Handicapping Speed: The Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse Sprinters: A Critical Look At The Science Of Speed Handicapping

by Charles H. Carroll

Handicapping Speed is an in-depth analysis of speed in horse racing and how speed can be used in handicapping.
It presents a detailed description of how time is measured in horse racing and factors, such as "Track Constants"
(defined for the first time by Carroll) which can affect understanding of published data. Carroll then presents a detailed analysis of how horses run at different racing distances, leading to a unique approach for developing speed figures, and how to use them in a betting strategy. The appendix contains the actual computer code for an early version of Speed Handicapper (TM) software.

Andrew Beyer described it as "One of the most thoughtful and literate books on horse racing..." (Beyer on Speed, p. 55). James Quinn devoted an entire chapter to it in his book, The Best of Thoroughbred Handicapping. It has also been praised by Tom Brohammer, Howard Sartin, Michael Pizzolla, and other professional handicappers and writers.

Genres: Horse Racing

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1991

Reviews

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

...Someone has finally taken the next logical step beyond thecanonical work of Andrew Beyer, 1975's _Picking Winners_, and given usthe next step in looking at speed handicapping. Which is good, because of all the types of handicapping out there, Beyer's is the one that the public seized on, and it's since become so popular that Beyer's figures are published in the Daily Racing Form, and are so deadly accurate in most cases that those races which can be unlocked through their application have become unprofitable. Carroll gives us another way of looking at speed, a new take on velocity that turns the work of Broahmer and Sartin on its head, and in doing so takes the many complex calculations of _Modern Pace Handicapping_ and instead substitutes the kind of one-number handicapping ease that the crowd loves. Does it work? I don't know, I have a whole lot of fact-checking to do before i go endorsing Carroll's methods and theories. But as a book, it's a pretty good one. Carroll doesn't go over the same old racing history as most books, but instead gives us background information that we haven't seen before-- the various schools of handicapping, how the money flows, and most notably conformation, something many handicapping books steer far clear of. Most of it has nothing to do with handicapping speed, but any knowledge a player can get is knowledge he can put to use, if he knows how. A worthwhile addition to the shelf of the horseplayer, and if it works, it becomes the sixth book in the canon.