Form study techniques

Just wondering, as to the methods used, why all get so different results or conclusions.

I believe the most important form indicator is money, that is after all what the sport is about. Stakes Money and market Value. The horse that can win the most money, or pull off the best value coup is the form horse. usually its the horse that we overlook for whatever reason --- trying the distance for the first time, trying the surface for the first time, and that the second most important indicator is speed. Speed is merely an indicator of the point at which a horse is tested - it cannot be used to forecast a race, and often is not fully exposed in most runners on the field - but in well tested horses at top grade level it can be a useful indicator of horses ability, and where the horse is in it's form cycle. Just my two cents.

Good luck with this :lol:

Dont know many who will give a detaled descrition of their methods.....will only serve to make connections of the winning horse more shrewd than they already are

Money is not a form indicator though?

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I agree with Bob ... imo 'money is not form' .... so it begs the question 'what is form'?

(I mostly use a pin :silly: )

There are two problems with the "money" theory of form.

The first is that most of the time money follows on from form.

Secondly, if you follow the money then the you have missed the value.

When money comes in an established market, that is a really good indicator that all is well and they going for it. Never a bad thing to pay attention.

My 2c is that races are dynamic whist form is static, so you have to "bend" form and select which rules you will follow depending on the value. So in plain English, look for improvers to turn the tables, look for horses coming back to form who's ratings have dropped, look for horses that can beat the draw, expect improvement from lightly raced horses, don't write off runners coming from a break, follow the jocks who don't make mistakes, don't back short priced horses from weak trainers or with low strike rate jocks. Essentially you need to beat the form, which means watch more and play less, but bigger.

Yes indeed form was the wrong word. Money is a manifestation of ability. The better horses collect more of the prize money on offer. Money already collected is an indlicator of past ability and can be a comparative measure of abilities between horse. But notca predictor of future ability ...necessarily

Money in terms of the dynamics in a betting market. Closely resemble that of financial markets and to some is an indicator of current form.

May step on some toes here but my pet hate is when I hear somebody say... it's a 5 time winner against a 2 time winner. In my opinion that means absolutely nothing.

I think the best answer here is already given - that each race is a flexible, variable combination of numerous angles. One needs to be alert to all the various angles and decide which angles will carry significant weight in any given race. No single in-flexible angle can consistently produce winners, and the decision making process doesn't stop right up until the final market call before the start of the race.

FACT.... General physics proves that...the outcome of a race is mostly related to the PACE of the Race!!!! Hence many odds on shots gets rolled,So its ALWAYS a question of how the pace will be...irrespective of the ability of a horse(unless of champion caliber) 95% of races are determined by the pace.The other 5% are normally won by champions/very good nags who defy pace!!!

I can buy into that - for those who follow speed, true speed can only be reproduced with a true pace. Worldwide studies show less than 20% of route races are run at a true pace. On the polytrack it's even worse, since hardly any horse can win a polytrack race from start to finish, so most will hold back untill the final quarter.

This takes me back to Lucky At Last on the poly last -- in a true run race the competitors would have been coming back to him like whales, and his stamina would have seen him outlast all of them -- last thing he needed was to be involved in a sprint down the 400m against fresh horses.