The most important thing in my handicapping

[Mark]

You are a Bradshaw devotee, I believe. So I think we all start at the same place. Who's going to get the lead. Once I am satisfied with a pace projection and the individual horse's Running Styles, I select lines as close to that 1st Call as I can where the horse employs his normal running style. I work RAW mostly but avoid obvious aberrant lines. If I do find a line deeper in the PPs then there has to be a reason the horse is running poorly lately. Most often this is an extended layoff with a race or two since return. I am pretty selective. Although the race Bill posted the other day to me was fairly straight forward, I really felt that the guys that restrict themselves to a line in the last 3 do themselves a great disservice. The #3 horse had run well on dirt at Hastings and on Poly at GG. He just wasn't a 6.5f horse but most importantly he could run of the pace and with the 4 Early horses at 6/1 I used the 5f GG win. The race dictated it. And that is what I think happens most often, almost subconsciously. If your visualization is correct and you are confident in the pace scenario and composition of the field, you know where to go. I reread something lately on the Hat Check blog. Richie explained that the "Hat" didn't pick pacelines, he picked horses. Once he saw what the race was he knew what Running style would win. I haven't reached that level yet and I still rely heavily on the Energy screen especially when I variegate OTE but I have only been studying The Match Up seriously for two years. Don't get me wrong I have been at this game a long time, I bought the old Red Sartin published Match Up manual and all his books and used AODDS 98 for quite awhile. It wasn't until I found this website and the Hat Check Blog that I was able to assimilate his teachings and technique.
Don't feel bad, Jim was so bad at exactas that they named a wager after him, first and third, the Hatinella.

[Latekick]

I think we all basically come from the same place when learning the methodology in our beginning stages. We all have the same foundation based on the match-up. As we continue our studies we begin forming our own way to use the methodology to the best of our ability. It is always important to stay within the guidelines, but also find what works for you without restricting yourself to rigid rules but also staying near the guidelines. It is a fine line, but when you walk it, it can be very profitable. Just wanted to add this to the thread this morning

[turfsup]

Dear latekick thank you so much for your great educational threads your info that you shared is so helpful to me //especially reviewing all past races i was with dr sartins group about 20 years ago and used a program called thoromation i learned alot about my mistakes and my victories best wishes for success turfsup

[Latekick]

Originally Posted by turfsup

Dear latekick thank you so much for your great educational threads your info that you shared is so helpful to me //especially reviewing all past races i was with dr sartins group about 20 years ago and used a program called thoromation i learned alot about my mistakes and my victories best wishes for success turfsup

No problem! Keep reviewing and getting better every card!