Harness Racing Handicapping Tips

Before you go to the races for an evening out, you should make sure that you understand how to pick the horses. Harness racing handicapping is very different from handicapping the thoroughbreds, so being familiar with thoroughbred racing won't necessarily help you in picking the winners at the harness track. Here are some harness racing handicapping tips that should help you as you get started.

There are two different types of harness horses - pacers and trotters. Pacing horses move their legs laterally while trotting horsing move their legs diagonally. The main thing that you need to know when starting your harness racing handicapping is that trotting horses tend to break stride more often than pacers, causing them to pull themselves out of race contention. If you're looking at trotting horses, watch out if they frequently break stride since this could be an issue. Trotters also tend to be slower than pacers, but since trotters don't race against pacers, this speed difference won't be an issue when completing your harness racing handicapping.

Speaking of times, you'll want to compare the final times of the horses in the race to determine how the horses match up in terms of speed. When completing your harness racing handicapping, you'll also want to look at whether a horse is "up or down in class" (meaning whether a horse was previously racing in higher or lower purse races). Other factors to consider in harness racing handicapping include what kind of trip the horse has had recently (poor trips in which a horse has had to go "first over" or without cover may mean that the horse could do better this week with a better trip), post position (inside post positions 1-3 are better than outside post positions), and lifetime winning percentage.

One similarity that harness racing handicapping has in common with thoroughbred racing is that you should pay close attention to the drivers and trainers. In particular, take a look at the drivers' and trainers' winning percentages when coming up with your pick. Some drivers and trainers specialize in either pacers or trotters, so you'll want to look at their winning percentages on the type of horse as well. Make a note to yourself if a horse has just switched drivers as this could help or hurt the horse (help the horse if a better driver has come onboard, but hurt the horse's chances if the horse had a lot of success with the previous driver).

Of course, sometimes it's fun to just forget about the harness racing handicapping and pick the numbers or names of horses instead. Either way, these tips should make your visit to the track a lot more enjoyable.