The time is here where the trainers are preparing their horses for the Kentucky Derby in the month of May.

Since the horses can’t talk and tell the trainer when they are feeling good or bad, the trainer needs methods to check on the condition of the animal. They use blood-work to figure out if the horse is getting the care they need to become stronger or getting enough oxygen in their blood to run the grueling race of that fateful day. Some trainers will not only train their horses by running them but also by swimming them in a training pool made especially for the horse. They will also train for the type of race that they were bred for.

Horses are bred for different distances, different types of track and even for different types of weather.

All horses have a best way of running their type of race. Some like to speed from the gate and go as fast as they can as long as they can and some like to start out slow and finish as fast as they can at the end of the race. Because of this mentality of the horse, some handicappers believe that the pace of the race makes the race.

This is the reason that trainers will always try to place their horse in a race with horses possessing different handicaps so as to give their own horse(s) the best advantage to win the race. An example of that is when a trainer will try to place his speed from the gate type of a horse with those horses who like to start slow from the gate. If all the horses in the race are slow starters with only one or two horses that are speeders, the slow or plodder type horses will not be able to catch up with the speed unless two or more of the horses are speeders who will run them- selves out before they reach the finish line. Handicappers will find this type of information about the horse from papers like the Daily Racing Form.

If you want to learn to handicap a race, you must learn the relative hieroglyphics of the Daily Racing Form’s “Past Performance Explanation.” It is not printed in every form but it may be found if you visit the Web site, www.DRF.com.

If you don’t wish to learn all this information but still want to play the horses, you can avail yourself to the in- formation given by professional Touts, people who make their living by selling information to their steady clients.

These professionals will try to give you a horse that will give you the best odds of the day for your money so as to keep you as a customer. Be aware that all handicappers have their bad days and their good days of handicapping, and with that in mind, you need to establish yourself a bankroll to last you over a period of time to recoup your losses and give yourself a chance to catch a race where the horse wins with great odds or an exotic type of race to make great profits. As a bettor, you always hope to win but you must be prepared to lose. As the saying goes, never play with money that you can’t afford to lose. This game at best is a gamble.

You want to have fun with this game and look forward to catching a horse who runs first second or third and who will pay you a profit when it finishes in one of those positions. For example, if you bet a horse across the board, you will have to spend a minimum of $6.00 dollars.

$2.00 to win, place and show. In order for you to make a profit in that race, the horse has to pay more than $6.00 to show. Of course if he wins and pays more than $6.00 to show, he will have paid more that three times that much to win.

Have fun playing and be sure to play with your head and not your heart—unless you just LOVE that horse’s name!