5 TIPS TO
BETTING BETTER
PHOTO BY NANCY VILLERE OF CRUSH PHOTO STUDIOS
Meet the fabulous and fashionable Deb Giglio, a longtime horseracing fan who now holds handicapping seminars at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club to help guests learn the tricks to betting, the ins and outs of the sport, and the history of the track. To hire Deb to host your next group at Del Mar, you can call her company, The Winning Ticket at 760.473.2084. 1. Go to Beginner’s Corner on the Del Mar website. This write-up will give you an inside edge on what to expect and what to prepare for! www.dmtc.com/handicapping 2. How to Wager, also on the Del Mar site, gives you the steps of the betting process: types of bets, cost, where your horse has to finish to collect, and more!
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3. Now we get down to the basis of all bets: which horse will win the race! Everyone has an opinion and are happy to share it before the race. Start with Brad Free’s Daily Analysis available at the above link on Del Mar’s website. Brad is the Chief California Handicapper for the bible of horseracing, “the Daily Racing Form”, and his paragraph about each race is my first step in looking for a best bet or a longshot with a live chance.
I THINK THERE’S AN INTUITION THAT SPECIFICALLY WOMEN HAVE ABOUT HORSES. IF A WOMAN PICKS A HORSE BECAUSE SHE GETS A GOOD FEELING ABOUT IT OR LIKES THE WAY IT LOOKS, SHE HAS A BETTER CHANCE OF BEING RIGHT THAN MOST!”
4. Jockey and Trainer Statistics: You can find a list of the top ten jockeys and trainers at Del Mar located just after the last race in your track program. It is updated daily throughout the meet. Draw a line after the top five jockeys and trainers on the list - they will win 90% of the races during the course of a year. If you see one of these five jockeys paired with a top five trainer, that’s a good sign and worth backing at the windows. If you see a top jock on a longshot, don’t be afraid to bet him.
Photos by J. Dixx Photography
5. It’s the horse! The paddock and walking ring where the horses go before each race is where you can find “your” horse for that race. Look for attentive horses who are more concerned with the task before them. In the final analysis, it’s who you like that counts. You can tell a lot about how a horse by how it presents itself. It’s kind of like the guy you see strutting into a bar who thinks he’s the best, but when push comes to shove he can’t perform very well. If you pick a horse who is too entitled, and he doesn’t get treated the way he likes or things don’t go his way, he might just stop running and sulk. Just because a horse struts around doesn’t mean he’s a good pick to win.
THE BIG A TRUE STORY
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It was a Friday afternoon in August of 2003. Jim Archbold and his buddies were longtime horseplayers, so it was no surprise to their wives that the boys were down at the racetrack drinking tequila and placing bets. The Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa was were it all began. Archbold was down $300 after a series of missed wagers. The satellite round for Del Mar was about to start, and on a whim, he asked his mates if they’d like to build a six-ponies-for-the-win ticket. At only
$26 a player, they were all in. Archbold, John Dado, Jin Arntz, Craig Miller and Scott Tucker chose Ganedyl, Gods Ear, Queenofluv, Potrisunrise, Roberta’s Mango, and Mistical Jaz for the win. The unthinkable happened. And almost ten years later, Archbold still recalls that hot Friday afternoon. Q: Tell us the story! JIM ARCHBOLD: It’s still funny to this day! We were having lunch right before heading over to the fair grounds. One of my buddies said, “Hey you know there’s “Pick-Six” a big carry at Del MEANS A TICKET THAT Mar today.” So after HAS CHOSEN THE a round of tequila WINNING HORSE IN SIX shots, many glasses CONSECUTIVE RACES. of wine, and perhaps YOU MAY CHOOSE AS a few cocktails, John MANY HORSES PER Dado and I figured RACE, BUT THAT GETS we’d just do it - build PRICEY – FAST. SO JIM AND THE GANG ONLY a ticket. So we built CHOSE TWO HORSES our pick-six ticket in PER RACE. about 5 minutes. It