The Bottom Line
The racetrack can be an intimidating venue for a neophyte gambler, which is why so many have turned to the mindless game of slot machines. Rookies feel that the game is impossible to win and takes hours of work and years of expertise to handicap. Richard Eng sets out to dispel this belief in an entertaining, easy-to-read manual following the highly successful "For Dummies" formula. The reader can put Eng's lessons to profitable use right away, hopefully gaining the game a much needed new fan.
Pros
- Excellent book to introduce new fans to the sport and especially to betting
- Entertaining and informative writing style captures the reader's interest
- Techniques can be implemented right away for a newcomer to build confidence and bankroll
- Physicality handicapping chapter covers an angle many other books ignore
Cons
- May not appeal to veteran handicappers and those who do not wish to bet
Description
- Keeping his target audience in mind, he does not include lengthy calculations and endless charts.
- Easy to find data such as jockey, trainer, equipment changes, and medications are introduced first.
- He then moves on to more advanced topics: speed figures, form cycles, race class, and pace scenarios
- He then includes exotic bets, key races, class drops, trip handicapping, and "the sheets".
- For comparison, he includes DRF, Brisnet, Ragozin, Thoro-Graph, and Equiform sheets for Smarty Jones
- Lessons learned in Thoroughbred handicapping are invaluable in Quarter Horse and Harness racing.
- In the Quarter Horse game, the break is crucial, while a perfect trip is key in Standardbreds.
- He lists his 10 favorite racetracks, tracks worth taking a vacation to visit.
- Offtrack betting, including OTB's, betting from home, and Las Vegas casino racebooks are touched on.
Guide Review - Review: Betting on Horse Racing for Dummies
In one of the best books for new racing fans we have seen in some time, Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Richard Eng sets out to educate new fans to racing, assuming that the reader has little or no knowledge at all of the game. He steers clear of advanced jargon and mathematics, instead explaining the nuances of handicapping and betting in easy-to-understand terms with brief examples. He starts off introducing the new fan to the racetrack environment, including maps of a typical building and a detailed diagram of a 1 mile oval with distance poles. Of course there would not be horse racing without betting, so he eases the newbie into the handicapping process by starting off with the human and animal side, by showing what to look for in the paddock and post parade. His explanations on reading and analyzing past performances for horse selection are excellent, briefly touching on easy-to-find factors to lead to a winning bet. Having covered basic handicapping theory, Eng shows how to apply the strategy to tournament play and handicapping the toughest race of them all, the Kentucky Derby. He spends two chapters on quarter horse and harness racing, the two other popular breeds raced in America, and closes out the book with a list of ten common mistakes that lead to failure at the windows. A convenient glossary and the tear-out "cheat sheet" (a standard in all Dummies books) are also included.
