Horse Racing Systems

Horse racing systems are the only way to bet for some punters. They spend hours developing them and follow their creations religiously.

Some of these systems actually do work, but finding out which ones are profitable can be a costly and time consuming process. The best piece of advice when developing a system is to paper test it first for a long period before putting any of your hard earned down.

Systems can be very simple such as Martingale (doubling bet after each loss until a win is achieved) or backing last time out winners running within three days.

Some horse racing systems take into account a number of factors including the analysis of the horses form. Arbitrage, hedging and other financial systems can also be the basis for horse racing systems. Less sophisticated systems use the draw, jockey and even name of the horse to filter their selections.

Adrian Massey’s ratings are used by a lot of system lovers. I would say over half of the systems you find on horse racing message boards make use of the Massey ratings in one way or another.

There are a lot of websites these days trying to sell horse racing systems. Personally, I would never pay for a system. The more popular a system gets, the less profitable it becomes because the selections get over bet. A good example of this was the 5/4 system that was all the rage a few years ago.

The most profitable types of horse racing systems contain selections that the general public are less attracted to. Look for horses that are going to win for a reason other than obvious form. This might sound a bit ridiculous, but there are plenty of races won by horses you would probably have avoided looking at the form of the horse, but may have been attracted to because of a trainer or jockey in form, horse running in certain conditions for the first time etc.

It is also prudent to have a few horse racing systems running at any one time. That way, if one hits a bad patch, you can still keep your bank healthy and confidence up with the help of the others. As long as they are profitable long term, there is no need to worry if a system hits a bad patch. Certain systems perform better at different times of the year.

I’ll leave you with a favourite system of mine, back course and distance winners carrying top weight on the all weather. This system is particularly effective in claiming races and sellers.

Visit the EBA Horse Racing Systems board for systems examples, help and advice.