Never bet on or aginst the favorite.

[chuckg]

Never bet on or against the favorite.

Is this an old "hossy" phrase? Or, is it for real?

And, how do the veterans on this board approach the favorite.

The reason I ask is that after I reviewed my last three 20 race cycles I found that I actually lost money when the favorite won. My win percentage betting two horses to win was 55% 50% and 50%. This was at Tampa (maybe that means something, I don't know). My average loss per 20 race cycle was $5.40 on a pair of $2 win bets each race. When the favorite won, the most it paid was $3.60. That means I lost at least 40 cents even though I selected the appropriate pacelines and bet on the winner.

The favorite appeared in my top two RDSS rankings 27 times in those 60 races, nearly half. But it only won 9 of those 27 races, a third.

I religiously bet my top two ranked horses to win because I don't know any better.

My question to the wise men of this forum is: When the favorite appears in your screen do you pass the race? Or do you skip the horse and make two place bets? Or do you hide the horse and bet the next two horses to win?

What do you do?