My Response

Normally I don't like to justify my actions as I do believe that I try and give my best in what i do. I accept that I have a different way of looking at a race card and it has nothing to do with which horse is the favorite.

However in response to Mr K V Ramana's AKA Venduku and the various alias's message all I can say is If you don't want to get confused the don't visit the Blog.... Its simple.

Since it is a fresh topic I have decided to write my views on certain myths that if it is a favorite it has to win but before I do that I would like everyone to take there time and read an article written by Mr Sharan Kumar who in the past few months has changed his angle on journalism on racing in racing Pulse which has made me admire his goodwill to share some of the pro's and con's on horse racing and how it is conducted in India below is the link to his article.

http://www.racingpulse.in/code/stpage.aspx?pgId=17814 Why most punters back only favorites? ( Wednesday, September 15, 2010 )

His article details many eye openers and facts that many a common punter over look.

Going back to the Myth that I don't Tip Favorites and confuse the followers of favorites will only come into prospective once you understand how I look at a race card and decide on what is worth backing and what is not, I do accept that 7 out of 10 times I am wrong but I only focus on making my money on the right 3.

I have been exposed to horse racing since I was a child, without naming names since I was 12 yrs old I have seen Jockeys, trainers owners in my growing stages many of them are still riding or training and that exposure of listening to all these people has given me a lot of exposure to the ins and outs of racing and I don't call my self a scholar but I do believe I have a lot to offer to an average punter who are not fortunate enough to have my background and knowledge.

There are many factors that affect a race and the horses that run in it, but in Indian racing there are additional factors and the most relevant factor that can decide the outcome is Connections, pattern and credibility if you can understand the above 3 factors half your job is done.... things like track work, fitness, jockey, pedigree are not relevant if above 3 factors are not understood.

many jockey's are interconnected so are trainers and owners, this web is every evolving as time passes by so its very important to be up to date with whats happening in the racing world which is very tough for anyone. the amount of money that changes hands in horse racing is so huge that it fair to say if cricketers are paid to bowl No Bowls can u image what the jockeys can be paid to and cash being a un traceable commodity its practically impossible to prove anything.

Many Years ago in the 90's a particular owner who had 12 horses under him sold all of them overnight and when I asked him why he told me a jockey on one of his horses was paid Rs 1000 not to finish in the top 4...haha. however I wont write more on these topics but will make a commitment to write on different issues in the future and would like your input on what topics you would prefer.

Now back to how I read a card When I see a Race card I first see the card without the jockeys a day before then I study the night odds and go from there.

The first question I ask myself is why is this particular horse at these odds, Normally I start with the favorite and their relevant form then I look at horses that can beat the favorite quoted in the night odds I then study the relevant forms of horses that are running against the favorite and also try and establish relevant jockeys and trainers connections of other horses with the favorite... finally I look for patterns it is one of the most important factor in studying the card which unfortunately many people either don't know or don't understand. When I say pattern is different trainers have different patterns... i.e Training patterns, runs in between races, flow of money,jockey factor, odds and preparation of there horses. If you look at first race of Sunday this is how I came to deciding that 2 horses look the likely candidates.... Since It was distance race over 12 flg I first eliminated horses that were running out of their compass as per breeding i.e ANEMOS bred to go up to a mile or a bit over, TINTORETTO is in a similar radar, WINNING TREAT out of class, STAR INVITATION can stay but first run over 6flg which left with 3 credible horses of which I discounted the winner because I dint think he would beat O Magic... and reason I opted for REINSTATE as my second choice because of last run. Now ORIENTAL MAGIC was my selection due to the trainers Pattern of how he gets his winners... S K Sunderjis horses...Never win in Steele plate, Very Rarely win in there first run, almost away have a positive change of jockey and always brought down in handicap in that particular season... with all those ticks an lack of company she should have won and hence my pick.

The only reason I was not very confident on the horse is because of the Wadhwan Horse in the field S Invitation so I ignored the race.

I don't want favorites to lose or misguide people with some vested interest as assumed by people in the past I don't see the value in backing them if I have the slightest doubt in the race. Some people may find this logic utter rubbish but this info is for the ones who are curious.