How Do You Handicap A Harness Race Articles | Horse Betting

By: Richard Bleuze

How do you handicap a harness race?

Although, it may seem difficult at first, handicapping a harness race need not be a long and involved process.  The first step is to purchase a newspaper where it shows the horses running at a certain track for that day and look at each horse's past performance record.  I suggest to spend time only on a few tracks.  All the information you will need is right there in the newspaper: where they raced, their times, who drove them and how they finished.

THE DRIVER FACTOR
Drivers, much as other athletes, possess varying amounts of ability.  The top harness racing drivers are easy to spot.  Besides being listed among the leaders in the standings they are usually in the top three of a race.  The driver knows how to best plan out a race, and knows how and when to get their horse to give his all. Racetracks keep track of how a driver is doing for you.  Right next to his name, you will find his statistics at this track.

THE CONSISTENCY FACTOR
Consistency is perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of the harness horse.  Good horses are able to perform well week after week.  In the newspaper that you use, you will find each horse's past performances, the track where he won his the fastest mile of the year (and its size-5/8 of a mile, 1/2-mile etc.), the time of the fastest winning mile of the year, number of starts, wins, seconds, thirds, and money won for this year and last.

THE CLASS FACTOR
Class as the term is applied to horses, comes from one thing and one thing only: horses who can go faster and earn more money are said to be "classy" .  As a general rule, the better horses race for more money.  That is why some races have higher purses.  Thus, the purse will be our key to class and one that you should look for in the paper.

If the purse is less than what a horse raced for last time, he is "dropping" in class; conversely, if the purse is greater than what the horse raced for last time, he is "moving up" in class.  As a general rule, horses dropping in class have an advantage, thus, I suggest you look for horses dropping in class and add them to your list of horses to watch.

THE POST POSITION FACTOR
While it is true that "It is not where you start, but where you finish" applies to harness racing, post position is of great importance.  Thus, horses starting from the inside simply have less distance to travel.  The key to post positions is identifying the horses who will benefit from being inside.  Thus, I suggest that you pay attention to horses in posts one through five, and who had been in higher post positions (six, seven, etc.) in their last start since that horse is going to have an easier time of it in the race.

THE TIME FACTOR
Since almost all harness races are conducted at a distance of one mile, standardbreds can be compared by time.  However, it is important to remember that there are many other factors involved, such as post position, the particular track and its condition, and whether the horse stayed on stride for the entire trip.  In general, though, a horse who recently won a mile race in 1:55 should post a similar time that day.  Thus, find the three horses that posted the fastest final times in their most recent races.

THE FORM FACTOR
Sharpness or current form is a term used to describe how well a horse has been performing.  Watch the past performance records for trends.  You want to find a horse on the rise since that horse may be able to handle competition that was once far out of his reach.  Sharpness can also be spotted on the track.  This would include signs such as how well a horse raced on the outside of the track, the skill to survive a tough battle on the lead, and the making up of much ground in the stretch.

SUMMING UP
See it is not that difficult to handicap a harness race!  After identifying the above factors, it should be obvious that you will want to bet on the horse who passes the majority of the above factors. 

Soon, you will become more familiar with the horses and drivers; come to know more about the importance of the factors at your track; and be able to better figure times and class.  Thus, handicapping a harness race will not be as difficult.

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