Many people have a hard time getting used to the cycles and therefore fight handicap horse racing. Most handicappers have heard of form cycles, but do not understand all of the associated cycles that are involved. For example, when a trainer sends his horses north in the spring, he may take them from a track where they have been racing or he may send them from a farm where they have spent the winter. Horses that have wintered on a farm may need to be worked on and bred for a bit before they come into mid-season shape.

The trainer will look like he’s doing it wrong as he saddles up one horse after another that fails to win. Handicappers who are aware of their methods and who understand the cycles will dismiss such horses until they have had a few races. Knowing if a horse was running is easy to determine from the racing form. Another way to determine how well prepared a horse may be to compete is to check where recent work occurred. If the horse was working in the arena, he may be better prepared than if he was in a training center.

Knowledge of the trainer’s methods will help. Some may work a horse in a training facility and take it to the track ready to win, while others will use the training facility and send a horse out to the track to finish up some track surface work and then a one or two. races like squeeze. The only way to know how your trainers are working is to follow them and see when and how they win. The trainer who starts with a number of horses that are arriving at the races at the same time will often start slowly, but when his horses have caught up to his pace he will suddenly start to win a lot of races.

These conditioners are the ones on the “hot trainer” list at many tracks. Horse players wonder why a particular trainer suddenly started winning races when he seemed so inept before. The answer is that he was not inept, just patient. When you understand trainer cycles based on how and when they groom a line of horses, you’ll also have an idea of ​​why some riders get hot. The jockey can ride for one or two trainers who manage his stock in the same way. When a trainer they ride for finally has their rope ready to win, that jockey who’s been riding the losers will be on the winners.

That’s why it seems like jockeys, trainers and horses have their ups and downs when in reality they’re just following a regular cycle of fitness.