Recomend a book on horse betting for my dad

[Buck 65]

My dad's thing is horse races. He has been doing it since I before I was born. He doesnt go that often, but he watches TVG(horse racing network) like all day and subscribes to Turf Craft magizines.
Anyways, I am looking for an advanced book that wont focus too much on beginner material.

Is it possible to be consistant winner in this year in year out like in poker.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
My dad's thing is horse races. He has been doing it since I before I was born. He doesnt go that often, but he watches TVG(horse racing network) like all day and subscribes to Turf Craft magizines.
Anyways, I am looking for an advanced book that wont focus too much on beginner material.

Is it possible to be consistant winner in this year in year out like in poker.

[/ QUOTE ]
I paid for a good bit of my undergrad school at the track. My two favorites are:

Betting Thoroughbreds by Davidowitz
Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing - Ainslie

But those are staples so he may already have them. I never cared much for them, but Beyer's books are well thought of by a lot of people. Beyer's most popular is probably Picking Winners. Also, if you go to EBay and search under "horse racing signed" under the Books category, there are lots of horse racing books signed by the authors that might make nice gifts.

[spadeclub99]

Beyer on Speed in an excellent book. In paperback it is quite cheap.

[helpmeout]

If you have no conrol over the results then it is pretty tough to be a winner.

Teach him how to play poker instead.

[npc]

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If you have no conrol over the results then it is pretty tough to be a winner.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no control over what cards will come in poker, yet I am a consistent winner in that game.

Every form of gambling, advantage or not, has an element of chance. The question is whether a person can generate an advantage sufficient to overcome one's opponents and the vig. I do not know first-hand that this is the case for horse racing, but it wouldn't surprise me to find that it is. I know that this is the case for sports betting. I really don't see any fundamental difference between the two endeavors (although the size of the vig may be critical).

I haven't read a lot of books on horseracing, and can only echo comments made by others, such as books by Beyer. However, if you father has been around the track as long as you imply, there's no way he hasn't heard of these classic books. So, I would expect that either he has read them or has no interest in doing so. Consequently, maybe something more celebratory and less informative might be in order, such as "Horse Racing: The Golden Age of the Track".

Just a suggestion.

[deacsoft]

Try the Sports Betting forum for more responses.

[badboy0]

Almost impossible to win at the track year in year out, there is simply too much information the average person needs to stay on top of in order to win consistently and overcome the significant take.

[helpmeout]

Horse racing is guess work because you have little to no info even if you watch the races.

There are too many unknown factors and the bookies take too large a cut.

Comparing the random element in cards to horse racing is just crazy.

The amount of money taken from bookies and the money needed to setup gambling agencies and horse tracks is huge compared to poker. I know that in Australia the major betting agency the TAB takes a cut of around 17% per race, the bookies on the tracks take considerably more.

The only long-term winners are the guys who know the trainers and who have good inside information the regular punters dont get. A lot of race fixing also goes on.

Sports betting is much better because the people setting up the events dont need to generate money from gambling. It is also much harder to fix a sporting event and the huge media coverage usually means everyone gets the same information.

[Hcullimore]

If you were teaching an advanced seminar on thoroughbred handicapping you might include these books:
1) Money Secrets at the Racetrack by Barry Meadow: the seminal book on money management (see also some of Dick Mitchell's book);
2) Kinky Handicapping and Value Handicapping, both by Mark Cramer: The most literate of the horse racing handicapping books. Interesting books, full of contrarian ideas of attacking parimutual markets;
3) Modern Pace Handicapping by Tom Brohamer: Excellent description of the Sartin method of pace handicapping. Good insight into how to handicap sprint races.
4) Figure Handicapping: A Practical Guide to the Interpretation and Use of Speed and Pace Figures by James Quinn: Very strong section on making and using figures for turf races and for making and using Quirin pace and speed figures (see also his book The Handicapper's Condition Book for class handicapping);
5) Exploring Pedigree Handicapping's Newest Frontier by Mike Helm: Exhaustive look at using pedigree to handicap maiden and turf races.
6) As mentioned in other posts Davidowitz and Beyer's books contain good material as well.
Good luck.

[Buck 65]

most are recomending the same thing sofar ,so I would likely get more of the same general responces there.
Also, BOOKS seemed more appropriate.