 |
 |
|
|
|
|
FEATURES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COLUMNS |
|
|
|
 | Hot Bets
Tips from our SportsBook expert
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
The King of Santa Anita: "Every system at the racetrack works
--but only
sometimes."
|
|
|
|
Inside Secrets of a Horse-Racing Guru
Santa Anita's richies pay big for Don King's advice; we're giving it to you for free!
By Leslie Gornstein
He lacks the prolific shock of hair and the towering ego, but the Other Don King nonetheless rules supreme over a segment of America's gambling realm. As a betting consultant at California's famed Santa Anita racetrack, the retired automotive-parts maker teaches the track's upscale newbies how to bet intelligently--and they love him for it.
At private functions and parties at the track's upscale FrontRunner restaurant, King holds forth with an approachable and laid-back philosophy to what many see as an inscrutable science: not only picking the right horse, but making money on it.
So, how does someone like you get into professional handicapping?
Well, I've been going to the tracks since I was a kid. Of course, the tracks were different back then--we didn't have all the professional sports teams that we have now, so there were a lot more people there. The crowds were bigger and the people more dressed up--better, in some ways. It's always better when there's a big crowd.
I learned early on that, for me, the most exciting thing in sports is having $2 on the nose of the nag on the lead on the way to the finish line. It gives you something to root for. It's only a short half a minute when they make the turn and come down the stretch, less than 30 seconds as a rule, but it can be an exciting 30 seconds!
|
|
1. Limit your styles of bet to three: win, place and exacta. Forget about the fancier stuff, like the superfecta. It may pay more, but the odds are too tiny. "I don't play superfectas myself, because at that point you're outside the fundamentals of handicapping. You're just swinging for the fences."
2. Know everything about the horses before you arrive at the track and see the odds. (He uses the daily racing form.) "The first thing is picking the horses. If you can't pick the winner, it doesn't matter what the odds are."
3. Once you're familiar with information in the daily racing form, focus on a new facet: par. "The daily form prints a weekly edition, the Simulcast Recap, for the tracks that are running. That lists pars and the horses who have run par at their courses. It gives you a better idea of who's out there and how they've done."
4. Never chase bad money with good. "If you've already lost $40, and you have set $50 to bet for the day, you don't want to blow the last $10 to try to get even."
5. Horses with bad payoffs don't make good bets. "If you're in love with a certain horse, bet on it--but bet an exacta or trifecta, and box your odds."
|
|
But you went into an auto-parts ...
I was always playing the horses on the side. After I retired about 13 years ago, I started pursuing handicapping more often. I took some seminars and classes; through that, I got to know some of the people out at Santa Anita.
What's a good day for a die-hard handicapper?
When you can point people toward a nice stack of winners, everyone's happy with you. Last Sunday I was helping some novices learn handicapping. There were 10 races, and for the first five races I couldn't hit a lick. People were starting to look at me like, Does this guy even have a clue what's going on out here?
Finally I got them a winner--in the sixth race. And then I hit seven, eight, nine and 10. That's 50 percent--higher than average. But that's just the way it is sometimes. You never know exactly what's going to happen.
What's the best you've even won in one day?
$10,000--a few years ago, right here at Santa Anita. You're always looking for an angle that's not obvious to the majority. I can't tell you offhand what my angle that day was, believe it or not. I just did a couple decent sized bets.
I would imagine the Kentucky Derby is the Oscars of racing. I'm assuming you've been?
Nope. Actually the biggest money day of the year is the Breeder's Cup in late October. That is the largest single day of purses in the United States, when all the better horses run. We had the Breeders Cup here at Santa Anita last fall--there wasn't an empty seat, and you couldn't get into the parking lot. Same kind of atmosphere as the Derby.
How did you do?
I was there for pleasure. I did so-so. It wasn't a memorable day.
So, how does throwing your money away at the track differ from throwing it away in a casino?
Well, remember, this isn't gambling; it's pari-mutuel betting. It's a more intelligent system--you're guessing, but you're taking educated guesses.
The big difference here is that there is no advantage for the track if people lose; the track does not win all that money. Instead, the bettors are betting against each other. If you go to Caesars Palace and throw a $20 bill on the craps table, and you lose on a roll of the dice, Caesar picks that $20 up and puts it right in his pocket. Out here, the track takes a small percentage off of every bet, whether you have won or lost. The track, according to state law, takes approximately 7.25 percent of every dollar wagered.
| |
|
|
|
