Handicapping Tune-Up!

Hopefully you routinely review races to improve your work, but while it's minus 10 or plus 102 outside, here's an exercise to do indoors:

1. Turn off all adjustments in Speed Handicapper®
2. Set Track Constants, Variant, and Beyer to Zero.
   
3. Be sure to un-check "Weight/Gate Prefs" in their special window.
4. Click "Make Past Performance Adjustments."

This clears all pre-adjustments to the Carroll Speed Figures. (It also resets all pp selections so this is something you do before handicapping.)

1. Select a recent race card that you have on hand and go to the DRF or other website where you can open and/or print the results.
2. Work "backwards," from the results through the Speed program.  See what it takes to approximate the real outcome.
3. Handicapping is individualized, and if you do this enough you will find your individual pattern of strengths; types of races you excel at and types to avoid...maybe some types and tracks that you just "like."
4. Print the Speed Handicapper V5.0 results of some races to compare in the next step.
   

Now turn on only Track Constants to 100% and click "Make Past Performance Adjustments."

1. Work "backwards" through the same races.  Be sure to use some that originally had bad results as well as good. (The speed figures will be different so don't try to duplicate exactly what you did before; just handicap.)
   
2. Follow patterns and your own interests to identify race types and conditions that work well for you. We will all be somewhat different, which is a good thing in a parimutuel sport!

By now you should be pretty familiar with a few races, so choose one or two you know well and do this:

1. Reset Track Constants to Zero and just look through the Carroll Speed Figure changes without handicapping.
2. Do the same at 50% and 100% Track Constants.

There is no "magic number" but this will give you a real feel for what works for you under different conditions.

Track Constants are the only pre-adjustment I recommend to normally use.  When meets like Del Mar and Saratoga begin, every horse is a shipper, so turn the TCs on full-bore and have fun!