By Bill Peterson

There is probably no greater thrill in horse racing handicapping than picking a long shot winner. Of course any kind of score is good and winning always beat losing, even with a chalk (favorite). But seeing the horses thundering down the stretch and watching your pick get across the finish line first and paying big prices is one of the biggest thrills in gambling.

That is why so many people play longshots and why you hear a lot of high pitched screaming when one wins. That person making all the noise has good reason to celebrate. For big profits you need big prices, especially if you aren’t making large bets. A ten dollar bet on a longshot may pay hundreds of dollars while a ten dollar bet on a favorite will pay much less.

One of the keys to picking longshot winners is to realize that it takes a different process and mindset to do it. Otherwise, finding a longshot winner would be as easy as any other handicapping and they would be bet down so they were no longer long priced horses. That would change everything. They win in spite of the fact that they do not have the same things going for them that other horses have.

Learning to spot the red flags that let you know a horse might win at a big price is how you will find some very profitable situations. Sometimes it is impossible to know that a horse is going to turn in a big performance, but not always.

The biggest win ticket I ever cashed was on a first time starter in a maiden race. It paid $130. The reason I bet on it was that the rest of the field looked so bad on paper and while I was watching the post parade, the first time starter looked so good. I also noted a progression of workouts that, though not particularly fast, showed steady improvement and were evenly spaced.

Another clue that the horse might have a chance to win was that a good jockey was in the saddle. A look at the trainer stats showed he did sometimes win with “firsters,” but wasn’t setting the world on fire with them. That showed the trainer could do it, if he had the right horse.

As I said, it isn’t like finding a favorite or low priced contender to bet on. You must look for clues that show a horse might have a dramatic change in form. It can be a rest, and equipment change, rider switch, even an outstanding workout, or a subtle combination of these things and other factors.

Longshots are the best bets when you know how to rate them with Bill’s Longshot Rater at http://williewins.homestead.com - Bill has been around Horse racing for 50 years and knows how to spot a good bet and loves to teach others. He is a former horse race owner and professional handicapper. He comes from a horse race handicapping family and as he puts it, “Horse Racing is in my blood.” To see all Bill’s horse racing material go to http://williewins.homestead.com/handicappingstore2.html -Bill’s handicapping store.

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