger” chan those figures because nocall ofthe winning post favorites are the public's picks. Some ‘of the winning favorite: were not the public's avernight line ‘or morning line choices. They avere second, or third, oF fourth choices, played down at the as minute atthe track by the wise6 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING money. Often ths was wise money sentin by wire from clever eperators aay from the course ‘AS neatly 4 can be eximated, the public is wrong 707% of the time a€ major tracis. Thus the thoughtless player of the favorites, the overnighe picks, the consensus choles, the free newspaper selections, morning line choices and “oustanding” popolar horses, can only win 307, ofthe ine, at best. That ‘ans about one ace out of every four! And ic hasbeen etab- lished chac the average payoff price ofthese horses varies From 7-to5, to slightly eter, abont 3-0-2 “The profesional who coppers the puble play may run into a series of accidents, or have freakish seals of losers and ehus ‘not get his ful share of winners, And iis unlikely that he will ‘win 70% of bis plays, But—at leas he has no 30% eelling on his winnings. leis BOSSIBLE for him to win 3 races out of Son averagel ‘Not only chat, bu che profesional has NO LIMIT on bis top prices, excepe whatever away-from-the-track payoff limit may hold him down on the days he ean nat get co the course. “Thus if easy to see that the public play (or anyone who follows it) hasa definite an very low ceiling on boch the per- centage of winners andthe winning prices. Oace in along tine 4 favorite pays $9.00 for §2 ina race with unusual conditions that ae clear neither to the horsemen or the public. But, aa rule, the favorites pay an average of $5.58 for 82. ‘The profesional’ ceiling (or the ceiling of anyone who follows the professional methods of “coppering” the publi play) is simply the roof, oF “how high i up?” Ac che track, {sing some of the methods to be described i later chapeers of thie book, the profesional seldom plays hors Liable to pay ‘mare than 0-t6-1, bu fa horse happens co pay more, he eal- Jeet ial "Avvay fom dhe tack the profesional is up against che SO- to-1 straight bee payoff mein force in some eastern cites. In SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 7 some other cities the straighe bet Timi is 30-to-1. Ia towns ‘where betting is sanctioned, or legal, che straigh play limits are anything from 100-t0-I up to “zctual track odds" for bets of| stasderae size. Bu, even ifthe professional is held down to a $0:co-t limit, or $102.00 for $2 in the mutues, here is how the probabilities and possibilities of the two classes of bettors shape up: The Public Py Caing~ _—_Pofeona Pay Caing = Only 307 Winners ‘Ualmitee $910 Top Papo Price Up wo 410200 Pays ‘That's the difference berween following the public’s play on easy-to-pick favorites and coppering the public’ play. Now syou see why the professionals can win! ‘Buc don’e gee the idea chat chs principle of heating the races ‘ws invented by the author. Far from it! The author is merely fecinging it ro the attention of smart readers who wane to shife from the “amateue” to the “profesional” aspeets of the game. “The basi idea is as old as racing itself. But, like a rich gold ‘sine itas heen guarded from the public with che greatest eal Among the many distinguished and successful people who ‘based cheir entire orf operations on this principle was Pitts ‘bargh Phil, born plain George Smith. (In a later chapter of =his book, # complete outline of Phils own seleetion method is given.) Piasburgh Phil's method and his principle of “copper- Eg” the public wat~and is-so sound that Phils methods are 2 practical for use today as they were in his time. In fact, i should be EASIER co beat the races nowadays with his svechods, a5 will be explained in the next chapter. Tn passing, ic i worth noting that Phil starced asa boy, raking ‘one dolar from his wages as acork-cutcer to make his frst bet. His firse plays were made AWAY-FROM-THE-TRACK, Sncidentally A fine life history of Pitsburgh Phil, published serially not8 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING so long ao inane of on most conservative national wees stcordethe fae that Pesburgh Pi lee some $10,000 tren hed eth and secures, That ,50,000 i equal to more das $3000,00 inoue presen infted caren. Not Cormenion heel ete that Pi owned and that was notin ‘Faded inthis igure Leis beteved,s wel tha hi gave way for han amon dlr during bi etine. 1X few ofthe ler chaps ofthis bor il oun simple principles and methods tata ace Betor bas ono to fol Tile metiods ofthe “nde” profesiona But mox ofthe chapters to follow will expan fn deal the ADVANCED METHODS and idear-most of them never before made ali toteadersthat help the profesnas “copper” the publi and pick overly winners favorable pecs Chepter 2 NOWADAYS IT'S EASIER TO BEAT THE RACES! Lee's not bear any player murtering: “Oh, if Lhad ony lived in Pinaburgh Pils ine! woold have goreen rch at the races!" ‘Lee's not hear anything ike that, beezuse modern day players hare dozens of advantages over Picubusgh Phi-and they ‘paler from only one Ssxdvantage! Tana later chapter, Pitsburg Phil's method of selection is sexplained for moder use. But, fundamentally, his method was to wan for overlays. That i he never made a bet ona hore ‘But was shorter priced than ie should be. He never bet ona Jone that was only its correct price. When he bet, it ws on a Sov thar was going tothe post ata potential payoff price con sSderbly longer than strice handicapping figures ealled for. For instance, if a hore Sgured wo be $-o-in Phil's own ine er nowadays in your line, or the line of an atcurate selector) be did't bet the horse if t was 8-0-5 at post tine. He dida't fee if twas S-o-2 at post. But if ee horse was 5-0-1 just bee ‘foe die off an there were no "black masks" again, hat ‘eas an overlay—and Phil's bet. By “black marks" he meant foreseeable reasons why the terse should not win, easons that might be tipped off By the fax tha che odds were ascending. Such reasons a8 switch 0 4 notorious pullem-up rider, horse parading to he post ia four puffy bandages, a sudden change of trainer or owner, oF 910. SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING obvious lameness going to the post. They would be “black smarks” against the horse. Pils method jst ithe methods ofthe sacesful people ‘oday, was to wait for overlays. He waited for horses that were longer priced than they should have been. But think what he was up against. The being in those ays was inthe hands of track bookmakers, all egal and open. These bookies owned stables and horses. They “owned” some riders and many clockess, not to mention the prcemskers. “Thus, some ofthe smartest brains in racing (ows of Phil and his few friends) were making the prices. I other words, a 5-0-2 horse inthe books ine was lable wo be 2 S-to-2 chance fon the best handicapping, nothing moe, nothing less. The chances ofthese smart bookmakers, pricemakers and clockers being caughoutof line very often, were poor. “The public of tha day and age had nothing to go by except the published opinions of sportswriters who know nothing bbe the overnight or moming line—which, of cours, was made by the bookinaker’ pricemaker. The publi dd not ok the tracks, The few people who came play, stabbed at any thing, without reason. ‘The puble play, Such ase