The Bottom Line
This is an excellent book for racing fans that wager on regular day-to-day races. Andrew Beyer writes,"Joe Cardello shows how to use speed figures intelligently, creatively, and profitably."
Pros
- Easy to read, understand, and apply
- Excellent for both novices and professionals
- Figures are easily obtained in the DRF
Cons
- This, like any selection system, is not foolproof
Description
- Handicapping based on speed figure analysis has become the most popular system used since the 70's.
- Beyer Associates employs people whose job is to calculate the figure for every horse in every race.
- One such person is Joe Cardello, a 30-year handicapping veteran and a Beyer employee since 1991.
- Using the Beyers of a horse's last few starts, Cardello determines if a horse is cycling up or down.
- Every day is full of horses that are "cyclers", who predictably cycle up and bounce down over time.
- These are key horses to play or play against depending on whether they're due to progress or bounce.
- Cardello uses a narrow sample of races, 3 months in late summer of 2002, in NY, PA, and DE only.
- This shows that his examples work in typical races any bettor may encounter on any given day,
- Numerous examples in quick succession demonstrate where an overlaid horse wins in a contentious race
- Other examples show races where the favorite looks unbeatable but another horse cycled up to upset.
Guide Review - Book Review: "Speed to Spare"
In his new book, Speed to Spare: Beyer Speed Figures Uncovered, Cardello explains to handicappers how to make the best use of this very powerful tool. The reader will quickly understand what patterns to look for in those figures in order to place a winning bet on an overlaid horse that on paper may not look to be the fastest or best in the field but shows potential for improvement that may be enough to result in a win over the more highly touted competition. As DRF chairman Steve Crist said, Cardello "goes far beyond simple comparisons and suggests entirely new ways to look at the figs that are provocative and enlightening." Although bounce theory was first suggested by Len Ragozin ("The Sheets") the theory works just as well with Beyers.
