Winning on the Way Up

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In a previous article, "Greyhound Handicapping: Winning on the Way Down", I mentioned that dogs who are moving down in grade are 7 times more likely to come in than dogs moving up in grade. That's why I look for dogs who are moving down, especially if they've moved down two grades i.e. double droppers.

But there are times when it makes sense to bet on a dog who is moving up in grade. Of course, the dog has to show something special for me to consider it a contender as I handicap the race. Some of those special little clues that a dog has a chance of running in the money at a higher grade than its been running in are hard to spot. But, if you do spot them, it's a good idea to at least include the dog in quiniela boxes or even trifectas if you play them.

Winning on the Way Down

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Remember the old song, "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down"? Well, it comes into my head every once in awhile at the track when I'm cashing a winning ticket on a dog that went off at longer odds than it should have, but won for fun, as they say. I'm talking about droppers, dogs who have dropped down in class by at least one grade and maybe more.

I love these dogs when they're in a particular kind of race, because I know something that most of the crowd I'm betting against doesn't know. Dogs who are moving down in grade come in at a rate of 7 to 1 compared to dogs who are moving up in grade. It's not hard to figure out why.

History of The American Greyhound Derby

1960 American Derby Racepage

Sectional Times Are Back

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Back in the good old days, almost every dog track printed the First to Turn or FTT in their programs. This was the call for the dog who was leading at the first turn and that dog's time to the first turn. Better yet, when you looked at a dog's lines for its last six races, if it was First to Turn in any of those races, there was FTT in that line, along with the time.

This made it a lot easier to compare dogs. Instead of just knowing that the dog breaks and is first at the 1/8th call, you'd know that it is fast enough to beat all the other dogs in that race to the first turn. Knowing the time of the FTT call helped a bettor know which dogs were likely to be FTT in this race.

1953 American Derby Racepage

Hidden Factors in Handicapping

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Quick! How wide is your favorite track? Don't know? Well, if it's Twin River (formerly Lincoln in Rhode Island) it's only 17 feet wide, the narrowest track in the US. So, I hear you say, what difference does it make how wide the track is? The dogs don't race across the track; they race around it.

True, but on a narrow track, those turns can be much harder to get around without bumping and getting in each other's way. This is why there seem to be more accidents on the turns at Twin River, something I noticed when I went there last time. Can you imagine what a dog coming from Southland, where the track width is an amazingly wide 34', would think as it got jammed on the first turn at Twin River?

Using Your Memory

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I hate losing, don't you? I don't know anyone who enjoys being wrong and that's what losing is in greyhound handicapping. You use every skill you have, you make your best picks and you bet them. If they win, you probably watch all the replays on the monitor, write the amounts of what you won on the program page and look at them again a few times when you get home. But what do you do if you lose?

Handicapping With No Surprises

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Greyhound handicapping is no match for reality, as my friend Willie says. I believe the first time he said it was when we were sharing a ticket on a speedball that had just won in M, J, D and C and was about to knock the competition dead in B. He was a dead cert. The only early speed in the race. As a matter of fact, the only class dog in the race, who had run in A a few races ago, was a closer who looked like he couldn't get out of his own way when he ran in his last six races, which were all in A.

So Willie and I were leaning on the fence, preparing to watch "Speedball" win for fun and wondering why he was at odds of 5-1 instead of 2-1. Well, shortly after the dogs broke out of the box, we were wondering why he wasn't at odds of 50-1 because he didn't even try.

Dutch Bahama Makes it Two In A Row

1992 American Derby

1986 American Derby

1990 American Greyhound Derby

1993 American Derby

1987 American Derby