was, sat- tered elf all over the board, ‘hil had to wai patently to get overlay spot wih the per- ‘cestage in his favor. Almost his only chance to grab an over- lay came when a rich owner or trainer backed a “pet” horse very heavily and thos foreed the bookies to cut the price on that horse sharply. Asin our moder matuels, when one hore ‘went dovin in betting that forced up the prices of all he ocher contenders inthe race, Ifthe play on the sich owner of trainer's horse forced up the price on a horse that Phil ated a contender, hat gave him chance to bet. But he had to wait for such spots. And after he bbeeame well known, he had to wait even more patently be- cause the bookies watched his every move. SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 11 | Baur not so nowadays. No smart bookmakers furnish our | eweraigit prices or morning lines, with the knowledge chat "pice financial safety hangs on the accuracy of the odds they. | me On the contrary, a bunch of over-rushed and underpaid "ders, for the most part, make our modern public selections sed public lines of “probable” prices ‘Some of these overnight line are made by clerks and helpers ‘who never go to the tricks. They have six o'clock deadlines, | ae thereabouts, at which time all their work must be in the ‘semposing roam. They get the entries over the wires at two | siclock inthe afternoon. They have to handicap several racks ‘sed guess at probable prices, while rewriting fillers, reading ets wring heads rw running sos coming oer wires from the tracks, and planning the make-up. ‘Even in this rush, these overworked fellows can't give honest ‘opinions in many cases. Their instructions are to grade the [Fosbable choices in order—not necessarily to pick winners. | They are supposed to put the favorites on top, the second ‘Shoices second, and so on down the line, Thus they “handicap” | with one eye on the chances of the horse and one eye on the | postable beting action of the public. |B técy happen to pura third or fourth choice on top and it | Yas chese clerks draw sharp comment irom the boss, who tells “Baez 10 “sick co gures". He means the corny metheds of time ‘pat condition, The accredited turf reporter atthe track has more ability, __ ec frecdonsbut even les ime to do any thinking. He a ‘ives atthe track around noon—provided he isnt late because | af x hangover. Ie must first grab some items of alleged incer- © essing gossip for his dily colomn, Then he must ge the entries | fee tomorrow, And he mast get through working on them be- “fece the fist rae is run, From that time on all afternoon, he is | Bony sending in sunning stores ofthe various races, besides the12 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL, TURF BETTING time he aks geting dns, aking to dlls—and making his Tihs in the fow moments after he ges tothe track, before the wires open for his mining stories 8 a0 elk, he must set his lanch, dig up gos iems—and do all his hand and priemalking of the next day's races.Do you wonder that the overighe lines and selections can do litle but try to guess the public favorite and put ton top? The morning lines and the rack secretaries lines and selec- tons, ac the mos part, are made 100% to follow the public's play rather than co grade che pon ability of the horses ‘They are made to list the betting chess one, two, three. Ia most cits there are NO publicly avalable price lines at grade the horses strietly according to abil. ‘When the public gets othe rack for the afternoon races the situation gets louder and funnier, Just asthe pricerakers and selectors earlier cried to follow the public, now the publi tres to fallow the pricemakers and the selectors! Soit'sthe old cory of he ind leading the bling and nobody actully handicapping HORSES. They 28 all handicapping people: They ae handicapping the earls, ignorant of vee bold bettors. Ths situation iso sharp contrast tothe elas of state people tha Piesburgh Pil had to outwit. ‘Our moviem pubic play iso far away from the acral ability of che horses, that ics sud Piesburgh Pil could make a milion dollars a year beting agains it cay, if he were alive. You understand, of course, that the publi play and nothing else establishes the prices paid inthe tote or the mutuels. The tracks have nothing to do with prices paid, The more money ter on the winner the shorter the pice. That is ere Beesuse the mmatuels are merely pools from which the track takes aper- centage fee for acting asseles and cashier. ‘Whereas Phil had to wait many races, even days, for a proper ovetay spor wo gee §to-1 on alegie$-1o-2 sho, we have t | SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 13 | 8, oF two, or even three overlay opportunities almost every | day 2 each majot course. And at winter tracks, resor-cty. ‘wacks, ot racks running the first two seasons in new racing ‘mecicory, its not a all uncommon for $60 prices to be paid __exorss tha should have paid $8 to $9 on actual figures! “That's the main reason that professionals who ean wat for ‘ererlays have so much thebestof ie today 2s compared with ‘cher era plungers like Piesburgh Phil “True, Pil bet into books that “cook” only SY o1 6% at ‘most a compared to ou modern 127% to 15% mutuels. But the very face that the books worked on such a small marga of profit forced them to be righ in their opinions and prices. With 12% and 15% “cakes” today, our tracks do nor care who wins oF how they do i, jut s0 long as nothing happens ‘to impai che public's canidence and urge to bet. The tracks don't care if a lege 3-t0-1 shot wins by eight and pays 642.50 for §2. They are stil just as much in business as ifthe horse paid $3200 win. A legit 3-to-1 shor paying 20-t0-1 in the old books, however, could pur half of the awn’ ight ou of busi- ‘nes forthe reminder of the summer! Besides, modem players have every safeguard against freak rans of bad-luck losers and accidents. In Phils time, and until therecentinventon of he Pett Gate, most start were horrible dsasers. The writer recalls an affair at Jaaiea not f00 many {yeas ago, in which bue three horses went tothe post ro face ‘the old tape barrier. Both the 4-t0-5 favorite and the 6-0-5 second choice were practically left at the post! The 15-to-1 ‘oursider lft the gae twelve lengths in the lead, which was just ‘whut she needed to win by ahead! ‘These ghasely stars, of course, made a farce of whatever careful timing there was-if any. Oldcimers will reall the many ‘diclous figures hung vp by the official ack elockers. Even ‘he 10 furlong record tine at Belmone Park was su for years robave been anerror, all two seconds oo fast. But nowadays14 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING ‘we have electric timers at some tracks and plenty of expert news-service and racing-daily timers at all tacks, o keep the official watch-snappers on thei toes. ‘And in race after race in che old days, the fans saw nose finishes called according to the whim or the avarice of the judges or track policy. Ar some tracks the longshot was al- ‘ways given the close ones, to protect the track books. At others, the choice was always called the winner, to shill in the crowds. And how many times the fans of other eras (and not «0 long ago, either) sav influential owners given heads and noses the best of the finishes a self-proclaimed “class” tracks ‘The farcical quality of the finish line judging in former decades may be