Playing To Win

Trip Handicapping

Long before there were Beyer Speed Figures, Ragozin Sheets, Tomlinson Ratings, and other present-day numerical rating systems, the "art" of trip handicapping existed. In the most basic sense, a trip handicapper takes notes of the type of journey each horse has in a race. Examples they look for are: any trouble horses may incur, particularly at the start or in the turns, what path, or how far from the rail, they take, if they are in a stressful spot with regards to the pace, and how they finish up.

In reality, trip handicapping is probably the least scientific and most subjective of all serious handicapping methods. What one person sees as "trouble" could look completely different to another. And in the days before television replays, the trip handicapper had to rely on their own keen eyesight and ability to take good notes during a race, no easy task with a full field or less than ideal weather. However, in today's market of endless replays available on the internet, you can literally watch a race as many times as you wish to make thorough trip notes. The goal of the trip handicapper is to spot horses, that for whatever reason, were compromised in a race, and as such warrant watching next time they run.

Let's take a look at how trip notes are made from start to finish and how everybody has access to thorough trip notes without having to do the detail work.

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• -Life Cycle

305-Trip Handicapping

• Intro
• Charts and PPs
• Homemade Trip Notes
• Trip Handicapping Continued