5 favorite handicapping angles shared by NHC 2018 players

The 2018 National Horseplayers Championship held over the weekend at Treasure Island Las Vegas brought together a record number of top talents at their craft — 568 individuals — for the three-day event.

And with that much talent in the room, we asked a few to share some of their favorite angles and wagering strategies. Enjoy:

Travis Stone, Churchill Downs’ track announcer

“I like horses in their third race back. They have the layoff line, and they have two consecutive starts. The first start back, for example, is a 45 (speed figure). The second start back’s a 54. Their start today is what I like to call their money race, when they’re going to run their best race…I did a statistical study years ago where I went and basically looked at 15-1 longshots for a few weeks That was by far the most common pattern. Return figure, improves in the second, and the third takes it to another level.”

Chris Podratz, of Santa Clarita, Calif.

“I look for horses that are coming out of the same race as other horses and looking to reverse. Most of the public is going to tout the horse that won out of that group last time. For example, there’s a race today where when they ran last time, one horse was 12-1, and the other horse was 4-1. This one (formerly 12-1) was now bet way down, and the other one (formerly 4-1) was up to 7-1. So I’m just looking at form and whether the horse got action last time.”

Tony Brice, of Colleyville, Texas

“Just in general, I look for trainer angles. I don’t personally look for a single angle or a set of angles. I look at each horse, who’s training it and what angles there might be relative to that trainer and horse. I don’t get locked in on one thing. That’ll cost me a lot of money.”

Steve Pallardy, VIP concierge with TwinSpires.com

“I gather all my data,” including Brisnet past performances and Ragozin Sheets, and look at vertical wagers, “because there’s value there. If I’m betting an exacta, I may key my top two horses, say 2 and 4, with 2-4-3-5-7. And then maybe flip them if the 2 and the 4 are decent prices. That way if my key horses run first or second, at least I’m going to have a winner. Then I’ll look at maybe a superfecta, and could try something like 2-4-7, 2-4-7, 2-4-7 with all in either the three spot or put all on top. That’s a fairly common strategy.”

Charles Norris, of Lyndhurst, Ohio

“Here, I’m focusing on horses that are 6-1 or more,” at least when playing contests. “As far as what angles (with live money), nothing specific. I like if a horse has run at a track before. I like if they’ve won or run well at that distance. I don’t think the jockey’s that important, unless they’re a 1 percenter or 2 percenter.”