Basic Greyhound Handicapping

Posted by malcolm in Greyhound Betting News on 02 9th, 2010 | no responses

If you enjoy visiting the bookmakers or you prefer to participate in online sports betting you will be aware of Greyhound racing. Watching the dogs fly around the course is exhilarating and you may have considered having a betting on them. There is a lot of information to help you handicap the dogs and work out which race and which dog to bet on. Here is a simple introduction to get you started.

The first thing you need to do is get a copy of the greyhound information sheet as betting blind in any type of sports bet or greyhound bet is a bad idea. You should also not bet on every race. We are going to do our homework and find the right bet for only the best races where conditions give a decent indication of which dog will go on to win the race. If a race does not stand out as good to bet on, do not bet on it.

The information sheet gives information on important factors like early speed, late speed, position, class and form. Ideally we want to find a dog in the race card that is far superior to the opposition dogs in preferably two or more of these categories. For example, a dog with a fantastic start (it would have a better starting speed compared to the other dogs) is likely to break well and get a clear run in the race. It is also common in the race that on the first turn the dogs come together that can result in one or more dogs falling or being deflected out of contention. A good breaking dog can avoid this trouble by being well ahead at the first turn.

Late speed indicates that a dog that breaks slower than the rest and often avoids trouble at the first bend by staying behind it. They then begin to run their race and make up ground as the race progresses. Some dogs even wait until the third turn before making their move, think of a race where you have seen a dog come from nowhere to win that is a dog with good late speed. Their stats will show improved speed for each section as the race progresses.

The class of the race is also important. Dogs may have struggled against a higher class dog and have been downgraded to take part in an easier race. This does not necessarily mean that they are the best dog in this race and you should pay close attention to their preferences in running and their achieved times, another dog may still be a better bet.

Potential race finish is an average taken of the last six races the greyhound has participated in. As greyhounds tend to run similar times within a second or so depending on any obstruction during the race it is useful to compare their performances to assess whether they are the best overall dog in the race. Pay attention to races where the dog has ran unobstructed to a win; this will be close to its best time or a time it could achieve if it wins. Is it still the best in the race? This can be part of your form analysis, is the dog getting faster or slower?

Form is a great predictive factor as the dog does not have a rider to spur on its performance; it simply runs how it runs. If the dog is consistently improving and already looks strong in its statistics then this is a good candidate for a bet as another improved performance could mean a win.

You need to use the information available to highlight good and bad races to bet on, and then select the obvious dog (or dogs) you want to bet on in the race. Ideally a contest where there are a maximum of three dogs who could realistically win is a good race to start with. Betting on greyhounds is not easy but there is plenty of information to help you along. The skill is using that information to make sensible and logical bets which will hopefully result in a profit for you.

By Malcolm Clarke

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