Horseracing has been termed, ‘one of the most intellectually challenging activities known to man!’ Whether you approach the sport as an occasional bettor or a professional, the basic factors involved with a horse race stay the same, and while you can improve your chances of picking ‘the right one’ there has never been an easy, scientific or guaranteed way of getting it right, every time.

To start, there are a few general principles you can follow to put yourself in a better position to win, and a number of them have more to do with a good mindset than with hours of studying form.

Make peace with your love for horseracing and gambling habit

A bettor who is under pressure from his own conscience, or the judgement of friends and family, is forever asked to defend himself and his hobby of choice. Accept that you are hooked, request respect for your pastime and settle down to business!

Study race form when you are fresh

The best time to assess a race on paper is after a good night’s sleep. Switch off phones, focus on the form factors at hand, undisturbed. You will make fewer mistakes, and spot elements you’ll miss if you study after a hard day’s work. A fresh, focused punter makes better betting decisions.

Eliminate personal bias

Bias, far and away, is the obstacle between you and your next win. Treat every race on the exposed merits of every runner, weighed up with the race factors. Do not write off a jockey, horse or trainer that let you down at a previous meeting, or earlier on the same betting day. Treat every race anew, and make sure you consider the chances of every runner. The very one you ignore is the one that will bite you!

Take a look at: Developing a Horse Racing Betting Strategy

Get a good form guide and read it with attention

Your ability to successfully assess the chance of a horse in a race will depend on your ability to read the race day program. The good form guides are crammed with information that you can use to make smarter bets. There may be some intimidating figures or numbers, but acquaint yourself with them. Read and consider the factors to the best of your ability. It gets easier with practice. And your wins become more regular.

Watch race replays

This is a vital aspect. When you get into a habit of recording races or using platforms that offer race replays, make sure you watch the day’s races again, and perhaps even for a third time. Try to figure out where you went wrong. Look at the winners and their form, and ask yourself how you missed it. Something will catch your eye in every race – a horse setting a blistering pace; a horse encountering problems in running; a poor ride; a late closer, and so on. These things stick in the avid punter’s mind, and after a while, they become the guidelines by which bets are taken, or not taken!

Follow ‘Strike’ jockeys

All the good-form publications will have a trainer/jockey combination indicator. Pay attention to the so-called ‘jockey strikes’. This occurs when a trainer uses a top jockey on a horse for the first time following his or her use of jockeys with lesser talented riders. This is invariably an indication that the trainer has prepared his horse to the prime for a specific occasion and has engaged the best jockey he could find. Historical trainer/jockey statistics are also helpful. When stats show a 25%-plus strike rate for a certain combination, you’re in good hands.

Don’t be scared of the Place Bet

There are a host of bettors who hold the belief that the ordinary ‘Place’ bet is somehow a bet not becoming a serious punter. But the contrary is true. Place bets (even on hot favourites) give you three, sometimes four chances to win in a race, and the returns can be from 10c in your rand or pound or dollar (10%), to 100% – 500% and even more. You won’t get a 10% return within a few minutes of investment from any bank!

Find out more about the Types of horse racing bets