judged from the fact thac dead-heats were called only about thre times a year, ll racks included. ‘Nowadays, the automate finish photos show that there are soores of actual dead-heats each year. Nowadays the judges sudy the accurate Snish photos long and earnestly before eall- ing the nombers. Then the photos are hung up for the approval of the crowds, Nothing could be fairer of more consistent chan that! Endless other gadgets to insure fair and impartial racing have been installed since Phil's time. Besides, there is practically no such thing as deep mud at our major tracks these days. In Phil time, the tracks became so deep after rains that some horses re- fased to extend themselves in any manner. ‘The last wo major tracks having real mud, vanished in the 1920s, One of them, old Latonia, was sold for an oil seorage “farm”, The other, old Bowie, ws resurfaced and brought top to date ro be as fast and safe and well-drained as other ‘medium grade courses. ‘Mast horses are good mudders these days on our drained and carefully graded tracks. True, a horse here and there excels fn the mad, Most horses can negotiate muddy going and ean SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 15 fa the mud of fast rack Foc and figures if accually best, he fgures indicated ‘ec of ur biggest advantages these days isthe fact that we so many more opporranities to look for overlay spor. We fie more race per day, more tracks, longer seasons at all — TePresburgh Phifstime, wince racing wasa evoked, samy ‘ofa joke-when there was any winter racing, The sum- Seaton was shore at major tracks. Few good racks ope Sees Six races per day was the standard card epee nowadays, we have as many as 15 tracks sunning at Fg tine doring the sommes. We have theee major eiuiss BG esses ravings Instead of ok races per day for 90 day seemener and 45 in wines, we have ihe or nine races at cach (Sak cvery day, with major rack racing every weekday of © Soya rife cine suocesfl ables had to journey «0 {ot months o end 0 get action. Tonics, we have anther big advanage: We have the fice “er the tern fine spem of published past performances Seite putters and the pubic al on the fame horse in Des sac, That males the horse an ondelo and forces the lerhes contenders to be overlays to some degree. Fron our accurate past pecformance chare papers record Geral about a horse's performance for eight of more ‘es tack. Bor the public, and most public selectors, judge Samay by the cop pp line he laces race run by exch horse Tae cop pp line combined with an alleged clas” rating in “er ah the Giming prices (rich also ae shown in the past ance ars) esas the fois inthe sting Eerfione thy vis amaeucsh goring) usualy “stands out” Dee hee Seoring to the publics novins and freed “Fete aveciam by the crowd. PSs of th eax moder, pst performance chars and see hrs pint or aeston i is book erg16 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING the courtesy of Triangle Publishing Company, publishers of the Daily Racing Forms of various cities and The Morning ‘Telegraph. Many of the chapters o follow will show how the professionals use details of chese charts for picking percentage ‘overlays and longshot winners. Chapter 3 EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR PROFESSIONAL PLAY “The materi equpmentnecled for a succes caer at sce bring is smal sure and inerpenive to bay. Par FO rately so by compurson withthe rei equipment re Igoe for anyother profesion ox bushes. “There's no red to recent the investment in material that "he roves bocher ody goods merchant needs co ec started | Thal we all know that he yong doctor, Inwyer, enti, of Teer top operator, aces many thousnd of dala’ worth, coup to ge stared, Not to mention the lage amount |e or living expenses unl cence enable! Fe * Racing. however canbe the “poor man's opportniry”. The Feet icor does net have to wait for costars And he dosnt Sr ee forthe exsomers ro pay hi when bl ae de. Rese bs eahbusies ha pay of within 2 hoor For mater equipment, a ereninted from the knot ‘et cenperament needed to bet thease the cco Bape cm ge slong with very isle Ba iti ener and BES iui o overonsotnd soi if he har a eran fr me The fs thing necesary and the oe thing he ea not Ervatoen eae of ren hans “The ine Chieago O'Brien, who died repedly lering a leprforine amased from race being, ted rel chars ‘sien for hs haniapping The ets chars are note v18 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING sete a the pase performance ches although they are co he Found inthe st daly acing papers The rests chars reord in diagranmati ashion th ere runing of each rae. They ze publshed i the daly ing Tapes on the evening ofthe day the races were ran-The se tutschars ve moc fle information sou each ac han the pst perfrmance chars beau they deal eich tact in sere nches of printed pac, whe cach ae in he paper formance chars ho nly one printed Tne Icis imposible wo overemphaine the mporance of having 2 complete feof ress charac all he majo crests you Bay Alsat he major cteuits that conte hones to joer fsvorite eet: For example, you may be paying the essen tracks and ot wing Kenticy one's chars Butte mayen ins and Keneeky ess chars me bea hand wala advance of December I, bcmue these tals cana horses tothe Florida crn which you most defnely wil iy dering winter months Entre racing papers may be saved if you hve space Ratt is hander occ ov the es charts cach days lip them together by eas in order, Sve ther for aft 1¥ Rone tk, char you en shay look bel over the char of lng years meeting athe tack you ace playing today i dese, It the clipped chars Become toa bulky, they cme Te placed wih the boond a indered monthly chart book ps Tse by the Dally Racing Forms For eae and convenience in making selections tc well 10 ave the daily acing paper at hand wh it pt perorance chars and it reer chur. However, the ansehe Te tons that donor get the daily racing pers in tine for pa cach atemoon may do very wl for enero nang eo Sor ofthe vo methods deserted iy Iter chao the bonleander thet of "Be Bet Picking Withow PP, Chane “The avay-fromtherack player ao finds the Amerions SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 19 Mancal, an anneal pulsed by the Racing Form, SSoalcTor we Fornwance ong th hontes of wet Pats fa the big book are Ggrams and plans of exch freetck, with various “coors” shown, the string poi, nah line lng of szeches, width of strip track ecards tod other deals * Pethae the away-fom-he-track player isin doube aboot a sow breaking. long sting hort nionng rine furlongs from a bad post positon. He loka he dagram of Belont Park if the ace eo be un there He sees at once that ne furlong acs at Beloot go around bot one sweeping turn, He sees that helo Breaker haw a least» ball mile aight con togeta favorable potion before hitting a curn. On the ocer fonds if the cea sll ac, the diagram inthe Maal righ show thatthe bore as to go around thre tums in ine ferlongand ths pebably would never get's chance tit is beste "The swey-romethe track player who can gets late serach sheet hasan advantage. At inost major was the top lied tection inthe morning ie othe serach sheer is mor de bitely NOT the one, These le lines lp confirm the player’ tpmnoa of just obich hors wl wind upthe pble chasse hushave ony aboot one ehanceinfonrof wining! “These few inepenve ems of ate re ety Coon Buc whenircomestolmowledge and emperamental