Bettors also can learn a great deal from a horse’s past performance, which often times is listed in the upper right portion of most daily racing forms. Usually prefaced by the word “Life” or similar wording, career stats will include information on how many races a horse has run, the number of wins as well as second-place and third-place finishes. Horses that consistently finish at or near the top can be strong candidates so long as their recent history suggests they are in good running shape. The career information also should indicate how the horse as done in past races at that track as well as its record in races of similar distances at other tracks, how it has done on wet tracks and the horse’s record on turf. Some horses run better under certain track conditions or at certain race lengths, and knowing which horses do well in relation to current race conditions can help give an edge to bettors.
