Author: Bill Peterson

Horse racing handicapping is a tough way to make money but some people do manage to eke out a profit. Sometimes you have to think out of the box, however, if you want to make money. While the majority of people bet to win or play the exotic bets, the place and show pools often go unnoticed by most horse players. Yet there they are race after race and thousands are poured into those pools.

Who is betting place and show and why? It has been proven that there are overlays in those pools that can be profitable, though not so glamorous bets. One thing I look for when deciding if there is room in the place pool for a good bet is a second favorite that is being hammered in the place pools.

It happens almost every day at almost every track, but not in every race. If you watch the place pool amounts, however, you will find that in some races, the second favorite is getting a disproportionate amount of the place money. The situation usually occurs in a race where the favorite appears very strong and there is another horse that seems much better than the rest of the field, but not on a par with the top horse.

When you see that one horse is getting lot of place money, that is a red flag, or perhaps a green one, because it means that there may be a good place bet in the race. While the second favorite may be a good horse and have a good shot of being second or perhaps even upsetting the favorite, if it is bet down in the place pool, it may still be a poor place bet and that means that another contender for the place spot is being under bet, making it a good place bet.

As odd as it may first appear, the favorite may actually become a good place bet if the second favorite is overrated. If the second favorite fails to at least place and the favorite wins, all that money that was wagered on the second favorite in the place pool will be divided between the backers of the favorite and whichever horse manages to come in second. This is a horse racing angle that often is often over looked.

When you handicap the race, look at the top contenders and see how much is bet to place on each one. You will have to wait until post time to be sure that one or more of them is being over looked in the place pools, but you will often find a good place bet if you are patient can really identify contenders who may place.

About the Author:

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 race horse owner and professional handicapper. He comes from a horserace 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.