Customer Reviews

Modern Pace Handicapping, Revised

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This easy-to-read, yet thorough guide to the basics of the Sartin Methodology is worth a read for anyone interested in pace handicapping. A must-have reference tool for anyone involved with Sartin

To put it plain and simple... If you play the horses regularly and do not own this book, you deserve to lose. If you play for recreation, it's fine to lose consistently. But if you attack the track 5 days a week like me, it takes a higher level of confidence to go back again and again. And you only go back if you're winning. This book is essential for winning. Without it you leave yourself in the dark about countless things which make the track so complex. We're not playing blackjack here. (In no specific order) Track bias, Pace, Form, Sartin, Decision Model, and many other topics make this book one of the best. Do not read at your own risk. It's your money.

If you are serious about horseracing and want to beat the public, this is the book for you. Tom Brohamer introduction to the reader of Dr. Howard Sartin's methodology on pace handicapping will change the way you look at horse racing forever. After reading this book you may want to find out more about Sartin methodology, and eventually obtain an easy to use computer program to make your handicapping job much easier and more effective. I hit a $2400 trifecta using this method last month.

Class, form, speed, jockey, trainers and conditions: all aspects of handicapping. But Pace Makes the Race right? Isn't that what we always hear? Tom Brohammer's Modern Pace Handicapping unravels the mysteries of pace and identifies and quantifies the 'race within the race."

Since reading this book, my understanding of each race has dramatically increased: so have my winnings. Brohammer methodically lays out the methods of the famous Sartin Methodology and adds a few of his own to augment this system. Since June, 04, when I began to apply the tenents of pace handicapping, my win rate has increased a full 12%. My ROI has more than doubled. In September, I won the NTRA pick 4. I have won three pick threes and a pick 4's in a row on two separate occasions -- on simple combinations, i.e. cheap, little bets. Hardly a weekend goes by where I don't win at least one pick 3.

Yes, pace handicapping often identifies the longer shot left alone by the crowd. It's not uncommon for a 9-1 shot to display the best pace numbers --

Since reading this book, I find myself betting more confidently and freely. Brohammer demonstrates how to lay out a Prediction Model. At the 1/2 mile, I am confident who will be in the lead, who will be 2 lengths back and who will be closing strong.

Some reviewers think the system is complicated and involves a lot of math and calculations. It is not that complicated, but it is tedious. But with a knowledge of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication along with a hand-held calculator, everyone should pick up the system pretty easily.

A word of caution: this is not the Holy Grail. The temptation is to forget all the other handicapping factors and simply go by the pace numbers: this isnt always successful. I find combining the pace numbers with other solid handicapping methods will make you better -- much better.

If I was allowed to keep just one racing book, without thinking twice, Tom Brohammer's Modern Pace Handicapping would be the one. Feel free to e-mail me with more questions.

Since reading Modern Pace Handicapping I have really increased my winnings at the track. I hit a [money] trifecta because of this book. It has an excellent way of explaining pace. The calculations aren't too difficult but it does take lots of time before the races to determine the best horses. This was a great investment but it is for serious handicappers. Great Book.

A highly complex methodology for taking a horses running time and lengths behind and developing powerful pace numbers. With a little effort Brohamer's book can be translated into an Excel based spreadsheet for calculating an entire field's pace rating in under a minute. About the only thing really missing from the book is a detailed discussion of using the methodology in betting.

If you want be a winning horseplayer you need an understanding of pace. This is the BEST explanation of pace I have ever read. The method takes work and does not pick winners but gives you an analysis of the race the average bettor does not have. You can find the true cotenders which gives you the opportuntiy to find overlays. The analysis helps to identify underlays which can result in big payoffs in exotics. I have been seeking and reading as much as I can find on handicapping and rate this #1.

Whether you subscribe to one handicapping theory or many, Tom Brohemer's explanation of modern pace handicapping is the best I've read.

Brohamer clearly and succintly outlines his tenents of pace handicapping and makes it easy to convert running times into meaningful handicapping information. He uses charts from actual races to illustrate his theories. The book is easy to follow and understand for semi-experienced handicapper, but takes a bit of practice to convert 1st and 2nd call fractions into pace numbers. The book covers modern tenents of pace handicapping, including running style,class drops, energy distribution. Even if you chose not to do the arithmetic, Brohamer's explanation of pace will increase your profit.

Modern Pace Handicapping is the most helpful handicapping book I have read so far. It's an advanced text, not easy reading. I took a month off from the track to study this book. When I returned, my play was much improved. While Modern Pace Handicapping is not the path to instant riches, it certainly points the way to more success. My most satisfying success so far was on Breeder's Cup Day, 2002. By using Brohamer's pace numbers, I saw that Volponi was a better horse than the experts were giving him credit for, and I bet him to win the Breeder's Cup Classic. He won at 43-1, and paid $89. Not bad.

I got this book when I was a novice to thoroughbred racing and found it to be a bit over my head so I set it aside. Picked it up a few years later and it made more sense to me.

The thing I like about this book is that it presents you with a number of tools that you can pick and choose from to help you analyze the pace factor in a race. The main focus of the book is the Sartin Method and while the recreational player might find the Sartin fps numbers a little cumbersome to calculate on a regular basis without the use of a computer or database, the sections on creating a track profile and analyzing turn times can be easily incorporated into the weekend warrior's toolbox. The last half of the book teaches you how to create the Quirin style pace and speed figures, which I personally find much easier to work and just as effective as the FPS numbers.

I will agree with the previous reviewer about the editing on this book. Sometimes you think it never went by a proofreader before it got published. And writing tenths of a second and fifths of a second in the same way is maddening. I wish they could just publish fifths in a superscript like it's printed in the DRF...that way it would be very easy to recognize. You can make sense of these little glitches after reading over them a few times, but there's no reason it has to be so confusing.