The Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide to Betting Thoroug [Turtleback]

By the Staff and Correspondents of the Blood-Horse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

This step-by-step guide takes the intimidation out of betting at teh racetrack.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* For horseplayers who came of age in the late 1960s, there was a splendid introduction to the sport called Ainslie's Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing, by Tom Ainslie. Alas, that estimable book has been hopelessly outdated for decades, made obsolete by an explosion of handicapping information; and the lack of a successor has constituted a significant obstacle for newcomers wanting to get a leg up on the fascinating but devilishly complex art of handicapping horse races. The staff and correspondents of The Blood-Horse, the preeminent weekly magazine devoted to Thoroughbred racing and breeding, have now stepped in to fill the void with this comprehensive primer. Assuming no knowledge whatsoever, they take the would-be handicapper through the basics of how to read the program and the Daily Racing Form, how to understand the tote board and the array of wagers offered, and how to weigh the importance of myriad handicapping factors. With that foundation established, they introduce the reader to the fundamentals of speed, trip, and pedigree handicapping. This is not the last word on handicapping, but it provides a foundation for understanding a plethora of more sophisticated works, several of which are listed in its bibliography, which might otherwise be simply bewildering. It is an essential book for libraries in racing jurisdictions. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Turtleback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581501196
• ISBN-13: 978-1581501193
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,318,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely essential read for novice gamblers, June 8, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide to Betting Thoroug (Turtleback)

Written and compiled by the staff members and correspondents of Blood-Horse Publications, the "Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide to Betting Thoroughbreds" is a superbly organized and presented step-by-step instruction manual that will teach the reader how to effectively wager on 'the sport of kinds'. "Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide to Betting Thoroughbreds" covers how to place a bet and cash a ticket, understand what odds mean, read the tote board, study past performances, and generally gain invaluable insights into the world of race horses as it is relevant to determining and placing bets in terms of their workouts, medication, and equipment. An absolutely essential read for novice gamblers, "Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide to Betting Thoroughbreds" has a great deal of value for even the more experienced gambler on thoroughbred horse racing.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty nice run around the track but slips up at the end, January 10, 2007

By 

Lifesamystery (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide to Betting Thoroug (Turtleback)

I am a casual race goer and pretty much a novice when it comes to knowing how to seriously sit down and handicap a race. The problem I have is that knowing how to read the information is one thing, applying it to understanding exactly who and how to bet is something completely different. In my judgement, that is where some of the beginning books frustrate me, they just don't close the deal by detailing a specific application. The same is true for this book.

Overall, this book is nicely written and assumes zero knowledge of the horse racing game. You might call this the "Cliff Notes" of handicapping. The jargon of horse racing is defined pretty well, perhaps as good as, if not better than, "Handicapping 101" or the "Dummies..." book, two other popular introductory handicapping books. The sections on speed figures, pedigree, how to read the form, and track bias provide enough detail to get the concept across but you are not overwhelmed with the endless exceptions and deviations that may come into play.

The downside is the last chapter when you are given a list of horses to handicap as a way to apply what you've learned. The horses are listed(though not sure of the source since the Beyer speed figures are not included) and then the results of the race are displayed. It is up to you to use your tools and handicap the race. Yet there is no discussion of the process. I for one would have liked the chapter to step you through the highlights (or lowlights) of each horse. Perhaps some thoughts as to why the top two horses might have finished as they did would have been a nice touch as well.

Outside of that, if you are a beginner, this is a nice entry book to start with but I would still suggest you read one of the other two books mentioned earlier as a compliment to this; especially before getting into more advanced handicapping books.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for the beginner: There's more to it than picking a name you "like", November 2, 2011

By 

Le Kameleon - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide to Betting Thoroug (Turtleback)

It's great for the beginner (like myself) to understand there *could* be more to horse race betting than picking you favorite color or name of a horse.

If Doesn't bore you with stories and such. It's a very straight forward book on what you would look for and how to handicap and types of bets you can place. I've only read a few (okay 2 books) but this one i like how it's layed out with biased statements and suggestion to "tips and tricks".

It made me want to dig further into this and helped me realize that if you want to make some money and have some fun by know more about which horse has a better chance (without taking "some guy" word), that you do indeed need to do some homework ahead of time.

***I got myself a daily racing form that was tossed at the end of a racing day and reading the book with that at hand should make things easier to understand going in for next time. I realized the programs they give you at the track is pretty useless as the good details in the book required a "daily racing form" to see past performances***

Got it at the library as i didn't know what the heck i was looking for, but if it's cheap i'd buy it to keep because it's a good reference and the more you get use to handicapping the less time you will spend with your face buried in a newspaper at the track...