[Ted Craven]

Ready.....? WIN! (Follow Up #75)

Sounds easy doesn’t it. We all know it really isn’t. And then when we do win and win regularly we start doing things contrary to what we did to create the winning and POOF we are right back in the losing mold again. It’s what we did that breaks the winning habit.

One of the biggies that I encounter are those who fall in LOVE with a horse. They forget all about paceline selection, all about corollaries and certainly all about Synthesis and BL/BL. They forget or choose to ignore the little consistencies in their handicapping that produced the consecutive winning days, weeks, months, cycles All of a sudden after a steady increase in their bankroll they become clairvoyant. Or so they think. Imagine! All the work to get it right, paceline selection, odds/value determination, the dutched bet, passing certain races, and correct use of Synthesis. It suddenly goes down the tubes and all this winner thinks he needs in order to win is the Racing Form and a few minutes???

He will not be a winner for long.

How do we keep the win streak alive? Use the Methodology. Do not give in to the drive to be one of the crowd, to know who will win without doing the work. Dr. Sartin has given us the basic tools with which to win. Once we overcome our bad habits and start winning by using these tools there is still work to be done. Championship teams do not repeat by staying static. They continue working, working harder not to become complacent and return to the bad habits that kept them from winning in the first place. To stay in the winners line in handicapping may be even more difficult. And it requires continued effort. Strive to make sure the new, winning habits are not eroded by complacency and the adulation of the few who see you continuing to return to the cashiers window. And all they want to know is who da ya like this time?. After all, handicappers and horse players alike are Ill looking to delve into the same money pool. We, however; are willing to do the job to get there and to stay there.

How do we keep on top of our winning? One way is by looking at how we can better use what we have. When was the last time you bet on more than two horses in a race? More than three horses? Never? In the Follow Up we see time and again how even a small wager can put us ahead if we look at how, when and why we use multiple bets in our winning strategy. This strategy will never win for you unless you use it the first time. Make it a new, good, winning habit. A recent example was a race being simulcast in from Gulfstream Park. I had worked the race down to four contenders. The lowest odds among the four was 9/2 going up to 25/1 for the number four BL/BL horse. Going back over the read outs and the past performances I could find no way to eliminate any of the four. So I bet them all. I put 50% more on the 9/2 horse to even out the return should he win. The wager is $9.00 using the minimum and the longest odds horse does win and returns $52.00. Does it sound foolhardy? Could you do it? Am I betting against myself? NO! And I do NOT use this strategy every race or even every day. However, I am not afraid to use it and it is a profit maker. In this case it netted a profit of $43.00. It will not always win and the longest shot in the group will not always win, however, since have LEARNED to make this adjusted, uncommon investment I am much farther ahead. Both. In win percentage and in Dollars earned. This is one way I stay ahead of the break even point. It is part of how the Methodology can work for each of us. It is how the Methodology works for me.

The KEY point is to not try and change the program or the horses the program gives us as contenders and winners. In order to optimize the winning potential of the programs CHANGE the way YOU look at how you use the results. The program finds the horses it is up to you and me to best use them.

We can not be ready to win if our approach is to take the Methodology program results and try to fix them using “mainstream illogic”. We cannot be ready to win if we cannot change our bad, losing habits into profitable winning habits We cannot be ready to win if we are not open to accepting the cutting edge handicapping advancements inherent within the Methodology. We cannot be ready to win until we know that we go to the track in order to go to the bank rather than having to go to the bank in order to go to the track. We have to be in the winning mode not just today but everyday.

Till next time. The ‘Capper with a race day reminder ... work the plan, be profitable.

A post script to recap the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby field was the perfect setting for the multiple horse wagering strategy mentioned earlier. With the favorite at 9/2 multiple winning bets was the way to go. Once the horses are entered in the program we face the question about how to bet them. Questions come up about legitimacy of races in New York and in Kentucky and Florida. Does it matter? The horses DID run those numbers. Can they be ignored? Remember these are three year old horses still improving. I ended up betting not 4 but 5 horses to win! I used Adonis (18/1), Charismatic (30/1), and the field (11/1) all at $10 and Stephen Got Even (5/1), and Menifee (7/1) at $15 to assure a profit on the race. Once again this proves to be a successful approach as Charismatic lit up the boards at $64.60 with the third highest mutuel ever at Churchill Downs for the Derby. I have $60 in the race and take out $323 for a profit of $263. The program works. The approach works.

A Reminder ... work the plan, be profitable.