New to trading horse racing - how to structure and prepare

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scd9
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:42 am

Hi,
I'm new to trading horse racing (i'll only be doing pre-race trading for the moment), and not particularly knowledgeable about horse racing in general as well i must admit. And i'm probably the opposite to many noobs, in that i don't know a lot about horse racing but I've got quite a lot of experience in trading having done financial markets trading for a few years, so i'm quite confident in actually trading with the ladder, charts and a market overview, and have done a couple of afternoons doing that with small stakes.

having looked at quite a lot of videos and reading through the forum and not finding answers, the issue I have is I don't know what, if any, prep i should be doing in the morning. So i guess these are my questions:
How do you pick which races to trade?
Do you prepare a "trading script" or similar to remind yourself what to look for and what you expect to be the best opportunities? And is this based on what you've read from other traders on twitter for example, or from publications? From previous form of the horses or jockeys or where you think others will focus their attention?

So far i've pretty much just been looking at whatever the next race is 10 mins from post and gone in and decided what i think is likely to come in or drift based on the betting action i see on the ladder and the charts, but I'm guessing there's a lot more to it than this!

Would really appreciate a few pointers!
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wearthefoxhat
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Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:55 am

One question where the answer is only relevant to you is; What's your attitude to risk?

If you prefer low risk grinding, pre-trading the market 2-5 mins before the off would suit you. (scalping/some swing trades). With your financial market background, maybe preferred. One answer could be, no prep required, watch market indicators/charts/ladders, make your decision(s)...then onto next one as the races roll on.

If you prefer a more volatile, think in your feet, blitz trading, then In-Play horse markets would be for you. Attitude to risk a little higher, but with good money management along the way. Also Tennis trading would of interest too. One answer could be, yes prep required to try and anticipate the style of runners in the race..Early Pace/ held up and also watching the indicators on betangel more than the race itself...unless your Richard Hoiles.

Over time, develop your own style and focus on what works for you.

Structure/Trading Plan is all good too. B2L or L2B, focus on one horse or more than one, bankroll decisions, racetypes, breaks, use of automation or not...etc
scd9
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:42 am

wearthefoxhat wrote:
Thu May 17, 2018 1:09 pm
One question where the answer is only relevant to you is; What's your attitude to risk?

If you prefer low risk grinding, pre-trading the market 2-5 mins before the off would suit you. (scalping/some swing trades). With your financial market background, maybe preferred. One answer could be, no prep required, watch market indicators/charts/ladders, make your decision(s)...then onto next one as the races roll on.

If you prefer a more volatile, think in your feet, blitz trading, then In-Play horse markets would be for you. Attitude to risk a little higher, but with good money management along the way. Also Tennis trading would of interest too. One answer could be, yes prep required to try and anticipate the style of runners in the race..Early Pace/ held up and also watching the indicators on betangel more than the race itself...unless your Richard Hoiles.

Over time, develop your own style and focus on what works for you.

Structure/Trading Plan is all good too. B2L or L2B, focus on one horse or more than one, bankroll decisions, racetypes, breaks, use of automation or not...etc
thanks for this - i'll definitely be doing pre-race as i'm more the lower risk type. what i'm not sure about is whether pre race traders need any information before they arrive at the market 10 minutes before post.

For example, when I was trading financial markets, i'd spend a short time in the morning going over what economic data was being released at what times, where support and resistance levels were, which central bankers were speaking, what the market did the previous day etc. it helped to form an opinion on what to expect. obviously you'd have to be flexible and trade instinctively to a certain extent but with this information to help you along. In tennis trading for example you'd know that ostapenko is a bit streaky and you might back her if a break down because of how her matches went in the past.

maybe i'm barking up the wrong tree, but i would expect that pre race traders prep for their day of trading in a similar way.for example, maybe some horses or jockeys are more or less likely to be backed in than others?
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Dallas
Posts: 22674
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:57 pm
Location: Working From Home

scd9 wrote:
Thu May 17, 2018 2:33 pm


thanks for this - i'll definitely be doing pre-race as i'm more the lower risk type. what i'm not sure about is whether pre race traders need any information before they arrive at the market 10 minutes before post.

For example, when I was trading financial markets, i'd spend a short time in the morning going over what economic data was being released at what times, where support and resistance levels were, which central bankers were speaking, what the market did the previous day etc. it helped to form an opinion on what to expect. obviously you'd have to be flexible and trade instinctively to a certain extent but with this information to help you along. In tennis trading for example you'd know that ostapenko is a bit streaky and you might back her if a break down because of how her matches went in the past.

maybe i'm barking up the wrong tree, but i would expect that pre race traders prep for their day of trading in a similar way.for example, maybe some horses or jockeys are more or less likely to be backed in than others?
I've always been a pure cold trader and never look at anything other than whats happening on the ladder in those final minutes except for TV pictures, only time I even look at in trainer/jockey info etc is if one has had a few wins that day as that inevitably causes the prices on there other runner/s to shorten as everyone starts jumping on and bookies want a low SP etc

The two types of people that usually struggle most with pre-race trading are those from a gambling or horse racing background, one usually wants a bang for their buck and not a lot of smaller gains the other often has a hard time when the markets clearly telling them something different to their preformed opinion of what should be happening and what a price should be etc.
scd9
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:42 am

thanks for your comment - this is probably the right approach for me too. i saw a video on youtube last night that said pretty much the same thing and adding that the market would have already taken older information into account meaning cold trading like you said would work fine.
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ShaunWhite
Posts: 9731
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am

scd9 wrote:
Fri May 18, 2018 11:05 am
thanks for your comment - this is probably the right approach for me too. i saw a video on youtube last night that said pretty much the same thing and adding that the market would have already taken older information into account meaning cold trading like you said would work fine.
The best data is the newest data. What a horse did a year ago, or what the market did an hour ago is less important than what money is being offered or taken 2 seconds ago.
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