equipment neskoleathe rcs sharks ater There oe jos over the fottht seme peopl ae temperamental Fed for paying the erin sprelcnimal wanes Teja tndined for any speculative gue "These people ae changeable hastatng, htand-old ypes wich wie ranges of moods and with eal sired emogons ‘They lack confidence in themslves and inthe methods if any. They ae orerbold one day and ro cautious the next “The peopl swish fram one eat anocher, witout cease.20 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING Nothing canbe doe for sich people uti hey change thee weays. They simply havent the “pus” to win a Oe aes Paradovical ema sem, sey sand for large loses hen losing steaks bt pay elseorce vest hes they shld branching on winning tons The sccesfal race payer mst hare GUTS is ofl Icisecorded chat Presgh Phi aa PIETY STRAIGHT. LOSERS wih hore from i ova sel! He bet on winners foor other stables dig that prio of enue, But js imagine the gut ico to stand for ty might lets fo your own barn when you knw exactly when and wher exch hrs was sen oc try. Piste ovtraning example of tman who had the gts quired to bert the es ‘A cool, even temperament snp for race play. a bettor fees celta fer winning fear fleece sing or after a losing rae be eed His mind it no tne Gon ro make slink. ANY emotion ups smart aad capping! ‘tod hac caller to semthing cae wll be emphasized throogout his bots Dash afta to“clock you lee sons omethods with “yun” on paper before sing with acual exh. Never become eager thet om the ee, Make proyerworkoutof yur pay for some tine before hee Sing. In hu wy you wil kone what to expect of meade sles. The there wil he no spies No super no Sesrsetveenoxos! “The proper temperament for tarf operation may be ac aquired, if the ayer wae nor born with ie peed that eough will power i used. Once» player gets othe bait of weting fr spoof paying only when theres ene reray of bering ft enough and never ton tc or too lle hi powers of pasene and decernmen snd "gut grow with each will power tumph, Is aor exy to cange Sac temperament Bot isha een done! SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 11 Ic shouldbe about that uf knowledge i vas impor tanceothesueesa tace player in face isi“ He ede buc lle capital in noaey-IE be has sore of the ope knowlege of the gue. the payer, o win, mv low ab methods, good or bad ctementary or ndvanced, And one ofthe eset and mostpine les" way oaoqie this knowledge so dy the anda ping ies aod pens inal ot pedals For eran Eiteiie wellknown system authority ofthe orth Amc can Tort Mondiy again. Ie published by Amerpb Company, New Yerk City. ‘A pevodical sachs American Tort Monthly collects the combined knowledge and experience of brian sadents of the game, of tut sentry and of profesional operators at tang. Becs of lg etcuain, ch» publication can be ‘sil for a smal price dept is espnsive and excuse ae wera However, ie mus lays be emenbered the racing isa eseechanging please, Nething sand il The publ play Says onetate behind the form, The ple play ara whole tron never atch upor the gum end chen and ther, The profesiowal athe te megs alway be apt-dats with the ate ee ext mers es“ angle Many profesional have found that che best way to heep eqeroahe mine and ahead ofthe publ play i ead che Terai eur weely paper known asthe Racing Sar Weelly. eis published in New York Cy A sadyof weekly and monthly prodcl, such the two sceniune, i important tothe profesional, No one man ext tine eveything and keep ack of erey late deal by hin skew easy enough with she cxper el. The cme eo Sac sac greener ah “Ako insunnng op need equipments only fio tp eit ear vo an teresting thing abou te “Jockey Range?22. SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING publ ich week in the Racing Star Weely. These rt Can be ued when he old oben of paring two coco tenders ina race comes slong to porte you In nich cee simply play the hose wth he rider who ha the ghee sang inthe eurree Racing Ser’ “Jockey Ratings Chapter 4 KEEP OUT OF THOSE SWITCHES! Some amateur players curry inconsistency ro such a degree that they demand consistency from che horses, while ac the ‘same cime being urterly inconsstenc in their methods of ply. ws nor the races tha beat these players—it’s the switches! Racing is simple. Everything about the game is logial and ‘common sense and elementary. All ehe figuring and the mathe- ‘matics and the mechanics of racing can be understood by 4 child in junior-high school. Bur che game is decked out in an endless number of minor contradictions and open switches and deadfall raps, in order to Ture the average player into doing werything wrong. If the average player-the public play-Kept out ofall chese switches and traps, then the powersthat-be would have to ‘ake the game far mote complicated in order to insure the face that the majority of players (as we learned in a previous chapter) continue ro lose and thus continueto furnish money to keep up the game, “The amateurs who play so carelessly and who fall into all the wrong switches, donot stop to consider the percentages of their rightful losses. When an amateur goes to the trace and loses nine bets (eight races and a daly double) and loses all his capital for dhe day, he has lose many times what the pereentage calls for. He has no right co lase so much, I's almost asif he did it on purpose! B24 SECRETS OF PROFESSION AL TURF BETTING Look athe percentages, For example, suppose the tac’s total egal “ta” 107s If so, nd play on the Nee One Post, Number Eight Posto any mechani signer cm ONLY lo 10% petra overs peiod tine, __ Theplayerwho be eight cacesands daly double at 2 each is no ened to Total his money-on average Fas ow Heisonly ended lose 20¢ per aceite 1%, for azole That 20¢ persace ial he game nel eog es bi. The balance of hs toes are ON PURPOSE: as sore They ae lass cased by his steppng in sl he swicheraed woe By rihs the aye oy nied oe 1 0 oh ing capital. He should come home, on serge, wh $16.20. eee * is th ‘And that inj what he would come home with everyday, on average ithe played some senses mechani echo such as following the Number Six post position in every race, Bac hit plays arent even good ennugh'o be eid eecen He makes every posible wrong move and gem eng inesegy rong switch, Thar cares player (de lke poble play) ls fam 33% eo 1007, of tol being eal eee Period of tine instead ofa ete 10% of the money ened ‘This sation gives a rough ea of why some system prox soters ekim-andrghly-thar forthe scope plea system isbeter than no system a al Aten tke pce matter how bad i keeps him out ofthe switche Ie cone fines his loses to the Seva tack takespe besape Butof couse, we sre not sodyng here oplay soy senses systems or methods. We wn o pay the amare sles aed Plans of the “insiders” and the professionals. And it should be” clear to straight ehinking renders that what the pefeotonge win the diferenceheeween the publics seal owes ff 33% to 100% of bering eaptal and the percentage ofthe crack nike pus breakages SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 25 The profesional, including the horsemen who make good eos being on ace people's starters, can win no more than ‘Bis margin. The track takes its 10% frst (for example) and ‘hen the balance of what the amateurs lose is cut up among the ‘rofesonals, Once aseuden of racing learns to view the whole picture of motuel operations as a picture of percentages, all ‘ese facts of life