Horse Racing Tips | Tips on Horse Racing

The following are some general horse racing tips followed by many pros which will give you a 'leg up' on many other bettors when betting on the horses. Whether you are new to horse race betting or are just checking out many horse racing tips around the many online sports betting site you should find the following tips helpful.

The first of our horse racing tips is to be wary of the 'smart money,' bets placed at the last minute by supposedly, those in the know. There isn't much smart money at the tracks.
Go with your gut feelings. if there's a horse you fancey, by all means bet on that horse. There's no worse feeling than not doing what you felt you should have done, and it working out - withoutyou. And if it doesn't work out, no big deal.
Pay special attention to fast starters on slow courses. It is more difficult to manouver on an a muddy, slow or heavy course, and these conditions will favour the horse that takes the early lead.
Avoid horses moving up in class. They may have looked good against lesser horses, but the move to better competition may reveal different colours.
Avoid horses that have not raced in the past four weeks. They may be recuperating from illness and the owners are using the race as a tune-up. The winning percentages of long-idled horses are way below average.
Bet only winners. If you see a horse that has been around but never won a race, why figure that today's race will be any different? Instead, choose a horse that has some background of winning.
Bet only horses you feel have a good chance of winning. If you had eliminated all the horses you've bet in the past but have not really believed in, you would be sitting with a much higher winning percentage. If you don't like a horse, don't bet on it.

Betting Tips - Types of Races

There are many different types of horse race, depending on the country where the race is held, but there are essentially two main "codes":

National hunt races are those which require the runners to jump over obstacles such as birch fences and water ditches. These races are generally over a mile in length (some are over three miles) and serve to test the jumping ability of runners, as well as their stamina.

Flat races are those which require no jumping. These are generally shorter in length, and the shortest races are 5 furlong sprints (for reference, eight furlongs equal one mile). Here the speed of runners is usually more important than stamina in horse racing.

A race of either type can be a handicap or a non-handicap. A handicap race involves better horses carrying extra weight so that all runners have, in theory at least, an equal chance of winning. Non-handicap races do not involve horses carrying any additional weight, and because of this they are widely viewed as being easier to predict.

Betting Tips - Types of Horse

Those who are new to racing are often surprised that horses themselves are referred to in different ways - as fillies, or maidens, for example. These terms actually mean something, so to help you get up to speed and offer some more horse racing tips, here's a quick definition of the ones that you are most likely to come across:

Filly - a female horse under four years of age.

Gelding - a horse that has been castrated.

Juvenile - a two year old.

Maiden - a horse that has not yet won a race.

Mare - a female horse aged five or older.

Betting Tips - Lightweights and outsiders

Lightweights in Handicap Races

Lightweights win their share of handicap races and because they do not have the class of other contenders, frequently start at big prices. The ones to look out for using our horse tips are those whose overall form shows evidence of the ability to win, regardless of the class of race in which they normally compete, even if they have not performed well very recently. Two or three ‘1’s in the six-digit form shown in most newspapers are often tell-tale signs of a possible big win off a low weight.

Outsiders

Look out for horses whose previous outing was in a handicap of similar importance or value, even if they ran down the field. Connections of such animals obviously fancy their chances for a big win. Things may have gone wrong in running last time, or the horse may not have 'fired' as was hoped, but it could well pop up at a long price when the betting public least expects it.

Standard Winning Percentages.

Over the years horses going off as favourites have won approximately 33% of the time, while second choices, horses with the next lowest odds after the favourite, will win about 20% of the time, and third choices, the next down in send-off position, will win the race about 15% of the time. Altogether, the top three choices account for just below 70% of all wins. Favourites will place a bit over 50% of the time, while second choices place around 40% and third choices around 30%. Keep in mind that these percentages haven't changed much over the years, but it doesn't mean they will hold true over short periods on a particular track.

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