2011-12-31 07:07:26 UTC
I got up at six o’clock sharp, anticipating the day to come. It was racing day. My dad has owned several thoroughbred horses ranging from Snowy Reef to Philadelphia Horse of the Year, Dha Pog. From personal experience, I can tell you there is nothing more thrilling than watching your dad’s horse cross the finish line first while everyone in the owner’s box is going wild. Whether I got a detention for missing the bus or had a ton of homework to do, nothing would stop me from having a smile plastered on my face for the next week after the victory. Secretly, there is something else at the track that interests me more. Handicapping, according to Webster, is the ability “to assess the relative winning chances of contestants or the likely winner of a contest.” If my dad’s horse was not racing until Race 8 on the card, then I would have several hours to kill before the race, and if you have ever been to the track there usually is not a person under the age of 50. Thus, I had nobody to talk to other than my own family. That is the first time I ever picked up a Daily Racing Form.
The first time I looked through the Daily Racing Form I was instantaneously immersed in a world of numbers – interval timing, bias patterns, and other horse racing terminology. Once I was ten years old, I knew enough to start interpreting the numbers in the form and created my own system based on past performances. At first it was simplistic, merely consisting of averages of finishing position, time relative to length of race, and track surface. After the first thousand races I came to cherish the concept of trial and error. I began implementing new, more advanced variables into my “horse-racing equation.” In due time, I learned that odds -- or more particularly betting -- was just as crucial as the actual handicapping. Hence, my equation got even more complicated as I added in a predicted odds-line and a relative-value index. It’s almost humorous (not to my parents) that I struggled in math classes when I was doing advanced statistics and probability calculations on my own time – I attribute that to the fact that I thrive when I study subjects in which I am interested.
At last, it was time for real-world application of all the hard work I put into studying the past performances. My dad took me to the track and said he would place the bets down for me as I cannot do so as a minor. I remember the race like it was yesterday. It was a ten horse race and I formulated that #3 “My Italian Ex” and #8 “Radio Row” were the best horses in the race. I looked at the odds and they were good so I told my dad I wanted an exacta box on those two horses – this means that if they finished first and second in either order I would win. Around the final bend they come! Naturally, my horses finished first and second. I looked up at the tote board and saw I just won $82.00. Despite the fact that I only won one more race the rest of the day, I knew that my hard work had “paid” off.