become clea. ‘As noted, ie’ te switches and not the races that beat the public play. A whole volume of books could not record all the possible scches that the smateus can get themselves into But here ace afew thatthe professionals take good ear to avoid: Firse there ithe switch of peston: ‘The profesional bets seraight co win, only, because there isthe lease unfavorable take-and-breskage percentage against the straight poston. He never bets place or shout hat keeps him out ofthe amateu's postion switches The amateur bets to win, only to have the hore ran third He hes for thirdbue the horse rons second. He bets for see- nd, only tohave i run third. Then when he switees bac co ‘third again the horse wins and pays $28.70 staighe, 37.90 place bac only $3.80 for show. Besides sticking to the win slot, the professional always snakes bes of even amounts. He soe ike dhe amatene who lets greed or fear change the sizeof his pays. The beginnce plunges ‘on a favorce chat loses, then bes lightly on a fai-priced horse that wins. He keeps switching amounts and positions so that be never has a worthwhile bet on a winner at a worthwhile price. He is always one race behind the form of a horse and Several races behind the rhythm ofthe results sequences “The professional betor gauges his capital so that he has a planned series of bes of even amounts If he isa big winner a the end of one mecting and feels thatthe next meeting will be she plans fr a series of sighly larger bets for che ene Scecing. ibe bt ple aba the eh fhe26 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING next met be plans on osng salle sale of even bts forthe shoe sion “The amateur never does anything ight when itcomes tothe handling ofthe bering money He bet heavily oma payday, hich tia Saturday, ree pores day of te wel for he nates corny ed methods of pking the vadeay vores, Then on Monday he bets hv agai, onthe typeof loge Shotsthat he should have bet on Saaray Ba Monday's ees ‘wally ae forful soe lose ‘On Tuesday she player els the pinch nthe bankol de- parmene Hebets lily. On Wednesay hes wed up most OF hs beng money, sole cn only make oe pl Ie ies mab fnathreehors para tha ns when onc Hore & blocked in the sech, after the other two hare won, Then oa Thursday tnd Friday heh o money with which to play, even it Fic longshor overlay sot appt preset el One of che worst (and most eon) svitces ofall sto change methods of sltion witout giving the fs method 4 fair cane o win. That one ofthe switchs tha te pote Sonal avoid by ying paper workout of ther meds before seta plays ha hey know js what co expec, Ama Switch frm one method, one stleto, one hunch one angle ne has, one ack, oF On yp of sce to nate Wiens ron, “The fe wrong switch breeds a fea of wrong switches which atoms pus the ply inc an ens chan of Unforatedecsons: For expe, the amateur starts aye ing Method “A But he changes to Method "B ju blor AP eambles ico afne winning sce, le afl, ee, of geting cage in snoher ste so Ne dares 0 um tack to Method "A He act to "5" fora whe Ba" keeps on wining while "B” keeps on losing. Fall he cane sua ie any Tanger, he goes tuck to Method "A. Ye, be goesbck, join ne tor igh inc the long overdo ser b é ' f SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 27 © eflsers on Method “A” And of course he just misses the long rede sca of winders that finally Comes alongwith Sistod"B. “There are wo basic principls for gening rid of “wich”. ‘Ove of thnx especialy good fr payers who have noc goten ico the profesional swig. When sch players ge ino ling sivas and fel sale, eey can ge aay fro selecting for 8 aye or a were Dering ht "et period they can play the ne horseroneatch in reliable racing periods such 3 the Ring Sar Weekly. Or shey cin gt one oF oo hors Si fom Some ell at serie "The profesieal, however we oe ere way of keeping cat ofthe switches. And theoctaly ic every dnp: They jas dave pla roo many race! They make one ar tw, oF thre sound ply pe dy (sme days no plys) a he aks Sere they operate. Away fron ae-ack player, of our thay sreines find more spocs per day Bees they have eal ea to hoor from Bar tere is nour kidding: The profesional esp oot of switches ty wattng forthe found overay spots. They dot ply the Und ace at both end ofthe daly progeme, They Shar play bad saceperod! When they fel the lent bt of nts chey waaay fom the nae windows and step the bar for 2 lsurely drink char wl eu 3 beer spor comes alan. ‘Now, weal know tha there sno beter sport or entrtan- amen than king fay o: frends t the rack fora day's on ireryody ens and dots ad avg and holler Everybody inthe party makes ery plays for small money in very 108 zi sic the hones feat dow the omesretch, That Sef Botts fun only is NOT profesional ply! “The profesional sways remem thats nt theres tac beat the amntetss-is thesices,Chapter 5 THE PRINCIPLE OF EVER-CHANGING CYCLES ‘The collective “mind” ofthe public imagines that if ic could ‘only once find the “combination” for beating the races, ic ‘would be all set for lfe. The public wants rohit on some simple key, shown by numbers in the pas performances, and use this key to get richer and richer as racing goes on. The public be- lieves that if it could only once find that past performance key, its troubles woald be over. Buc thar is not the way racing is at all. There isno danger of the public ever finding any key co the secret of winning. The crary gambling urge and speculative hysteria chat overcomes ‘most players atthe track makes that face a certainey. But, if the ‘public play ever did get wise tothe facts of life, the principle of ‘ever-changing cycles of results would move the form away from the public immediately. Few players take into consideration the principle of ever- changing cycles of results, although the minor ups and downs of this principle can be seen at every long race messing. The ‘would-be professional player must always understand thatthe form moves away from the public's knowledge. (Just another principle of beating the races thar has never before been ex- plained in print for smart readers!) For example, let's rake one of the older systems Iewasa very fancy system indeed, when it was new. And simple too. It RR SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 29 ‘caled for (co explain it briefly) a play on the horse most re- ‘exxily in che money, with certain other minor qualifications. ‘When tis system was known only toa select few, it made mosey for them. Ie produced flat bet winnings at formful sacks and longshot winners a unformfl courses, le only fault seemed co be that it was not adapted to the few bookmaking ‘racks. Bor, after atime, one of rhe men who had made money playing ix, i suid to have decided m publish it and gell i to the public for afar price Hardly had ehe public commenced scrambling for copies of his syscem before a hundred or mate imicarors and system pirares began rewriing the system and using its principles for soppasedly “new” systems of their own. Ic was only a matter of afew years before there were hundreds of cheap imitations of the system. Te becume common knowledge among even the most ignorane players. In fact, its basic idea of playing the horse chat was in che money last out, became the basic idea of| the public's handicapping from the pase performance chars, ti wl he den tat ps the plc ply 0 sll onthe Favorite in ach race. And now, welll sce how the principle of