Jumping Skill

A crucial element universally agreed as essential in selecting a National Hunt horse race winner is a horses jumping skill.

Professionals going to racing meets already have a huge advantage when comparing jumping skill. They attend a new race meet almost every day and know many of the horses and riders in great detail.

But what about beginners who have not got this amount of time and dedication. Where can they go to get the data they need?

Post Race Comments

The excellent racing and betting resource, the RacingPost carries post race comments for all racehorses past races.

Navigate to the Racing Post Bettingsite, select your chosen National Hunt race and the racehorse being investigated.

You will find all the racehorses past races on record linked to RaceForm Interactive.

Now simply press select to view the comments for the racehorse selected, but also take time to view how the other runners performed in this particular horse race.

When analyzing a racehorse's jumping skill, statements will be made mentioning:

. "jumped badly"
. "fences hit"
. "mistakes at fences"

Essentially, any mention about how the horse jumped during the race means it is likely to be a dubious jumper.

Likewise when a remark states "jumped well" then this is especially notable. If there are no remarks which mention striking fences then this can be considered a positive sign.

Remarks regarding the state of the race course may also be notable when assessing jumping skill.

If the fences are stated as being

. "stiff"
. "severe"
. "testing"

And if the horse has put in a good run under these conditions it is far more noteworthy than if the same horse had a good run at an easier, forgiving track.

Form Line

Another great indicator of jumping skill is the form line on all race cards directly after the race horse name. Place your mouse pointer over the horses name on RacingPost BettingSite and the form line pops up.

The form line provides crucial information about whether the horse has

. Unseated its rider (UR)
. Fallen (F)
. Pulled up (PU)

At some point during the race.

When this happens at 2 or more of the latest 6 races it indicates that the horse is having major difficulties with jumps at this specific time and is a poor choice unless dramtically lowered in class.

Handicap Hurdles

Handicap Hurdles are accepted as especially bad races to bet. Finding your winner is particularly difficult.

When examining the UK horse racing databases it appears that the winners are spread out evenly through all the different SP's and weights.

What is going on?

The hurdles in Handicap Hurdles are over 12 inches lower, noticeably easier and more forgiving than the chase fences.

In chases it is by and large recognized that race horses have to have a modicum of natural jumping skill, speed and staying power.

However in hurdles often very ordinary horses can be trained to a sufficient level so that they can stay with the pace and give a perfectly reasonable showing.

When we add handicapping weights into the cocktail, then we end up with a lot of very level races where practically any racehorse is capable of winning the race.

In many racecourse guides, Handicap Hurdles are described as frankly the poorest races for favourite betting and the hardest to profit from National Hunt horse race betting overall.