DAILY DOUBLES; A BAD BET

Flexibility is always worth some price.  Betting daily doubles eliminates that completely.  Once you bet a double you are at the mercy of the 2nd half of the ticket.  Win the first half and decide you aren't as crazy about the horse you need to win as you were?  Too bad you're stuck with it.  Another horse is getting pounded down and it looks legit; too bad.  Last minute change to a lesser jockey on your horse or the weather suddenly goes bad; again too bad, can't change your selection.

Nothing can be worse than to win the first half of a daily double with a $30 plus horse and be sitting there knowing if the 2nd half horse doesn't win, you have nothing to show for a good pick in the first half.

What does Ray Fox do?  I can't remember the last time I ever bet a double.  Let's assume I was going to bet $25 doubles with #1 and #2 in the first half and #3 and #4 in the second half which costs $100.  Instead I bet $50 to win each on #1 and #2.  Let's assume we get that $30 winner.  I collect $375 and leave myself with at least 3 options as opposed to none.  First, I can decide to put the money in my pocket and will have made a $275 profit.  Second, I can take my $100 investment out and bet the $275 evenly, or proportionately by odds, on the #3 and #4.  Third, I might want to bet exotics with a safer bet knowing I can win more and not lose all of what I made with that nice winner.  There are many other options available to make sure you get some return rather than none.

Capitalize on the flexibilty of cashing a ticket on that horse you won with in that first half double.  Don't be that bettor with a $30 winner watching the 2nd half horse finish up the track, or losing a close one.  And then losing $100 for doing some good work.

visit Ray Fox and http://www.turfrace.net/ for the best in racing information.

HOW ARE MY FOX POWERS RATINGS DERIVED

As a user of Fox Powers you should know the basis of how I arrive at each horse’s overall Fox Powers rating as well as his individual numbers in the categories.

First, and foremost all of the numbers for my Fox Powers reports are taken from the data files of Brisnet and the Daily Racing Form. They are factual past performance numbers; no guessing is involved. They are from the same information you see in those two sources. So if a number looks out of whack, keep in mind the horse earned it, Ray Fox didn’t create it..

There are two ways a horse earns his Fox Powers points from 37 categories:

1) I pit horse against horse in very many of the categories. The horses that have best past performance numbers get the most points for today’s race.

2) I set criteria based on the pars achieved by winning horses ran at today’s class and distance. A horse must meet the criteria set to get these additional points. Meeting the criteria for a category is based upon an exceptional performance in one or more of a horse’s most recent races.

Many times a horse with very high numbers doesn’t win. Intangibles play a great part in the outcomes of races. So a good number that doesn’t run well can be a result of a bad ride, trouble, a mediocre jockey misjudging pace, or a horse that doesn’t feel well. We even have those days but we’re able to tell someone.

So numbers are numbers and that’s what we must base are betting decisions on. So as they may go array occasionally it’s the best we have to go by.

Good Racing Luck !!! to all Turfrace.net members