ever-changing ‘eycles works aucomatically. Nobody tells the results to move sway from the public'sseletion methods. Nobody makes rales rociise a “revolution” in results sequences, Here is what hap= pens: First, as the public gor wise to the winning ways of the ‘ser, the public's ers began to cut the prices on the selec- Originally, it was claimed that the method picked horses averaging 3-0-1, But soon the weight of the public's money ‘knocked the prices ro §-to-2. Then t09-t0-5, as more and more wle lenned the method and learned to read the new past Ferformance charts which were just getting into wide circula- fboe ot the time. Then the prices camie down to an So-S av- ‘erage. Finally, the down-trend in odds made the average price30. SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING of these horses at some major tracks a scant 3-to-2, which is where the average price sill holds at some courses where the ‘method remains the basis of the pub's picks. Suppose the system originally had two winners out of exch seven horses played, on average, That meant ewo winnings of 43 and five losings of $1 each, on dolar plays~all on average, of course. That gave a flat bet winning of $1 on each seven dollars invested. Bue when the prices were driven down to 5-c0-2, the flat ber winning was wiped out. The system just brake even. And finally, at the later odds of 3-t0-2 average price the system lost $2 on each seven bets of $1, even though the percentage of winners (two out of seven) remained the To be accurate, we should say “even IF the percentage of ‘winners remained the same”. Because, in actual racing, the percentage of winners doesnot remain constant a the publi’s play beats down the prices of horses picked by any set scheme Some well-to-do horsemen who sent their horses aue ro do their best for probable betting prices of 3-ta-1 “cooled off” a8 the prices sank below S-to-2 Instead of trying their hardest ‘owin, they sent the horses outta win, if they could win exsil But che boys were told not to punish the animal, told to pull ‘them back out of the money in the stretch if they saw an easy ‘winning was nor posible. ‘The horsemen knew that this pulling back out of the money ‘would make a bad race show asthe lst outing inthe past per- formance chars, thus putting the public off the horse for next time. (In 2 later chapter we will learn of a method for out- smarting these horsemen who use this method for outsmarting the public play.) . Asthe prices sank below 2-t0-1, even the poor horsemen who were hungry for purses as well as bee winnings, began to think ‘owice before trying hard for winnings. That was tre, because the horsemen lmew that if any slip-up occurred in their per~ SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 31 sora testing on tec howe, 5 that ther bets should become Tron to he raceach crowd sch avalanches of following money woud pour in that thelr racers igh be hanmeted fw ooddeon Sox we ace ow the picipl of ever-changing rend works wo ways to force qick and dase changes of rele se (gees hen the polis hapent in get wie ta winngte ‘Fre winning een of results tha gave two cashing plays at Fort each out af etry sren bet wa changed faa ery poor “undely™ play wih » ary pecenage apie the etic Not only did the average pret sink to 302, bat the prceageof wine wet down frm 2ou-of rile bert than aoe winning playin seven bets, ‘The ple ean never etch up othe form the gue cous. hacimean that ont of che 2000000 bata ayes tr een of inane chapes some 1 or lon ll never know the sore ot leat the fats of life about racing. However thes people wil eotut othe happy winigt alte eigle,poentl winners, whose ranks ete © te benwen four and fe milion Proving ths ever-changing ele piscpe beyond ll que Sion tthe semarable way ta he Fle percentage and the twerge prices of winner picked by thi od idee Iely ave ‘ung buco ore favonle gust cca where layer tibet do not know the od este, or where ple hve Become to dgusted withthe tar pie end oboe “wer oe" tha they have carded the method. Alter caper wl faplin ht "Tha i how the broad pate of reuks sequences kept smoving ahead and oo of reach ofthe bulk ofthe public play tt neat mac df the pen to conan, Anat came in cent yar waste caning sees, Up tothe cay 110s the pstprfornancetchars doce incds cane ing ples. Only the horsemen and profesional, who had the32. SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING. condition books or programs, knew anything about claiming prices. Ie was an invariable rule that a horse dropped down in ‘claiming price was a sure ery—often a winner at overlay prices Bus, a8 soon as the past performances began printing the claiming prices of each hors in each past race, so that the pub lic could have all the horsemen's knowledge of dropped down claimers at one careless glance, the prices and winning per- centages fell. The 5-t0-2 “sure things” became even money shots, And after a few yeas of public education via the modern complete charts, the horsemen knew that their dropped-down starters would suffer from excra-heavy public play. Hence they Jost their enthusiasm about winning with dropped-down horses. During the 1930's the horsemen managed to put over changes inthe claiming rules that made ic difficult for rival horsemen to ‘claim their animals. In consequence, they had but litle fear of having their mildly dropped-down horses claimed away. Thus, instead of winning with dropped down starters, they went into ‘anew routine ro fool the public thar supports them. ‘The horsemen began the practice of dropping a horse down, in claiming price just enough to entice public play-perhaps a 20% drop-down. The horse ran a horrible race at the dropped down price, damping the public's money. That bed race served to throw the public completely off the horse for some time. Soon after, the horseman pur the animal back in a race at his ‘ightful claiming price, or pechaps 57 below it. In many cases the horse won at that cme and paid a $30 mutuel, or more, in~ stead of the §4.40 it would have paid if it had won the previous “dropped-down” race. ‘And if the past performances and fine results charts in our” great modern racing dailies should remove all mention of claim- ing prices for a year, at the end of that time the smart bettor ‘who saved all his erack programs and made his own notations of claiming prices alongside each horse in che resules chares oe SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 33 ‘ech aight, could get tich playing dropped-down climers ies ition of imowledge by the Sinemet ya ee fae ee Se er ae fee Sct my = : Pat after the firse 15 days, or longer ata 90-day meeting, the ce Tete sues carom oa oe ae ec eee ire thas hes Rave pike up oe oF (00 tei eterna ee34 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING keep on winning even if they wanted co. Besides, they have staled off from their early efforts atthe meeting. ‘The recent in-the-money horses that have not won at the ‘meeting and thes have no weight penalties, suddenly find them- selves deluged with public play. They simply run bad races a the short prices and wait for longer prices later. After all is 3 Joog meeting During this second period of the form cycle, che winners most often come feom horses which were out of the money during the frst eycle of 15 days. They are real wake-ups, horses that were being raced into condition daring the extly ‘weeks of the