Horserace Handicapping is predicting the winner of a horse race. The process evaluates the abilities of a horse to perform under the conditions which it will be racing under. To judge these abilities handicappers use past performances, published records of preceding races. These past performances indicate the horse's speed, its ability to win, and whether the performances tend to be getting better or worse. The conditions under which the horse will be racing include the quality of the competition in the race, the distance of the race, the type of racing surface, and the current condition of that surface (fast, good, sloppy).

For what I would consider a PHD in horserace handicapping, famous handicapper and author James Quinn has written a new updated

The Best of Thoroughbred Handicapping

considered to represent the professional handicapping field at its best and brightest.

"The beauty of James Quinn's updated anthology is not any one revelation that he brings to the table, but that he's synthesized so many voices and give you so many more angles to consider. Those of you who play regularly know how easy it is to identify the obvious chalk-- and how hard it is to get past the two or three "best on paper" types to get to live, mid-priced overlays. You know, the horses that are the difference between a minus day and a wildly profitable day.

In addition, the fact that he has brought so many voices together on money management-- the topic I see the least amount of literature on-- alone makes this worthwhile.

This isn't the type of book I'd toss to a novice, but it will make the intermediate player much more flexible and creative." (from review)

Major handicapping factors are:

Speed, Class, Pace, Form

Other Factors: Distance, Trips, Trainer, Jockey, Track Surface, Post Position, Pedigree, Weight, Equipment, Medication, Age, Sex.

Famous Handicapper Nick Mordin recently made these observations that are well worth remembering.

• Horses do not improve with first time blinkers.

• 3-year-olds do not do better against older horses
   late in the season.

• Horses carrying more weight win more frequently.

• Fillies need more pedigree stamina than colts
  to win  at any distance in the top class.

• Horses that weigh more do better and colts,
  weighing about 100 pounds more, usually
   dominate fillies, especially in longer races.

• Horses defeated as favorites in top races and
  then stepped up in class in next race do well.

• Wide margin (five or more lengths) maiden
   winners win frequently the next time out.

• Female jockeys win more than males and are
   usually under bet.

• Well-bred horses win less often than poorly
   bred ones in low class races.

• Higher-class races have closer finishes.

• Fillies are pushed harder earlier in their careers
  and as very few colts become stallions they race
  longer than most mares.