Comments

  • Anything Better than APV or EPS for a Class Rating?
    Dave: are you willing to share what makes Jimmy's work out chart different than the standard work out chart where there is a point scale for the various times at the various distances. Thanks!Jim Michalak

    Sure.

    Do you have the workout chart?

    Let me see if I can find a link.
  • Dutching?
    My $0.02 worth.

    MY APPROACH TO DUTCHING
    My goal is to spread the money between my plays in a logical fashion.

    Let's say I am betting $30 (which is my base bet in a session).

    $30
    60% Flat    = $18
    40% Dutch   = $12
    

    Since the tote moves so much, the theory of Dutching to work is just not likely to work as planned.
  • Dutching?


    Nice job!
  • Dutching?
    Does anyone have experience with dutching and have any suggestions? So far, i haven't been very effective with it.RanchWest

    Yes, it is the very core of my wagering approach.
  • Lurking Long Enough...
    Thanks, good interview. Very interesting.RanchWest

    If you like that one, try this one.

    Using Monty Hall to Handicap (Ray Wallin)
  • Lurking Long Enough...


    Welcome, Ray!

    Glad you're able to find time to get away from your job and all the coaching of kids.
  • Belmont 5-29 3rd Race


    Apologize for the scratch?
    No need for that.

    All that trainer analysis is too much work for me, but the tools are their.

    Of course I could simply turn those columns into factors and use the factors in objects.
  • Belmont 5-29 3rd Race
    So, the FTS won!

    BTW, with the scratch, can't have CHAOS in a 6-horse field.
  • Belmont 5-29 3rd Race
    It was chaos, but with a solid horse in place to take advantage.RanchWest

    Who won?
  • Belmont 5-29 3rd Race
    #5 Price Discipline - Trainer Stats
    sbtmlfb2u6aanpx4.png

    I could easily see this horse winning.
  • Belmont 5-29 3rd Race
    I could go on like that forever, but the truth is that all of that is just too much work for me.

    So, I'll just use my objects.

    aML 1st Tier
    (Who SHOULD be the Low-Odds Horses?)
    Just #6 - Two for Charging.
    He figures to be very well-bet.

    Does he Have Early Speed?
    ujrez3jag5pxnwgk.png
    He does not.
    BTW, my system for using this object tells me that the ultimate winner will likely challenge for the lead at the 2nd call.

    Along with my other conditions for determining how to handle this horse, I have decided that:
    6 Two for Charging is BALO - Bet Against Low Odds.

    Because I have a BALO who projects to be VERY LOW ODDS and the field is 7 or more, the race is CHAOTIC.

    I would NORMALLY do no further handicapping and bet 1,2,4,7.
    (The 4 & 7 will be difficult to handicap to the top tier.)

    Were I forced to pick contenders in this race, I'd have 2,3,1.


    But we have a problem...
    The FTS, # 5 Price Discipline.
    He aMLs at odds of 2.81. (And that might be high.)

    How do we compare a FTS with the others fairly?

    FTS Handicap Object.
    ntyeq30aeb57giby.png
    The use is really quite simple and is comprised of a single question.

    "Does any FTS have a Pct within 1 point of the 2nd highest contender?"
    (Contenders are marked in yellow.)

    Since the 2nd-highest contender has a pct of 4, any FTS with 3 or more pct should be considered a contender. Therefore, #5 qualifies.

    So, we wind up with this:
    tmlium6wyi0k8lp6.png

    And gets bet like this:
    q8y1sd9gt1cu6es2.png


    FOR CLARITY...
    My approach to this race would be to bet CHAOS.
    However, because of the FTS, I have no idea how to play because I skip such races.

    My gut feeling would be 2 & 5 as shown above.
    Exactas would be:
    2-5 (box)
    (2-5) / (6) (one way)

    The safe way for me to play this race is to take a stand against the favorite and #3.
    2cqpnu5jpw2fy5ko.png

    Exactas would be:
    (1-2-4-5-7) / 6 (one way)
  • Belmont 5-29 3rd Race
    PERFORMANCE RATINGS
    This is how each starting RANKS in 54 different factors.
    Examples are:
    • ES Points
    • Class of Last Race
    • Avg Competitive Level
    • Works in last 8,14,30,45 days.
    • Speed Ratings in 13 different ways.
    And way more.

    (Doubt that you've ever seen a report like this from any other source.)

    If you are a believer in Workouts...
    xtrx7t0ykkyt0nqa.png
    ... checkout his $nets.
    BTW, the most important Workout Factor is Best Workout in the last 45 days.

    Of course, that is across all races, for all trainers.
    Trainers have their own approach.
  • Belmont 5-29 3rd Race
    To me the likely favorite and probable winner is the 5- Price Discipline.Tony Kofalt

    5- Price Discipline
    Some Data...
    Trainer Stats
    5sd88e923qnk7rmc.png

    zoom in...
    avvzll2aicavpey9.png
    1. His win% is not even the best in the field.
    2. Only 18 wins over the past several years with horses like this one at NYRA.
    3. His RTG ("Rating using 6-3-1) is a just OK but not best.
    4. RATIO this means the RTG of this horse to all his starters.
    1.08 is not something to get excited about.
    (The excitement starts about 1.25.)

