What to Look for When Picking a Winning Horse?

Have you ever heard of a sure horse bet? We’ve all heard of them, but they don’t really exist, even if your buddy down the bar tries to convince you otherwise. Horse racing is unpredictable and sure winners are a myth, but there are things you can do to improve your chances of picking a winning horse. Next time you plan on betting on one of Europe’s best horse racing events, remember our top tips.

What Is a Form Guide?

A form guide is pivotal to the success of picking winning horses frequently. Of course, you could choose a winner without even looking at the form guide, but to improve your chances of picking winners each week or month, you need the help of these guides.

A form guide is simply a consolidation of all the critical information about each horse in each race. You can usually find them within bookmakers and betting shops to help you with your horse racing betting strategy. The information they provide will tell you about the horse’s past races and performances, along with other information.

It is this data that you need to use to pick a winning horse. But there is, even more, you should look out for.

Inspect and Analyse the Form Guide

1. Stall Position

Some races don’t include stalls or gates, but those that do need some consideration. Shorter sprinting distances favour those horses in outer gates, whereas the opposite is true for long-distance horse races.

2. Days Between Races

The number of days between a race is also vital. Experts suggest that anywhere between 30-60 days is the ideal number of days between races so that the horse is still sharp but not overly tired.

3. Previous Results

Of course, the most apparent data on the form guide is the past results. This can be valuable, but it can also be misleading if you don’t dig deeper…

4. Distances of Previous Races

When looking at the recent finishing positions of a horse, make sure you take account of the distances of those previous races. Some races may have been much longer or shorter than the one you are going to bet on in the near future.

The form guide lets people down when they use finishing positions superficially without doing extra due diligence on these small but key factors.

5. Use Your Eyes

The last tip is something that the form guide will not help you with. Instead of making decisions with paper and numbers alone, you can use your eyes.

Please take note of the horse you’re considering betting on when it is being shown around the tracks and maybe to the gate position. Does the horse look healthy? Is there anything unusual you notice? How is the jockey’s body language? These little extras can be the difference between picking a winner and losing bet!

Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.