Playing the ODDS on horses…

This is a really bad idea… In the 3rd at Santa Anita, Mucho Unusual went off at 1/5, meaning you got $1 profit for every $5.00 wagered…  The first thing I want to know is, who is stupid enough to be the horse once it goes below 4/5.  What exactly happens, does someone with lots of money say to themselves, ” my g-d, this is unbelievable the profit on the horse is going down to such a little sliver, but I have to have some of that!”  I get you like the horse and it’s 4/5 or even 3/5 and you feel it’s a near certainty and you bet…   I DON”T , but someone does…

A little earlier in the day, at Belmont their was a Chad Brown horse, with big fast numbers returning off a layoff at 1/2.  Not much better than 1/5, but a little.  He looked like a winner every step of the way, except the last few steps, when he looked like an absolute loser…

So if you happen to bet both, you got back $2.40 on an investment of $4.00… and you would have to win 3 or 4 in a row to get back to plus street… I think it’s pretty easy to see, they are not automatic until they have pulled away in the stretch… and even then they could get DQ’d…

There is a simple way to handle these, especially if you are attracted to them in your handicapping… simply go get a cup of coffee and take a break… there are plenty more good races to play…