Jun 18
2014
A frequent question asked by new fans trying to learn more about horse racing is, “Where do I begin?” My immediate response is generally, “Get to know your trainers.” While learning about topics like distance, class, and pace are important … in my opinion, none are as important as learning about the tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses of trainers. With that thought in mind, we are starting a new series of articles called “Know Your Trainers.”
In this series we will dig into the statistics of some head trainers and try to make sense of the numbers we find. We thought it might be fun to present the numbers in a “competitive” manner by pairing trainers. With that said, we are not trying to judge the trainers or claim that one is better than another. Our intention is to pair trainers who have statistics in comparable categories and present some plausible reasons why they might differ.
So let’s start with two of the big names in the business, Todd Pletcher and Bill Mott. Our focus will be on two main areas; Graded Stakes and First Time Starters (FTS). The statistics presented were gathered with Daily Racing Form’s online software Formulator. We limited the data to the past two years, but you can go back five years if you want a larger sample of data.
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Jun 14
2014
In a prior article I explained how specific tendencies of Trainers can be sought out using the Daily Racing Form online software (known as DRF Formulator). When researching trainer statistics, I tend to separate them into “positive” trends (horse to bet on) and “negative” trends (horse to bet against). I thought it would be interesting to go back and check out a few examples of positive trends that I used to my advantage in the past. Read More >>
Jul 19
2013
Saratoga is not only the “summer place to be” for racing fans, it’s also the place to be for racing’s best trainers. According to an article on DRF.COM, 21 of the top 25 trainers in purse money have stalls at Saratoga this summer. In addition to that, throughout the meet there is a steady influx of trainers less familiar, but equally interested in winning a race at the premier racing meet of the summer.
For the horseplayer this presents a good deal of uncertainty when it comes to handicapping races involving so many trainers in so many different situations. For that reason I rely on DRF Trainer Statistics more during this meet than probably any other time of the year. In particular I use the DRF Formulator software to breakdown statistics into much finer categories than the summary statistics at the bottom of each horse’s Past Performances (PPs). And opening day at the 2013 Saratoga meet presented a good example of why this can be so important.
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