Using Sunspots, Eclipses and Other Natural Phenomena to Handicap Horse Races - A Whimsical Approach
Posted by: willie in horseracingHas there ever been a case of an astrological event having an affect upon horse racing? There was one major event that changed the face of horseracing forever, or so it seems.
There are people who claim they can pick winners and make money betting on horse races using horoscopes, runes, the I-Ching and other esoteric forms of divination. If you’re anything like me, you don’t start your day without reading your horoscope. I usually quickly forget whatever predictions it made, but at least I read it so I should have been prepared for whatever the cosmos had in store for me. Or at least that’s the theory. But in reality, I don’t seem to be able to change anything in my life based on my horoscope, to make life better, including my days at the races.
My own cynical viewpoint based on biased and un-scientific studies, is that the way to make money on horoscopes is by selling them to other people.
With all that preamble out of the way, like I said in the beginning, there was one astronomical and astrological event that seems to have had an affect upon horse racing. The Eclipse Awards that are given every year in American horse racing are named after Eclipse, perhaps the horse who had the greatest impact upon horse racing.
Eclipse was bred by the Duke of Cumberland and foaled in April of 1764. There was a solar eclipse at that time and so the foal was named, Eclipse. I’ll leave it to you to decide if that auspicious event was an omen and had any affect upon the foal. His line is perhaps the most famous and successful of the thoroughbred lines. His sire was Marske a descendant of the Darley Arabian. Going back another generation, he can be traced to Flying Childers and a daughter of Regulus out of the Godolphin Arabian.
Eclipse won 18 races, but 8 were walkovers because he was so good, owners wouldn’t pit their horses against him. He sired three Derby winners, but perhaps his greatest contribution to the sport is that when racing in England was beginning to favor shorter distances and more speed, his foals were ideally suited to those conditions. So, in a way, that solar eclipse marked the beginning of the new era in racing of shorter distances and more speed, a trend that continues to this day. It is said that over 80% of race horses today can be traced back to Eclipse’s line. Therefore, I think it is safe to say that Eclipse dominates horse racing.
It might not be a bad idea to keep track of any foals born during a solar eclipse, just to see if any are as good as Eclipse.
The most consistent horse racing systems have to have the basics and a handicapper must understand the basics. I have been around horse racing for 50 years including as an owner. Without the basics the rest is not going to do any good. If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://williewins.homestead.com/truecb.html and get the truth.
Bill Peterson 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/handicappingstore.html Bill’s handicapping store.
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