meeting. Also, horses that were racing the besting prices into appropriate figures during the rst S-day eycle! After abou rw wees of this confusion, che public play a the track sours on the form horses and begins to Took for eric. playsand hunches and longshors. Thar brings on another switch fof the eyele, co get the results away from the public play again, Daring che last two weeks of the 40 or 45-day meet public is sil looking for longshors, oF sore-thing favorites. Especially with that old-fashioned “getaway Ineceny” angle in mind. So what happens? Simply that nether the odds-on favorites or the longshot wake-ups win, ‘The early form horses, which have been freshened up from thet sealeness and which have lose three pounds or so of cheie penalty weights as ather horses won after theie victories, come back to win again at medium odds. The fantastic longshot winners of the second form cycle repeat in a few instances, a medium odds. The second, third, fourth and fifth choices win when played down by “smarc mney", - ‘These are just a few of the thousinds of examples of the workings of the racing law of ever-changing cycles. Be sure to Keep ie in mind a all times-especially when in a winning sureak. Chapter & INSIDE DOPE ON CONDITIONS OF RACES In oder fr the profesional bewor to anticipate the larceny schemes of the horsemen, he must understand jose howe and ‘wy the horses are entered in races. other word, che betor ‘must understand the formal conditions of all ypes of races. BY ‘nderstanding them, he can anscpate the entries of horses, He canal aya the hosed eda trying or merely qualifying foc something later. efor each mesing the racing seretay hands oc ose coutinng the conditions of each race foreach day of the meet ing, or pare of the messing, to come. The horsemen look through this booklet and pian to enter suitable (or unstable) harses on the various days of the meeting. The horsemen, Hike the professional can sncipate ost abou which hoses wil be entered “The condition book Fists each day ofthe meeting, each race by number, the distance of eich race and the conditions of cligbiliy. The mose common races ae run under Bandicap, sweight-for-ag, furry, allowance, or claiming conditions. Leb leamabon hen le aes mee Fururty races ate tae. Asa rule they ate stakes races for clay two-year old, Most frarigy conditions ell for the produce ofa mating to be entered before faling. Further pay- tneats are made from tine to time to keep the colt or fly 3536 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING eligible. Then a ewo years the young racers run for the Fu= curity pose, ‘A weightfor-age race is one in which all che horses exery the Jockey Club Seale weighe (to be explained in another chapter) for thee age and sex The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, the Triple Crown eaess, are weight-for-age affair, ‘The cols all carry 126 pounds regardless of class or speed; the flies all earry 121, becavse these races are for three-year-olds exclusively. Perhaps half a dozen races per yeas are run for theee and up- ward, at weight-for-age. In such races, the ehees carry the lightest weights as we shall earn ‘After the Triple Crown has been run, public intrest in sweight-for-age races wanes Soin order to male the remaining three-year-old weight-for-age stakes resemble contests rather than walkovers for “name” horses, allowance provisions are added co give weigh off to motts who have not won much, ‘An allowance rae is one in which the horses earry specified ‘weights according to the amounts of money they have won ‘within a specified time. The bad horses in such races gee weight ‘off for not winning money. For example, allowance race €on- ditions might ead: “For horses which have not won $25,000 twee, lst year; 3 pounds off for horses not winning §25,000 hase year; § pounds for not winning $15,000; 8 pounds off to nontwioners of $5,000. Chiming races not considered Maidens allowed 11 pounds: Remember, when trying to figure out the weights of allow- ance races, that money won by the horses in claiming races is nor considered in adding up the money totals for cligibilry. Many allowance races further alow apprentice jockey allow= ances tobe chimed. Some do nar. The regular Scale of Weights allowances for flies or mae are added to the written alow- ances of allowance races, in all exse, however, even though never sated, (As will e explained in alater chapter.) ‘SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 37 Note: Allowance races, except those for two-year-olds at medium grade tracks are very tricky and dificule to handicap, ‘Thar is crue because anybody can rua almost any horse, good ‘or bad in them with no fear of losing the horse by the claiming route. The allowance races—especially those for theee-yeat- olds~are the ones the horsemen wse for ho vering ro gee prices later. Also, they are the " for most of the imporane stakes events. Allowance races are ‘vastly unpopular with che fans, in consequence ‘A stakes race may be weight-for-age, or a handicap. The term isan abbreviation of sweepstakes. Such races are sweep- stakes in cha all the entry fees, eligibility fees and starting fees, goto the ukimate winners. The racing association must add a Separate fund (called the “added money") to provide further win-purse money and co furnish the entire second, tied and fourth money, algo any special awards. Note that itis correct tocall the Derby or the Suburban or the Santa Anita Handicap stakes race” but never a “sake race.” ‘A handicap race may be run under stakes conditions, or it ‘may not. Usually itis. Such a race is ealled a handicap because ies the only type of race in which ehe trainer enters his horse “blind” without knowing how much weighe will be caried by the horse, A rainer can tell from his study of the condition ‘book juse what weight his horse will cary ina claiming, allow- ance, or weight-for-age race, Horses are made eligible for handicap races some days, vweeks, or even months in advance. Then the official handi- capper of the tack looks over the records of the horses. He _xsignseach horse the weight esto earry-ifieuns. He assigns those weights to bring all the horses dawn to the fish line in ‘one simultaneous dead heat, as near ast is possible for him to dose. Many of the owners of che eligible horses back out after seeing the weights. They do not run, But che starters in the sad-cold mane38 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING handicap race pay a further sting fee and ran with the weigh she racks haniepper has asiged them “The exception that sme big aces ae weighted weels or trons in advance, for pict parpnts- In sh ese the Uasllyspcty added penalty weg of thc, eve pours for hors wich win cettan other Sales or lige moans of money, becween the tne the weights for ve han pare announced and the ata umning ofthe race That af ons, ft had down te slicers who maneuver for low ‘eights with bad race fore weighting time and then come tolife suddenly thereafter. ans Mos ofthe races on our daily cards, and mos ofthe races suitable for the profesional play are eliming raven The devi of cuiming is ed o inst etencompestion in ech race Ian er parpoe tha o force the sick ad chy trainer to ron che hones where they being, We have sen insome pus sons hw a cetinunpopalt big sable eee for low weighs and wine many stake ace. Imagine what would happen if such'sgrety