Your racing system and how to write it

If you've been around racing for a couple of years and you've kept your eyes and ears open and absorbed a bit of what's going on, you probably have the basis of a good racing system inside your head already.

So how do you get it out of your head and in to practise. Here's how you stop thinking about it and start doing it. The trouble with most people is that they think about it all too much. They plan, re-plan, rehash and all the while really go nowhere with the idea.

Every idea (and I mean EVERY idea) has a finite energy which gradually dissipates with the passage of time so while you keep putting all this stuff on the "back burner", no decent meals ever will leave the stove. Like many people, I have ideas all the time. In fact, sometimes I wish I could stop having new ideas just so I can catch up on the backlog of those already created!

You may have absorbed (perhaps on this site) some information which bubbles around inside your head about racing and what makes some horses more successful than others in all grades of racing, country and metro, around the country side and you may have thought to yourself "terrific - next time I see a horse that matches that criteria, that's what the bucks are on". Terrific. Did you document it? Write it down? Print it out? Look at it every day before you have a bet?

It's that type of discipline that you need to formulate your own ideas - call it " system" if you like - in such a way that you can win consistently from racing. And it is only through the application of a consistent set of successful " rules" and a staking plan that you will ever make money in the long term (or minimise your losses to a break even scenario).

So take all your ideas about racing and write them down on a sheet of paper or type them into a Word document and call it something really original like "Racing System 1". Actually typing a a document called that is a better idea because it is easier to add or subtract ideas and rules as you go.

Take all of your ideas and commit to them. Stop thinking about it and start doing it. Your ideas will be no less valid than mine and the research you do in to the subject will be personally invaluable - "and we hope one day valuable" - sorry - old Monty Python line that bubbles to the surface every time I hear the word invaluable.

Once you've made the commitment to "do it", your subconscious brain WILL take over and start adding in more and more ideas as you go. Thinking about backing winners and making money will not bring you success alone - it requires ACTION. When you have an idea, add it in to the original "file" and see if works in harmony with the ordinal concept. If not throw it out. Or, here's the biggie - throw out the original concept.

The thing to avoid at all costs is dwelling on the what if's and wondering if it's all possible at the end of the day and allowing your seed of an idea to wither on the vine like so many that went before it. As Glen Boss said in his entertaining book "A Jockey's Story", spend too much time looking in the rear view mirror and the world will pass you by.

Invest time every day looking at your written down ideas and see where you can improve on them. I know. You work six days a week and time is a fleeting resource. So get up half an hour earlier when your brain is at its freshest and just quietly sit and contemplate what you are trying to achieve. Horse racing is not rocket science. It's simply a matter of which horse gets to the line first (or in the first three) and reasonable assumptions can be made about these outcomes based on patterns of long term predictability.

Yes - here we go again - long term. That's the magic pill in this business - thinking LONG TERM. Which is why short term time investment is such a vital part to make the long term result possible. It doesn't matter two hoots if you lose today, this week, this month. It's the result this year that's important. Obviously you have to have set aside a bank large enough to handle the long term approach BUT the bank itself is only large in comparison to your average size bet. I know people that have started with an idea (mine or theirs) with $250 and turned it in to good money in 12 months. And it wasn't just blind luck that got them there.

You WILL NOT win AT ANY FORM of gambling adopting short term approaches. It is impossible. If you can't commit to long term - pass. Do something else. Grow orchids.

Here are some pages on this web site with valuable long term data that should part of your considerations in formulating your approach to sustainable selection:

A horse's age

Days since last start

In relation to last start distance

In relation to last start beaten margin

In fact there are many more of them you'll find on this page: Older Articles

You may have noticed patterns that everyone else has passed by without a second glance and these are your most valuable observations as you will be betting "against the tide" and there's nothing wrong with that because the odds will be longer. . The "tide" is wrong more often than it is right. How often have you been watching Sky Channel and heard the talking head say stuff like "well, this has blown out the door as the big punters have opted for ........." and how often has the easer in the market saluted? The tide is wrong more than it is right.

So if you want to develop your own "system" - and I think that's a great idea - do it. Start today. Keep fine tuning your ideas to make long term profit an achievable outcome. But actually DO IT. Start that Word document file and grow it - day by day - week by week. You'll find your mind will focus in on that subconsciuosly even more than what you may actually be doing.

By doing you own system you'll feel a whole lot better and get closer to being one of the 4% who actually make long term profits from racing gambling rather than just sitting on the couch thinking about it. Your deep within dreams and passions will NEVER come true passionately dreaming about them. Stop thinking. Stop thinking about planning. Stop thinking about planning to stop thinking about planning. Take action. Now.

"Money is not the destination. Money is the vehicle to get there." - Anon.