Thoroughbred
handicappers looking for timesaving data about trainers; sires and
claiming purse values should find value in Olmsted's Pocket
Trainer Guide 2002 (235 pages, paperbound, $60) and Track
Stats 2002 ($24.95, 5x8 plastic spiralbound, which vary
in number of pages, according to the edition, anywhere from 80 to
150 pages), and come in 12 different editions, focusing on Southern
California, Northern California, New York, Illinois, Texas, Kentucky,
etc.
Olmsted includes
more than 5,500 trainers, from every North American track in his
book. He analyzed each trainer in 18 different areas of expertise.
Looking at one trainer as example, we find Eugenio Abbuzzese who
is active in New York and New Jersey. He has a 10 percent win rate
and 2.63 Return on Investment (ROI) from 320 starters, while he
hits with 18 percent of his claimers (3.00 ROI) and looks to be
good with first time starters (under 5-1).
A section on Sir Ratings lists 800 sires and grandsires graded in
four categories "where bloodlines can be most influential."
They are rated excellent, above average and average. The four categories
are debut (first time starters); turf (first time turf and general
turf ability); mud (off track running ability) and distance (stretching
out for the first time).
Those searching for purse values for claiming races at tracks around
the nation's 58 tracks will find it here. (An updated list will
available to anyone buying the book and sent by email when ready).
Back to the trainer section, you'll have the ability to spot which
people do well bringing a horse back in seven days or less; do well
when dropping a horse in class; when changing surfaces; after regular
or long layoffs; with first time lasix; first time blinkers; when
moving up in class and many other situations.
With Track Stats, let's look at the New Jersey edition.
Here, the book looks at Monmouth and the Meadowlands. The book focuses
on trainer and jockey information. For the jockeys, you'll be able
to isolate each jock's strengths and weaknesses. As the book points
out: "If a jockey is a respectable 12% winner overall but a
poor 3% in turf events, the reader will examine his turf mounts
in a different light.
Want to know which jockeys do well in sprints, routes, turf, offtracks,
on favorites or on longshots? Interested in which jockeys are hot
or cold with what trainers; showing number of starts and win percentage?
You get this at a glance.
Which trainers do well in routes; sprints; turf; first or second
race after claim; going up and down class are included; also a track
diagram, takeout percentages on various bets, if track bias exists
at various distances and preferred running styles, shipper stats
reflecting starts, wins, win percentage
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