Royal Ascot - Horse Racing Pick

Photograph by
John Cassidy

CHOOSING THE RIGHT HORSE

You may well be surprised to see so many newspaper pundits choosing different horses as potential winners for the same race. Well it’s not that surprising in reality, simply because they have to make their choices up to 24 hours before the off.

There are so many things to look out for on the day. The weather plays its part, so overnight rain may well change the going completely on the day. This means you’ll need to look out for good performing horses which perform on soft ground. Then there are certain horses which like a right hand track rather than a left hand track (hence the phrase “horses for courses”) and some horses actually prefer certain racetracks to others. Then there’s the type of race. A handicap means that each horse is weighted to give every runner as near an equal advantage as any other horse of passing the winning line at the same time! Handicaps are also graded, for example it may be a nursery handicap you are watching, in which case two year olds only will be running with a penalty (extra weight) given to horses that have previously won a race. A listed race is different again. This being a contest for promising horses providing a useful test to see if they are ready to make the transition to a classier Group race.

All these points, and many more besides, have to be assessed in deciding which horse to back. You may be a lucky guesser, of course, but it is far better to leave the selection process to those better informed to make the selection for you. Mind you, on the day both horse and jockey decide and often jockeys can spring winners to surprise even the most seasoned selectors!

Brian Smith - 01344 621825
Escalator Marketing

Photograph by www.johncassidyphoto.co.uk