The Food Payers Of Horse Racing

( Originally Published mid 1950's )

The numerous longshots produced by this book's systems might be called "The Rent Payers."

However, because of the strict rules which necessarily must be observed in specialized selection, there may not be enough plays to satisfy the dyed-in-the-wool race-goer who demands action in almost every race, just to have a horse for which to holler.

For this type of fan, the best we can recommend would be what you might call the "Food Payers." These would be horses which barely fail to qualify under the regular rules, but still seem to have enough on the ball to be worth some kind of a play. They might even be better than the "minimum investment" plays listed earlier.

Due to the extra losers which inevitably will come up if these near-qualifiers are taken on, the profit on them will be less than on the regulars, but the point is that there still should be a fair amount of profit if the race fan will use a reasonable amount of discretion.

The best type of "Food Payer" or near-qualifier to take on is one that was second or better at the stretch call, gained ground in the stretch run and won the race. Those babies are likely to win any time, even though they may appear to have a couple of black marks against them. This is the type described in Rule 2 of the "Minimum Investment Rules."

For other types of extra plays, the race fan is advised to stick to geldings as far as possible and also not to take on any horse that lost ground in the stretch in his last race.

A horse in the lower-class claiming races also should not be advancing in class, nor out of his distance, and of course should have had two recent races.

Above all, remember that consistency is the gem of the racing ocean. In most cases a horse should have averaged at least $400 per race in earnings.

Unless strong points are involved, it is best to avoid females and horses ridden by apprentice jockeys.

Also it is well to pass horses that have not been able to get away from the post fairly quickly in recent races. On the positive side, a horse dropping $1,500 or more in class should be watched carefully if his last race was fairly good and in the past he has been running with better horses.

Also watch for improving horses. For instance, one that has been moved up in class right along and still manages to finish in the money most of the time.