One of the more important factors in racing is odds. This factor can also be an excruciating liar. However, if one pays attention to the odds through the principle of trying to ob­tain an edge from the parimutuel board, he will find himself the wiser. There are two ways to use the odds board. One is to be unduly concerned with the fact that your choice is either an underlay or an overlay and be swayed by this fact. Once you have made your selection and have satisfied your­self as to your choice, the odds should present no obstacle. This is true unless your selection is under even money—at which time there is no profit in a wager.

Odds, however, can tell you much. First, the morning line odds (which are found listed on the program) are made up by a professional odds-maker. When a horse goes off at much more than the morning line odds, I would classify him as an overlay. When a horse goes off less than the morning line odds, I would classify him as an underlay. This is on horses where the morning line prices are less than 6 to 1. Over 6 to 1 it is pretty difficult to judge just how the public will react to a long shot and hence it wouldn't pay to watch this unless a great disparity exists.

Remember that most morning line odds-makers are special­ists and in many cases come uncannily close to determining the public's ideas at post time. The morning line odds-maker is not telling you that he expects the favorite to win. He is simply stating that in his opinion horse X will fit into this race at about 3 to 1, while Y will fit in this race at about 8 to 5, etc.

It is, however, interesting to view the prices of the horses at post time with respect to what their morning line prices were. Nine times out of ten, the morning line favorite will be the track favorite at post time.

Odds, however, can "lie." At small tracks the fact that one or two bettors have wagered heavily on a horse can change or warp the picture. At the larger tracks one or two persons usually can affect the betting very little. In many cases, an "on the track" tip or the selection of a public handicapper will change the odds picture. Muddy or rainy weather will change odds as fans get steamed up over horses who run better on "off" tracks than on "fast" tracks and you will find that while the morning line was set for a fast track that the odds board is much different from the morning line.

Probably the most invaluable contribution that odds can make to the handicapper is that they more than anything else (except, perhaps, earnings) will tip off the quality of horses that a particular horse has been up against. In many cases, odds will tip off how the horse will fit in a particular race. There is a great variation within a lettered class, and odds will bring this to the fore.

That this can be shown is simple. Many horses go off at 50, 60 or 100 to 1, which indicates that they are outclassed, to say the very least. In many cases, a good horse goes up against a champ, and suddenly goes off 20 to 1, although last time out he might have been the favorite and the winner.

It is important to remember that the three pools and the daily double are separate pools within themselves, one hav­ing nothing to do with another. Usually the pools run in a ratio which are similar to each other. But this doesn't have to be the case. I have seen horses that are 6 to 5 in the win pool be 8 to 5 in the place pool, and vice versa. In a special­ized example whereby an entry (two horses coupled in the betting), come in first and second or first and third, a phe­nomenal show price is the result. This is due to the fact that the show pool instead of paying three ticket holders is in reality only paying two. It is possible on a short-priced entry of this nature that the show price could be more than the win or place price.

The odds and pools present a very interesting situation. While show betting is generally foolhardy, place betting can be rewarding and give that little extra cushion of safety. One has to watch the place pool carefully to take advantage of this factor, however.

Generally speaking, straight betting is more advantageous than combined betting. What I mean is that it is far better to bet win or place; than win and place. I consider a show bet suicidal and hence will not take the time to mention it here. A horse has two chances to place and only one to win, but it is to be remembered that the bettor pays for this in terms of remuneration.

To stay ahead profitably on place betting, a player must win more than 50% of the races he bets and this is a difficult thing to accomplish. The major factor which hurts the place bettor is that over the long pull place bets cannot be counted on to produce half of the price of win bets on the same horses. It is the spot play which makes place betting profit­able. For example, in the case of the favorite who is close to even money, by reviewing the place price one can determine that he might pay 3.40 or 3.60, which in comparison to the win price is a good deal.

Lest this be taken as a discouragement of place betting, I must admit that I have long since had a leaning to the place rather than win bet. But if one is to wager this way, he must be more selective than in straight win betting. In straight win betting one can make flat rules not to play long shots, not to play under even money, etc. But in place bet­ting so much depends upon the other horse in the money, that you not only have to pick the horse, you have to be ready to figure the pay-off and the other horse in the money. It is for this reason that I do not recommend place betting to the general public. However, if you can do this and not become inter-confused with your selection and begin playing for price—then place betting can be advantageous.

I would never suggest using place betting as a means of picking a horse "who is sure to be in the money*' or who might not win but should come in second, etc. This is pure foolishness. It is a silly luxury to allow yourself to think, "X will win, but Y should place, so 111 bet Y." The only time that you should bet a horse to place is when you think he will win. Please remember that I am not advocating the place bet as a means to play second choices.

