Originally Posted by CairnsMan

Hi everyone, hope the spring racing goes well for all.

I need some advice, not sure where I can find the right answers, but this forum is as good as any.

As I have mention before I have developed over many years my own ratings method. Originally based on the concepts of Rem Plante and Don Scot I have tweaked values to reflect today’s racing, which is vastly different to what they experienced years ago.

My ratings results are very accurate, takes hours to do a single meeting and overall I’m happy with the results. But I still feel I’m missing something… Or more correctly there’s another factor I haven’t accounted for or haven’t put enough emphasis on.

Firstly I rate runners on API, both career and current campaign, I then add ratings based on race ratings and weight and distance for previous runs (in particular the current campaign) and then I review all my ratings results for each race to cast a knowledgeable opinion over the probable winners..

This approach turns some very happy results ranging in price out to 8 and beyond and it is very reliable.

But I can’t help thinking that there’s something more… The next step so to speak.

Any suggestions?

Originally Posted by rhino82

Hi again CairnsMan, Was asking a question, didn't make any statement, so not sure to what you're disagreeing

Originally Posted by PaulD01

Hi CairnsMan,

From your first post description, you have your method and by concentrating on one state you create enough focus to be able to know the horses and their idiosyncrasies. This is important especially if you do your own form study rather than simply system betting. I accept that both can be successful methods in their own right and of course the performance depends on their application.

I believe that your path to further improvement can only come from knowing exactly your ratings performance. Such analysis could not only inform you of where you ratings may be weak but also where your strengths lie. This applies to 2 things; your overall ratings and also your actual bets.

Firstly, with the risk of stating the obvious, many punters use ratings, be they self made, freely obtained or from a reputable paid service. To me these punters quite often don’t even know the basic strike rate of these ratings let alone how the rating behaves across the many elements of form and how these can be improved using intelligence that isn't able to be gleamed from information that is easily accessible in the public domain. This is due to the extensive programming required to do the thorough analysis.

Secondly, most punters often invest money on horses that have a historically poor return profile but without proper analysis, they are not even aware that this is happening. This could easily apply to you as you spread the bets across more than 1 runner. Without realising it you could be severely hampering your profit by supporting horses that historically don't make money for you. Eliminating just one or two a meeting could have a significant impact on your bottom line.

Our Axis software can address both of these issues for you in several ways.

1. You can import your rating/s into Axis and then analyse your ratings across 115+ form factors, including the rating numbers themselves. This will quickly show you just how accurate your ratings are and how they perform across all the said form factors. If you find some factors have significant performance differences from others, then you can concentrate on improving that factor in your own ratings.

2. You could then import your bets into axis and actually analyse them, seeing how they perform and with a large enough sample, you will see patterns that you would normally not see. This will enable you to adjust or retain your ideas. As punters, we often develop concepts based on a small sample of ‘what I see’ and without cold hard analysis this sort of knee jerk reaction usually ends up costing money.

3. If you don’t keep records, use Axis and start now! You can use our Personal Horse Flags to ‘note’ your bets or decisions on not to bet so that you can then analyse your betting decisions in a manner not possible with any other racing software package.

In summary Axis will help you improve what you are already doing. Best part is that you could do all of this using even our Historical Axis version which is very cost effective way of analysing historical data assuming that you don't require access to daily data before each days races.

Originally Posted by CairnsMan

A very sucessfull punter who I learned a lot from, told me "Never bet more than you'd be comfortable of losing"...

Quite simply, the pressure of losing money creates doubt in the mind of the punter and they make silly mistakes as a result.

Originally Posted by SpeedyBen

I agree with that up to a point but if you are too comfortable with the amount I reckon you can get careless. I prefer to bet an amount which hurts if it loses but which doesn't hurt my bank overall. My weakness over the years has been that I tighten up when the bets get large and end up being so careful that I rarely bet. I have overcome that in recent years since I have had to win but it was a struggle.

Originally Posted by partypooper

Well, I figure this comment will go down with the proverbial "Lead" baloon, but gee, just ask yourself..... you have a ratings system that gives an edge over the bookies, now this "IS" the golden egg,..... isn't it? as long as you keep it to yourself....................i.e. as soon as you "SELL IT" ............ it's gone right, i.e. either the egg is cracked or the Goose is dead, YES?

Think about it?????????

Originally Posted by gunny72

I think your success is due to the amount of effort you put in to the analysis. This means you are very familiar with each horse's capabilities and your ratings are probably a sort of filter to help you narrow down your own thoughts on a race. I had my best success when I did intensive analysis myself but as you indicate it takes a massive effort.