Handicapping with Stk2000

From Stk2000, click Racing Form to pull up the Racing Form Generator [ Home ]

There are probably as many theories about handicapping a horse race as there are horse players. Most of these involve what we call a "Criteria Set" for determining what elements of a horse's past performance have merit. Stk2000 uses a default criteria set that users can change to suit themselves.

The Criteria Box

Manipulating the criteria On the Racing Form Generator, click File; Setup to pull up the criteria setup box. Click Next Criteria to bring up successive criteria explanations and their associated numbers. Click the More and Less buttons to increase and decrease the number associated with the explanation Handicapping a race Start the Racing Form Generator by clicking Racing Form on the main Stk2000 screen. On the Racing Form Generator screen, click File; Open and click on a data file from the File List box. These will be data files you have downloaded and converted. They should be in your C:\stk2000 folder. Click Next to look at the data for the first horse. If you agree with the runline selected by the criteria box, click Next to page to the next horse. If you don't agree with the runline selected, move the mouse cursor down the screen until it is in the field of running lines. As you move the mouse cursor you will notice that the small command button moves with the mouse pointer. When the small command button indicates the running line of your choice, click the left mouse button while the mouse pointer is anywhere within the area of horse data. Clicking the mouse pointer freezes the command button at the selected runline. Click Next to page to the next horse. Click Last to review the previous horse's data. You can Auto-Handicap the entire race day by clicking Auto, then when the message box pops up indicating that the process is complete, click Ok to save the compact .DOC data file.

The Stk2000 default is set up as a conservative player's criteria. A more aggressive setup might use fewer running lines back or even last runline only. The more aggressive the setup, the less it will agree with the general public's view. That means that aggressive setups can select horses that go off at longer odds. When finished, click the Save button to save the criteria setup. The same setup will then reload the next time you start the Racing Form Generator. The Racing Form Generator Click the Test button to build and display the .DOC file data Example data display Example tip sheet before results Example tip sheet after the results Example race Replay Example Simulator Tip Sheet

Printing The Racing Form

1. From the Racing Form Generator, click Printer and pull the mouse pointer down to Font.
2. Click Font and check the font setup box. Note: The font "Courier New" lines up the data in neat columns. Most other fonts do not.
3. Select the font you like and click OK on the font setup box. If you want a smaller size font than is shown in the selection box, manually enter it in the font size box. This will usually work for TrueType fonts.
4. Click Printer; Printer On to print the form as you view it by paging through the horses.
5. Click Printer; Printer Off to turn off printing.
6. Click Printer; Print Form to print out the complete racing form. This can use lots of printer paper, so you may want to select a smaller font when printing the racing form. Font size 7 is a good compromise. Size 6 is still readable.
7. Click Printer; Print Test to print out the handicapped data file. This file contains all the data selected during the handicapping process. It is useful when at the races to see what data elements are working. For example, if the winner of a race has the top early speed of the handicapped data file, early speed might do well in the next race. This can get you onto horses that you otherwise might never choose.

How to use the Handicapped Data File to play the Holy Ghost

1. When a horse wins a race, check the Handicapped Data File to see if that horse has the highest number in any of the data columns. Circle the instances where that horses number is the largest number in the column. Circle each column in which this is so.
2. After you have two numbers circled in any column, use a horse in the next race that has the top number in that column. For example; if the top Trainer has won two, bet the top Trainer in the next. Same for top Jockey; same for Early Speed, etc for all the columns across.
3. After the third win in any column, look for the next Holy Ghost.

You have to be a little bit superstitious perhaps, but there is a smidgen of scientific reasoning in the Holy Ghost play. There may be something going on that favors certain elements today. Like the sweet little grey haired lady said: "Just take a bunch of tip sheets and bet the one that's winning."