The Bottom Line
One of the most popular and powerful angles in racing is "early speed". The lone speedster in the field goes right to the front and "hides", getting easy fractions and having plenty left in the stretch to hold off any closers. DRF's Kentucky handicapper Steve Klein closely examines this very important tool that might be the extra edge a bettor may need. The included statistical charts are what wll make the book pay for itself, as they can be referred to many times over.
Pros
- A more powerful way of applying one of the sport's most popular betting angles
- A very large sample of races was used to quantify the accuracy of the angles
- Klein's technique is easy to follow, requiring a few simple calculations
Cons
- The angle is not as effective on the turf
Description
- Why winning is so difficult regardless of how knowledgeable a racing fan you are
- The chart-busting power of early speed
- Calculating the Klein speed points, and how they differ from other speed point systems
- Impact of the size of the early lead, and using the speed points in the context of pace scenario
- Effect of field size, class level, trainer and jockey on early speed horses
- Early speed by age and gender
- Returns on investment by tracks, distances, and track conditions
- Early speed on the turf
- Calculating Klein track-bias numbers, an objective measurement of the most effective running style
- Types of speed horses to avoid betting on
Guide Review - The Power of Early Speed
For this work, Klein ordered a computer analysis of over 200,000 races run at over 30 different tracks over a nine-year period and covering almost 1.7 million starters. With such a large sample, high accuracy is ensured, and he determined that betting on the early speed horse produced 28% winners and 56% profit overall. The angle had been vastly underestimated. Using this huge sample, the results were sorted in various different ways, listed above. Is the speed more profitable at certain tracks, or at certain class levels, or with certain connections? Comprehensive charts listing the winning percentage and return on investment are included, and Klein explans how these are to be used. For example, if a front-runner lost last time out at a certain track, and is entered back at a different racetrack across the state. If the losing race was at a track less favorable to speed and the horse is now entered at a speed-favoring oval, an overlay is possible with most novice bettors avoiding the horse because of the poor effort in the last past performance line.Obviously Klein is going well beyond the traditional way of playing this angle, which is to simply bet the lone early speed on days when there is a "speed bias". These opportunities are so few and far between that Klein's refined method is needed. Klein includes detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use the charts and calculate both his Speed Points and Track Bias Numbers to determine which horses are likely to win.
