Deciding to Bet on a Horse Using Body Language

As with many other aspects of horseracing, a lot has been written on the subject of what a "ready to win" horse should look like in the saddling area or during the pre-race warm up. These traditional articles and methods will tell you to bet on a horse that looks or acts a certain way. However, these methods for deciding to bet on a horse are often very much based on chance, and therefore, they still fail quite often.

Using the Traditional Visual Methods to Bet on a Horse

Horseplayers that prescribe to the "visual handicapping" theory believe that the better a horse looks or acts in the saddling area or during its warm up, the more likely that horse is to win the next race. Therefore, some things that these horseplayers may use to decide to bet on a horse include:

• Whether the horse's coat is shiny or dull
• How the horse's ears are moving
• Whether the horse seem overly aggressive or passive
• Whether or not the horse's tail moves freely or seems pinned down
• How the horse carries its head
• How the horse is walking

While these methods for determining which horse to bet on, may seem to have sound theory, horseplayers that use these visual cues to bet on a horse have often had their handicapping by numbers methods fail them. The truth is, that there is simply no reliable method for looking a at horse and determining if it is any more fit than the horse in the next stall to run a race.

Exceptions to the Rule

There are two main exceptions to this rule that using body language and visual cues from before a race cannot help you to select the best horse on which to bet. However, even these cues are best used in combination with other techniques and methods in order to help you bet on a horse.

• Determining Horses in Heat: One main thing that can often be determined from seeing the horses in the saddling area prior to a race is whether or not a horse is in heat. Fillies and mares that are in heat will typically be wearing a vaginal strip. Many female horses will behave differently when they are in heat. They may or may not race in the same manner and this can have a significant impact on the race outcomes. At The Whitely Group, we keep a database of many female horses and their in heat cycles as well as if this is expected to impact each of the horse's performance. This is one of the aspects used when we are handicapping horse racing.
• Recognizing Insider Tips: Another tip to watch out for when deciding which horse to bet on is actually opposite of what visual handicappers traditionally look for. This is that horses may be less shinny or brushed up than normal if the trainer believes they have a good chance of running a great race. In fact, Mr. Whitley has been told by several trainers that on the day they intend to cash a ticket themselves on one of their horses, they intentionally do not "shine the horse up". This will keep the horse from standing out and can keep the final odds higher on the horse.

How We Decide When to Bet on a Horse

At The Whitely Group, we have developed a unique method for handicapping horse racing, which has proven successful for us and our clients over the years. We analyze a number of elements and factors, which all contribute to an improved performance, in order to determine when to bet on a horse. With this unique handicapping process, we do not use any traditional handicapping methods, which can be based on guesses and chance more often than not, but instead we analyze facts and information. Therefore, our daily selections that we offer for sale through our horse racing picks packages are the horses that we have determined are likely to win based on our special techniques and methods.