i'd like to learn horse racing - book suggestions?

[flok]

hi everybody, i'm a part-time horse racing trader since some months (but i started learning trading since much longer time).
i didn't read many books about trading, but studied the markets and tried different systems for very long time, so now i manage to have not bad results without even knwing the sport i'm trading on

but i start to get interested in horse racing, not only for trading, but also to understand the sport.
i mean... basically one can think "what do you want to understand? the horse that runs faster wins". i like motogp, and i know that is not only "who opens more gas wins", so i think there's much more to learn also about horse racing:
the different type of races and horses, the lenght, the classes (hcap, nursery, allw, chs, hrd, inhf... what is this stuff?)

what book do you suggest me, that can give a basic understanding of this nice (and remunerative ) sport?

thanks, ciao

[BruceLee1973]

Hello there, I was thinking the same thing a few weeks back and googled some sites that gave several book reviews on old punters and trainers witch I found interesting so give google a whirl see if that helps.sorry can not remember what they were if I do will give you a shout.

[ron]

If i get time i'll post something up, but i am sure i have in the past on here in the meantime

http://www.online-betting-guide.co.uk/school/reading_racing_form.php

http://www.flatstats.co.uk/horse_racing_form.html

http://www.tote-betting.net/horseracing-form.php

[1/4 of a millionaire fund]

, so now i manage to have not bad results without even knwing the sport i'm trading on

Sometimes having little knowledge of the sport is a bonus when it comes to trading as it becomes nothing more than moving numbers, as soon as you have some knowledge of the sport you'll most likely take a view on how things will pan out. Thats' all well and good if your knowledge is better than the hundreds of other form experts out there but if it's worse it'll become a hinderance rather than help.

I used to know a guy who could read the form like the back of his hand and eventually set up his own tipping site but as as a trader lets just say it wasn't his forte. It's always easy to be at odds with the market when you have a view on it and with so many variables in the racing markets they rarely move solely based on form.

[flok]

thank you everybody for suggestions and links!
i'll try to learn as much as possible, since i agree 100% with millionairefund, knowing the sport will also help me with trading since i'll better understand the specific reasons that move the prices of the specific sport, outside of the generic reasons that move prices in every market.

[flok]

i've found a very interesting link, it can be useful for someone else that, like me, wants a basic understanding. so i post it in thid thread:

http://www.britishhorseracing.com/goracing/Guide/Guidetoracing.asp

[Morgans Choice]

Hi F,

there are a couple of books that I found of great interest. Firstly Stewart Simpsons "Always Back Winners" (why didn't I think of that?) unfortunately I think it's out of print now, but ask and e-bay may provide, which is a fascinating, if old '80's book about handicap horses and what gives them an edge. The principles are based on sound logic and should still hold good today. Secondly the reknowned Braddock "series" is brilliant, identifying factors affecting horse performance and selection procedures. I got an old copy off e-bay a couple of years back (copies on Amazon foR about £3).

Cheers, P

[DJB]

A couple of books by Don Scott titled "Winning" and "Winning More" are excellent reads. Both relate to Aust horse racing but would easily translate to UK racing and detail his rating methodologies.