In the sport of mountaineering, climbing Everest is the ultimate achievement and thrill. Harness racing has its own Everest, in a way. I’m talking about the art of handicapping handymen. To the uninitiated, little hands would test the patience of a saint. The problem with trotters is that they break stride, and in harness racing, that’s a big no-no.
There is no more beautiful sight in the world of sport than a high-paced trotter crossing the finish line, mane and tail blowing in the wind, and there is no more beautiful misery in life than to see said animal decide to break into a mambo at just a few meters away. the cable and the victory. The old phrase, “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,” comes to mind.
You may think you’ve figured out the little trotters, knowing which ones will break the stride and which ones, as they say, “lay flat.” Say oh! You can also tell me that you have the formula to turn lead into gold. After years of caring, owning, and staking trotters, I can tell you that the walnut-sized brains in their heads are as incomprehensible as hieroglyphs to a chimpanzee. I should know, I’ve been the chimpanzee, or fool, more than once.
Take heart, fellow tipster, there are certain guidelines for betting on trotters that can help you cash in a winning ticket from time to time and avoid a certain amount of heartbreak. First of all, the bigger the bag, the better the horse, and therefore less likely to break, well, sometimes.
You may also want to avoid two-year trotters. You know the warning on a box of matches or hazardous substances, “keep away from children”, well, it applies to young joggers, after all, they are just learning the gentle art of breaking hearts and walking. Young people, after all, are unpredictable.
Some trotters don’t like to be on the inside, they prefer the outside, if you notice a walking horse has lost its stride when starting from an inside post but looks fine from the outside, take that into account when betting. Another propensity of some horses is “speed brake”. It means that other horses started so fast that when said horse tried to keep up, he couldn’t keep up the hellish pace and the hopping, hopping, galloping, waltzing thing, thus losing any chance of winning and thwarting his dreams as well.
So look for other horses that start alongside your choice that make you snap by going too fast at first or naturally like to jump and jump through life while making us cry. The same goes for a horse returning to racing after a break. It will probably take 3 or more races to get back in the swing of things and learn that life isn’t all rollerblades and beer and that you have to maintain the correct gait.
I hope these simple tips on the sweet art of betting on trotting horses have opened your eyes. Probably the best advice I can give you is to go grab something to eat when the next race is on the trot. Although, as I said before, there is no sight quite as exciting or beautiful as a tall paced horse flying back down the stretch, mane and tail blowing in the breeze, if only the damned animal would just keep up that pace!