    Ironically, a fav with a weaker-than-expected trainer is actually a GOOD SIGN.
    After all, how does such a horse become a favorite? Certainly not because of the trainer.

    His weak spot is, of course, his lack of Early Speed.
    gjmc74nmux9i2esh.png

    But when we look at his Trainer Stats at Early Speed Factors...
    ah286ipsyfcq84b0.png

    ... We find his numbers are ALL good.
    And his $2.86 $Net glows in the dark.

    When we look at his GO SIGNS...
    (i.e. Ratios of 1.50 or higher.)
    gc26lk3crk60ktua.png
    ... we find quite a few things.

    Let's put this in perspective and compare to the rest of the field.
    cj3z8xfq6qu14rq0.png
    The important things here are:
    FACTORS (Purple)
    This means that #6 has 13 factors (out of 147) that have Go Signs of 1.50+.
    By comparison, #1 & #2 are higher.

    FX% (Green)
    This is - by far - the most important trainer stat when it comes to low-odds horses.
    It is nothing but the 1st 2 columns multiplied together:
    Win% x Factors
    19% x 13 = 2.47, rounded down = 2.

    BTW, the win% uses the IVs from the horses for each trainer who have go signs.

    CONTROL FACTORS are...
    ... things the trainer has control over.
    9y87pjut0f9ifyzi.png

    Better to look at the field in context.
    i3tqn2ymwh4nc0ih.png
    Most important here is RATIO.

    Since High ratios = Go Signs, we're looking for trainers who have found a race that FITS THEIR STYLE.

    Nobody in this field is more than average.

    TRAINER CHARACTER
    Not a comment about whether or not you should lend him money. LOL

    Actually these 21 factors are about the kind of horses, races, and situations he is good with.
    For example, this is very important with young horses. Some trainers are amazing with 2-year old fillies but not so good with colts at that age.

    o4dr9igklfayek72.png
    RTG & Ratio are what drive this.

    Look at "Adj ML" in the 5/2 range. "47" is a good number.
    But I'd prefer the 5,000-foot level.

    Here's the race:
    7kf7ktdtknkbr30z.png


    I'll continue in the next reply because there might be a limit on number of pics in a post.
  • Researching negatives
    When it comes to negative factors, it seems to me that Pickmaster was used in HSH to identify negative factors some years ago. I don't recall the outcome but it felt like a worthwhile venture.Tony Kofalt

    It used to work very well for negatives but that stopped about 2016 when the 1st public choice became extremely efficient in the market.

    Now, it works quite differently.
    One must find the BEST factors and understand the "RATIO-of-RATIOS" and "1stROR." Both of those are fully explained in Percentages & Probabilities 2022.

    (It is a highly-visual explanation.)
  • Researching negatives
    Respectfully, single race examples have only slightly better than zero value.

    The answer must be verified with much larger samples.

    Without a few hundred negative picks made either completely rule-based or before hand, it's all anecdotal.

    That's why I react so negatively when someone speaks of building models in notebooks: in order to do research, one must look across dozens of pages in such a notebook.
  • Researching negatives
    I am doing it the old fashioned way in a notebookConley

    OMG!!!!
  • Researching negatives
    Ranch right now I am keeping track of track biases and specifically looking at poor/bad or "negative" biases that I can see

    I am doing almost 99% of the tracks on North America right now and have data starting from the start of this month if anyone wanted a quick sneak peek of what I do (which is probably nobody)
    Conley

    Are you doing this in a spreadsheet?
  • Researching negatives
    I also flag horses with troubled trips. I figure that a horse should also be forgiven for the occasional troubled trip, but when it keeps happening, maybe it isn't a coincidence.RanchWest

    Please tell me about HOW you do that.

    I'm designing a note-taking & searching process in The Studio, and, not being a note taker myself, I'm a little lost.
  • Researching negatives
    I am currently working on tracking jockey troubled trips. I know that a troubled trip can happen to any jockey at any time. But I am thinking that jockeys that have a lot of troubled trips may not be very good wagers. What do you think?RanchWest

    How are you doing that?
    Comments?
  • Tom's Ulitmate Odds Line - The Software
    I'm trying to figure out how to share this photo. I'll see what I can come up with because the "Image" and "Upload Files" ways aren't working at the moment. User error, most likely.Lawrence

    Before I tell you how please I am to see you here - just pretend I didn't say that - let me tell you the easiest way to upload a file. OH! You figured it out!

    I LOVE what you are doing.

    Let me know how I can help.

    BTW, I will predict that what you find from your spreadsheet work will work but not the way you think.

    I'll guess that you will find that the obvious horses are what have been dubbed BOLOs by the locals. Can't recall at the moment whether it was @RanchWest, @Biniak, or @Steven, but it was definitely one of them

    A BOLO is a BET AGAINST LOW ODDS horse.

    Congratulations on some nice work.

    #BOLO