How Many Past Performance Lines Should I Use for Horse Racing Handicapping?

Handicapping a horse race, whether it's a thoroughbred, harness or quarter horse event, requires utilizing a maximum amount of useful information on every contestant in each race. Picking winners is a difficult task and having the most up-to-date and complete past-performance lines at your fingertips, and knowing how to use it, is of the utmost importance when making selections and wagers.

  1. Types

    • The Daily Racing Form and the Equibase Company are the two major purveyors of horse racing past-performance information in the U.S. The newspaper edition of The Daily Racing Form is available for purchase one day before the races with a newsstand price of $7 and contains past-performance information for seven to nine racetracks. Past performances are available for individual tracks in a printable PDF format at either company's website two days in advance for an average of $2.50. Equibase's past-performance information is contained in every track program, available for an average cost of $3 on race day.

    Features

    • Complete past performances from Daily Racing Form and Equibase products provide a maximum of 10 past-performance lines per horse. The information includes detail on a horse's performance in its most recent races, the top three finishers of those races and a short comment, such as "finished well" or "no factor." Each horse's lifetime record and earnings, workout times, breeding, medication history, jockey, owner and trainer are prominent information in all past performances. Projected wagering odds, called the morning line, is provided along with information on the types of equipment each horse uses when racing. A speed figure, the higher the better, is assigned to each horse for every race and is posted in a bold number.

    Considerations

    • Several versions of past performance information are available from both companies. Past performance versions with three to five lines per horse cost less, but provide the patron with less information. Complete 10-race past performance products from both companies provide more statistical information including trainer patterns and jockey/trainer combinations that aren't available in short-form past performances or in the track program.

    Time Frame

    • Serious horse players obtain their past performances when they become available and usually download complete PDF past performances two days before the actual racing date. Patrons who purchase an Equibase program when they enter the racetrack do not receive complete past performances and leave themselves little time to digest the information.

    History

    • The Daily Racing Form was founded in 1894 and was the sole purveyor of thoroughbred racing past performances until 1990 when Equibase Company was founded. Equibase was formed in 1990 as a joint venture between the Kentucky-based Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America. Equibase is the sole collector of racing information for the Daily Racing Form, although the companies provide and sell different and separate past performance products. Equibase also provides a full line of harness racing past performance information.

    Expert Insight

    • Purchase a past-performance product with at least 10 lines per horse that contain the maximum amount of information available. It's also a good idea to do this at least one day before the races. Obtaining this type of past performance information will help anyone have a more enjoyable, if not profitable, visit to the races.