Churchill Downs trainer angles yield big results

It is important to realize that when you are betting the horses at Churchill Downs, you are not betting against the track; you are in fact betting against the other people who are wagering at the track with you. The track gets their take off the top, and the bettors are the ones who set the odds. The goal of the winning handicapper is to outsmart his or her follow punters, not the track itself.

When you open up the Daily Racing Form and take a look at a race, it can be hard to know where to start, and that is understandable when you are presented with that much information. Picking the right horse is the goal, but to do that, you have to consider the right humans as well.
When I first begin to handicap a particular race, the first thing that I look at is the trainers of every horse and their records this meet, last year, and in the given circumstances of the race. When you analyze the trainers in a race and throw out the horses with very low percentage connections, you are positioning yourself on the right side of the odds.

When I see a trainer that rarely if ever wins a race over the long haul, his charge is probably not going to defy the odds and win on this day. And when I see a trainer who tends to place his stock to win on a consistent basis, I give the horse a long look, even if his line may not jump out and grab you. The secret to picking long shots to win is to trust in successful trainers who are looking to disguise the fact that their entrant is prepped to win.

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