A Primer on Pari-Mutuel Betting
Asastart, don't be intimidated by the jargon. The terminology of race betting and types of wagers turns out to be simple. Make a WIN bet and you cash in if your horse wins the race. You collect on a Place bet if your horse finishes first or second. A cautious and conservative bettor may prefer a SHOW wager, which brings a return if your horse finishes first, second or third. That payoff is usually the smallest of the three popular wagers, but chalk it up to the relationship between risk and reward.
Combination wagers can generate large payoffs. Exacta or Perfecta bets need the correct order of finish for the first two horses. If the six horse beats the two horse and you played a 6-2 Exacta, you're a winner, Trifecta bets add the third-place finisher, and Superfecta bets, the third- and fourth-place finishers. Obviously, they're tougher to hit, but risk and reward work big time in the favor of the player.
Most racetracks also feature Daily Double, Pick Three, Pick Four or Pick Six bets. Here the wagers are spread out over a series of different races, ranging from picking two back-to-back winners (Daily Double) to the Pick Six and even Pick Nine at some tracks.
Getting Started
Respect the knowledge of horseplayers who spend hours deciphering reams of data on class, track conditions and other variables in an attempt to separate contenders from pretenders. The horses that garner the best figures are made favorites when they receive support at the betting windows.
Favorites win about one of every three races but finish in the money nearly two thirds of the time. Get started with small across-the-board (equal amounts to win, place and show) bets on the favorite. Or bet on the favorite to place, allowing for the fact that upsets happen more often than we think.
Take it one step further and use the favorite as the basis for an exacta bet. A "wheel" puts a horse in the exacta on top of all other starters (it can also be put in the second position underneath its rivals). If a long shot comes in with a solid winning favorite, you can get a sweet payoff.
Stick with the Leaders
Anyone who participates in fantasy sports leagues tries to draft the best players. That same approach can be used to advantage at the races. Focus on horses ridden by leading jockeys or saddled by top trainers. There are usually about 50 jockeys plying their trade on a regular basis at any track in the country, but customarily the top 10 riders at any locale win about 75 percent of the races. There are far more trainers running stables on the backstretch than jockeys available to ride, but the top 10 horsemen usually saddle more than 60 percent of the daily winners. Certain jockeys and trainers often work magically together. Many track programs offer daily updates on the most successful combinations, and some provide winning percentages that make that horse almost a must-play whenever it races.
A Name and Numbers Game
Plain luck can pay off, too. Using the numbers in your age or street address in an exacta, trifecta or daily double bet is fun and easy. A 24-year-old fan can box his or her age in every exacta (i.e., 2-4,4-2). The world-record daily double payoff of $27,985.80 was won by a grandmother from Harris-burg, Pennsylvania on July 11, 1975 at Penn National Race Course. She bet the ages of her grandchildren for the only winning 3-12 combination.