The practice of wagering "across the board" is so foolish as to deserve little space here. But if one realizes the psy­chology of across-the-board betting he will avoid it like the plague. What we are trying to do when we bet a $6 combo or such, is to say, "If he doesn't win, then 111 get my money back." By all the rules that mean anything we should never permit ourselves the luxury of betting a horse that we don't think will win. If you think that he will win, then theplace or show bet is generally a psychological "saver." If we are going to make wagers, let those wagers be for gain, not to protect or minimize losses, or to get your money back. If you want your money back, then don't bet it at all. Are you bet­ting to win or to lose?

Odds, as they pertain to the individual horse, can many times provide an indicator as to today's race. Odds can indi­cate what class of a race the horse ran in last time. They also provide information as to whether the horse in question was the favorite or was a long shot, etc. They can show quite readily whether a horse was out of his class in a specific race or whether he stepped down in class, etc. Consider the ex­ample on page 124.

Assuming that you knew nothing about the horses against which "Butch Harmony" was running, how could you find out what kind of races he was running in and what quality the competition was? In Columbus on 9/2 and 9/2 (double heat) he ran in two 3-year-old (NB) no betting events against fairly good company. This can be determined by the fact that on 9/11 at Detroit, Butch Harmony was the favorite (*.9O) to the dollar, in a Class A race. The fact that he was the favorite and finished fourth could indicate that on 9/17, six days later, he would be at a slightly higher price, but it hardly would have been 24 to 1. Yet on 9/17 at Detroit he was 24 to 1 (23.90). Here is a case where the price indicates that he was considerably stepped up in class.

The fact that Butch Harmony was stepped up in class is confirmed by two facts:

a.) He finished 9th, 11 lengths behind the winner, not in itself conclusive,

 b.) He was running against Meadow Al and Right Time, two of the top three-year-olds of 1959.

If one didn't know that Right Time and Meadow Al were tops in their field, and didn't have access to the odds, he would have assumed that Butch Harmony ran a horrible race. However, by paying attention to the fact that he was a long shot after being the favorite the week before, you can safely assume that he was out of his class.

Odds then can tell us much. Among other things they can indicate:

1. Class with which a horse is running.
   
   
2. Whether there were parimutuels or No Betting.
   
   
3. Whether the horse was favored or a long shot,
   
   
4. Relationship between past races and today's race.
   

If one uses the odds column as an indicator of what was expected to happen in a particular race, then he will find a very useful tool being placed in his bag of handicapping tricks.

Examine the following selected chart for the value found in the odds columns only. You will find a wealth of data to be gained by examining the odds on specific races.

First the odds column of Bye Bye Byrd's past perform­ance will tend to indicate that he has been the favorite against the best horses in the country (Invitation Races, Stake Races, FFA Races) and has either won or placed in these races. Being the favorite in these cases, then, indicates that he is one of the best horses in his class, and if one investi­gates he will find that he was named the "Aged Pacer of the Year 1959." The "aged" part here means over three years old. In this case, the odds have told us of the extent of Bye Bye Byrd's racing ability and where he fits in his class.

In an additional example, one can see how the individual class variations are found within a lettered class grouping In the case of Adios Mont one can see that on 9/15 he won a race rather well in class A. (Past performance shown on next page.) He stepped up to AA and was 12 to 1, yet he ran a good race, finishing 2nd. Hence, he was made the favorite the next time out. If you look back to 8/28, you will notice that he was 5 to 1 and finished a poor fifth, yet in the same class A on the next time out (also in class A and also from the 5 post) he went off the favorite at ٭ 1.95 to 1. This was in spite of the fact that he had been 5 to 1 the week before and had finished 5th. If you can project yourself to that racing day where you only had the race of 8/28 to go on as present form you will immediately see that making him the favorite must have been the result of the race consisting of cheaper company (in class) than that race of 8/28.

The only way that one would know this fact is by the odds. Therefore, in this example, if you review the odds care­fully, you can get a good idea of the class of the horse by seeing how he was made the favorite in class A, after losing badly in class A the week before, all other conditions being similar.

Odds, then, can indicate much to the person who will take the time to review them with reference to past performance. There are some horses which continually go off the favorite without winning. Somehow, these horses, with little reason as to why, become public favorites. In many cases, you would do well to look at these animals and when you find that they have been going off the favorite but not winning, you should take notice.

One such example of this is the horse Irish, who up to 11/7/59 had been in 30 races, and had been the favorite many times. However, Irish had only won two races, although he had seven seconds and six thirds. But the public will continue making him the favorite and Irish will reward the public by continuing to run second and third.

In conclusion, odds can show the handicapper much, and you should make full use of this tool, as it can tip off past races more than other factors.

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