owner was alowed to rn 2 $20,000 ore gsi 3600 muse every nee ee ke grab bing 42,500 pre? He wos singly nal the races “The cling device proven that The conditions ofeach chaiming race specify 2 ming pie, Lets say tes F000 (Nore thar ehislaming pie has othing oo with be purse money. Ircan be more oe o the sane anything) ANY home eneed ina elining race Cin our empl 2 2 $4,000 rie) nec, entered toe sold we hat pei deybody wane ie This aman tying tose” pore by ming 4 $5000 hose agaist $4000 Boss te to ls is howe, The ace provides tithe canbe pai only $400 fot she ha Ths es 81,0 thew of i bre in or onthe race Inthe old day, anybody withthe required amount of money could por up the ling pce ache Setetarys ofc blocs SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 39 race and claim any horse in a ace. But when the horsemen decided to give themselves carte Blanche to run hot and cold in claiming zaces (in the 1930's) this was changed. The rules in use at most eracks nowadays provide that only a bona fide ‘owner or trainer who has started a horse at the meeting can pu tha claim, He can claim any horse in any claiming race at any ‘ime during the meeting, simply by posting the money before the race Tn case more than one claim is made for the same horse, the -woutld-be claimants tos pills ont ofa kelly-pool botle, as they do in the past postion draw, co see who gets the horse. The other claimants’ money is refunded. I should be obvious thae under this role ehere will be les claiming daring the early days of a meeting than afterall the horsemen have sent animals to the post and thus made them selves eligible to claim horses, A further rule provides that after a horse is claimed ie muse tun for 30 days at a 25% increase in claiming price. This ie a penalty rule enacted to keep the game in the hands of the rich hualtermen. The rule makes i impossible for the poor horsemen if any-to make claims. Thats so because the nesly claimed horse has scant chance to win for 30 days after claiming, be- cause it most be run above its headin class, And by the time the 30-day penalty is over, che horse has lost ts winning edge. Te doesn't ale a propher to see that this role restricted elaim- ing during che late 1930's and the 1940's and allowed horsemen to-drop their horses a least 20% in claiming price to run stiff races to entice the public, without fear of losing their bet ‘winners. And they really rubbed i into the fans for some 15 years with cold races at dropped down claiming prices, hot run- rings “dropped up", shore priced losings and long priced win- ‘Not hae the net resulesofar asthe public is concerned could be any different. One way or another, the form must moveniin nian 40 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING ahead of the public's knowledge, or the game will stop. Also, the move made by some far-sighted tracks in 1949 ¢o give the fans abit of relief, cam not affect the net losses of che publie play. Tecan only serve-like the modern gadgets atthe tracks to give the public more confidence in the honesty of the game. (And racing is honest—compared to any other spare or busi. ess!) During 1949 some tracks figured that the down trend in track attendance might be halted if the fans fel they had mare ‘chance co win, So the claiming rule was altered. Ie was Uber alized at Florida. Most tracks followed the trend as soon as the horses returned to northern coarss inthe spring of 1949, ‘The change ruled that no longer did every claimed horse have (o nun at 25% over its claimed value for 30 days after claiming. The 25% rule was made to apply only to horses ‘which won the races from which chey were claimed, Thus 2 ‘chimed horse that lost the race from which it was claimed ‘could run ar any valve, anytime thereafter—at lease unlit had ‘won and had been claimed again ‘his liberalization of the claiming rule makes for slightly ‘more lability of a horse being claimed. In other words, the horsemen are noe quite so sure chey can run hot and cold up and down the claiming scale without losing their horses, This is especially crue a the ewo ends of the season when haltermen habieoally are looking for ready horses to clam. A look at the results charts shows that many smart trainers lim race winners week after week. Obviously, they are smart hhandicappers. Their practice is to bet enough on these horses to win enough to pay for the chiming price of the horses, "A {good trick-—TF he does ie!" At certain cracks a player could get avery high percencage ‘of winners bering on horses that were claimed, except forthe face that there is absolutely no way for anyone—even track a SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 41 ficials-to know which horsesareto be chimed uni the ace Stun and che lining box opened. “The lining rl provide thor he csied horses theprop- ey ofthe new owner as soon a ci offcialy a starr i the fae, The fonncr ower feces the pare money woe ny nd ges ica ere, Bot hat al Fle x oe cop the leothishone, Uns heaven of mperfeesbates forthe Pee Gate, the rule wae thar horse ofcaly tare nx races soon fr paces the stand the fist sine inthe pos pase. All he Sry op the ter, ured round agin and catered ard theclubhoose uno the tating gts the property of he tev cume! anything happen ote hore hats ard Tek Fe ar boghea hore orwell ead or alive! Hower, when eof te Re Ga es bg co ace upand rap hoes the poo knock rier oot of the Sie, therul wasaeed ate few cacksto fate el refunding of being monies on rhe hres held a the pest or Ejured athe poss An oficial sates wasonly abore ha lef the gte with eoher . Howere, claimed hate isthe new owner's propery ll ducing the race In recene years, several hors have cropped Sead ding rat, ltr being eaimed andthe tek ba ed on the unlicky new owen to "remove thie property rom thesiptChapter 7 THE HORSEMEN'S HIDDEN WEIGHT SECRET! Amateur racing fans do shir so-called hancapping wih elementary time, onion and cs gure They pose ay tact appleation of weight. This que in Leping wit the ate genera ula doing everyshing wrong om he ur In keeping, beesose she eglecedftrorof wig the mox inpartn of he elenery fas dt determine ros Tn fat, weigh tebe ONLY important one among the ele= mentary fcr of hanlcaping Not only important tecatie the publi play overeat voto, but important becnse ‘weigh isthe atal bash of ALL race conditions. Tn other sword when he acing scrtary ad the oficial tek han Sperm wp emis eras tobe nate ing thse condor te Based us 1007, on weight Noth ae i ts reigh e In psn, iinintereing to observe how completely wo the publi play, the amatesr pay, wn everyhang, Atough th tack fiche nde hore be i eee and plas and conditions on weighe-the pb bay ali Feeble efforts at race sceecan 0 tne, “ls” condition and everything ut weigh! Tes cue that hee and sre some amateur selector may figure “weight of” or “weight on” vaguely once ins whe 2 SECRETS OF PROFESSIONAL TURF BETTING 43 ‘Bar csenso, he igusually wrong, because weigh is not always ‘beinas. The teack officials and the horsemen have a hidden, secret gimmick” with weight that often makes seeming Sete” actally acrashing “weigh on And the obvious, ce teaming burden of “weight on” some horse, may actually be seritble bargain of “weight off. We will dg into this hidden weighe secret of the horsemen sod track ofa right here and learn ALL is principles and Fassfaions, Without this secrer knowledge we could not un-