Horseplayers and racing fans, any reading recommendations for a novice?

[northernsoul]

I'm catching thoroughbred fever, and I want to learn all I can about the sport of kings. Any reading recommendations? I'll take fiction, non-fiction, handicapping guides, whatever.

[two gun sid]

1. what do you enjoy the most? The betting or the horses...

themselves?

[northernsoul]

3. I like the sport for it's own sake

but I do love the wagering and the analysis that goes into handicapping making intelligent bets.

[two gun sid]

5. A few recommendations

'Ainslie's Complete Guide To Thoroughbred Racing' - Tom Ainslie. It's a little dated but it's a great book if you're just starting out.

'The Body Language Of Horses' - Ainslie and Bonnie Ledbetter. Want to know what it means when a horse pins it's ears? Swishes his tail straight up and down? This book will tell you.

Any handicapping books by Andy Beyer, Tom Brohammer, James Quinn or Steve Davidowitz.

'Training Thoroughbred Horses' - Preston Burch. Old as hell but still worth the time to read.

Like OB says Daily Racing Form. http://www.drf.com Their annual 'American Racing Manual' is worth the price.

[Justpat]

2. The Daily Racing Form is the bible of the racing industry.

It gives past performances of horses entered in different tracks that day, but it also has many
regular columnists who write about racing issues, human/horse interest stories and general news
of the industry.

For some online reading, try: http://www.bloodhorse.com
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com

These are the two main racing magazines and are reading material that is essential for all of us in the
racing world.

There are lots of handicapping books, but I am not into the gambling end of it. You can find lots
of great books at both of the above sites it you check them out.

There is a great series of books on Thoroughbred legends written about the life and racing exploits
of the great ones of our sport.

Go to: http://www.exclusivelyequine.com and check out the books about racing's stars, breeding theories,
health issues, etc.

I'll check out some more, but this is a place to start.

[northernsoul]

4. Thanks for the links!

I appreciate the guidance.

[GOPisEvil]

6. If you want the bare bones of wagering, go to the NTRA.

www.ntra.com

There's a section there on reading the past performances. All those numbers and letters actually mean something. Impress your friends. :D

[jakefrep]

7. drf.com is good...

...though I prefer the past performances from brisnet.com (no, it's not about circumcision).

For the Harness side there's an extremely comprehensive website at www.ustrotting.com .

For foreign racing, I recommend www.racingpost.co.uk (free registration required).

I also recommend the new book, "Crazy Good", by Charles Leerhsen, about the life and times of the great standardbred, Dan Patch.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. The wagering aspect is very, very tough

Keep that in mind and don't let go. No problem if you merely want to understand betting odds and application to horse racing, the various options like daily double, exacta, trifecta, etc. The concept of value is incredibly interesting, whether the odds are skewed from actual likelihood.

But I'd be careful not to get the itch and become involved day to day. I've lived in Las Vegas since the mid '80s and frequented sportsbooks, and I can't think of anyone who is consistently successful. The big players are always on the sports side and you only see them in the racebook to kill time, or lean on the counter, or talk to some of the eccentric horse players who never give up. It's exponentially more satisfying and memorable to decipher something on the race side, but all too infrequent. Too many variables and too much house take. That's the difference. The raw math will kill you. In sports I can use a sensible and simple systematic approach with the research done years ahead of time. Then I merely apply it to the games that fit the scenario, a slow but dependable grind. In horse racing there's really no such thing. You're always evaluating unique characteristics, applicable to that race only, and the potential bottom line doesn't justify the time expenditure.

In maybe 1996 to 2001 the sportsbooks and offshore joints were new to offering matchups, one horse to beat another. There was incredible competition to sway business in their direction since sports betting was booming, and they had some vulnerable areas with the exploded offerings. My friends and I did very well in those years, like 9 of 10 on the matchups in Silver Charm's '97 Derby. But that's long gone. The books hired specialists to make the matchups for them and they also became more conservative, for example waiting until after the post position draw to put up the matchups, and fewer matchups in general. I tapered off many years ago. This year I made one classic bet. A decade ago it would have been 20.

I don't think anyone mentioned Len Ragozin. His sheets are wise guy gold in betting circles. One year when they were newly available a guy from New York paid me $50 every day merely to pick them up for him at a Las Vegas cigar shop. :rofl:

It's like Beyers, a numerical approach to handicapping, speed figures. That's the eternal unsettled debate, class vs. numbers. Ragozin wrote at least one book that you might check out.

Also, go to YouTube and check out the old races. That's a treasure. You'll probably learn as much about the sport and the heroes and the strategy as you will by reading the books. Users like partymanners and cf1970 have uploaded literally hundreds of races.

[two gun sid]

10. Awsi's right. Be very careful when you are wagering....

It's easy to win a couple and think you've got it figured out only to go on a very long losing streak. Don't let the wagering become the focus of your horse racing experience. Go to the track and enjoy yourself. Most of the tracks have very good restaurants that are very reasonable. Watch the horses, look at the beautiful people, see if you can figure out how a race is gonna be run, make a $2 bet if you like. There is a lot to this game and it can't be learned in a short time so relax and enjoy the show. I promise you, it'll be worth it.

[TZ]

9. If you just want a nice story (real life about racing)

Read Laura Hildebrand's "Seabiscuit". The movie was good but the book was better.

[northzax]

11. the best racing fiction (mysteries at least)

I know if is Dick Francis, everything is at least tangentally related to the british horse world, some more than others.

[bread_and_roses]

13. I'd stick with the early Francis, if you want horses/racing

and even those don't actually have much about either, though I did enjoy them for what they are. "Seabiscuit" helped me learn how to watch a race, because it so vividly describes and analyses so many races nearly furlong by furlong. Nack's book on Secretariat - ditto what others said.

Several not in that category but I thought interesting to one extent or another are "The Quest for the Triple Crown;" a book by Monarchos breeder (owner? sorry, I can't remember); and one called "Stud," (I think - sorry, I'm pretty useless remembering titles/authors and I've given them all away so can't check) which looks at the breeding industry. I can't speak for the accuracy of these (don't know enough to judge myself), but they were interesting reads about varioius aspects of the industry.

[aaronbees]

12. Bill Nack's book on Secretariat for one

It's a masterpiece. And his book on Ruffian, which is a finely written rememberance if slim in size. I haven't yet read it but Jane Schwartz's book on Ruffian "Burning from the Start" is excellent from what I gather. I just completed reading "Man O' War" by Dorothy Ours - good book and exhaustive. If you can find anything by Jane Smiley on racing and horses, she's a fantastic, perceptive writer as well ("A Year at the Races" is the one I'm thinking of here). Eclipse Press has a great series called Thoroughbred Legends, covering such greats as Dr. Fager and Native Dancer. Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit," of course, is essential.

Happy reading!