Gambling Strategies

For much of this year, it looked as if the great Thoroughbred Meet at Saratoga was not going to take place. NYRA (New York Racing Authority), the group that runs all of New York’s Thoroughbred Tracks – at Aqueduct, at Belmont and at the spa every summer at Saratoga – was out of money and on the verge of cancelling the entire meet. If you’re a fan of “the sport of kings,” you know how serious that would be because the Saratoga meet is considered one of the best on the American racing calendar.

The 142nd Running of the Belmont Stakes is coming fast… scheduled for Saturday, June 5, 2010. In the long, long history of this classic Triple Crown race no horse conditioned by a female trainer has ever crossed the wire first. In many of the races, perhaps a large percentage of them, there very likely were few, if any, female trainers working.

At this time of the year horse racing systems and tipster services seem to appear from everywhere. My e-mail inbox is full of offers offering me unlimited ways to make healthy profits from horse race betting if I buy or subscribe to their services. From past experience I know that very few will ever achieve a fraction of what they claim.

In better economic times, the three tracks – and NYRA – have not needed help from the state to remain open and operational. But, these are not the best of times. The country and New York State are struggling economically.

In flat racing the horses start the race from metal starting stalls. The draw refers to a horse’s placing / position in the starting stalls. Draw 1 is on the left, while the highest number is on the right. On left handed round courses the lowest draw is drawn next to the inside rail; on right handed courses the highest draw is drawn next to the inside rail.