“Playing the angles” is a term used by a number of horse players, like “horse and jockey” or “horses for courses” or the return of the “beaten favorite,” to find their “best bet” of the day.

There are some jockeys who can ride nearly any kind of horse and get it to perform well. And there are some jockeys who can only ride a few horses well enough to place in the money.

(That’s where you as a bettor get paid when you put your money on win, place and show.) Many times that special horse with that special jockey will pay at higher odds than one with a top jockey because the top jockey is expected to win or at least get in the money. Thus the angle, “horse and jockey.”

“Horses for courses” are those horses which only like to run in specific conditions such as running on a special race track or in a special kind of weather—like rain or a muddy surface—or running on grass rather than dirt. Thus the name “horses
for courses.” The return of the “beaten favorite” represents a horse who was the favorite (the one with the lowest odds) but ran out of the money (did not win, place or show) and returns to a race in a few weeks from his last race. We as bettors always assume that it just wasn’t feeling good that day and we are going to take a chance on it today for the higher odds.

Thus the name “the beaten favorite.” For those who choose to try their luck handicapping horse, there is another type of horse worth mentioning. It’s the horse that looks like the worst of your best five horses but has odds or such that he is almost the favorite. Bettors call this the money horse and one that they will almost always place in their exotic wagers. (Exacta, trifecta, etc.) I as a bettor never play this horse to win, place or show, because I have seen where large bettors have placed thousands of dollars on these horses and seen the horse run complete out of the money. This is a gambling game and as luck would have it, there can be good luck and bad luck. A horse could run wild and be uncontrollable, the jockey could accidentally drop one of the reins or lose his footing in the stirrup, or the horse could fall down. There are many ways that a horse could lose a race but only one way it can win and that is when it crosses the finish line with the rider on its back.

I have been taught to always bet with my head and not my heart and very seldom do I violate that primes. There is gossip around the track that Hollywood Park (or Bet Fair) has a new manager for the track and that the food prices are outrageous. I know that unless the laws have changed, the owner of a casino cannot own the track and the casino together. If and when I find out about this, I will be sure to let you know.

So until the next edition, Good Luck and be sure to bet with your head and not with your heart—unless you just love that horse’s name!