I have had some questions that go as follows, “should I be betting TOP-RATED horses automatically?”   My answer is it depends first on if you are a handicapper or simply a person who follows others.   IF you are a handicapper, I certainly think TOP RATED horses should automatically be put into your Group A contenders list – that’s for sure.  But TR’s don’t automatically become a win bet unless they pass several other tests.   Test #1 – “is  there decent value in the TR.?”.  TEST #2, “do I believe the TR should run his race for some reasonable handicapping ideas?”

Many times you may hear me select my 2nd, 3rd or even 4th rated horse on the Power Page as my win/place Key horse and then I list others in my exacta boxes, the TR is always then in that secondary group I like to call “exotic turns” and then I can press up the TR for extra tickets if it feels right.  TR certainly do come in 2nd when they don’t win a very high percentage of the time.

Also, remember this, all horses – no matter how good they may be – have some chance to run a bad race – either do to unforeseen circumstances or because a horse can get injured in a race or suffer internal bleeding.  I have always used the notion that every horse has at least a 1 in 5 chance to run a completely bad race. It’s just a guide, but I find it helps…

So as you can see from the Power Page that I have listed a horse on TOP of the ratings, he/she is therefore fast in a relative sense, but if you think the horse has some negatives then it’s not a good bet.

IF you are someone who DOES NOT handicap, then I would say you will do as well with my TR’s as you possibly can, especially if you pass on horses that are ODDS ON Favorites…

Tomorrow we will talk about your handicapping as horse to go forward in form or return to past class ability….