Horse Racing Secrets – Poly Track Secrets or How to Beat the Synthetic Track

Poly tracks, or synthetic tracks, have been around long enough now so that many people have adjusted their handicapping accordingly. Just as with turf races and other surfaces, there are some accepted ideas that seem to be prevalent but may not always hold up under scientific scrutiny.

For instance, it is a widely held opinion that early speed cannot be sustained and that closers have a big advantage. But a closer look at the figures indicates that cheap early speed fades. That isn’t anything new and applies to all track surfaces. A quality horse with early speed that is a good fit for the class of race can still win on synthetic surfaces.

So what should a handicapper look for when trying to spot a winner on poly track surfaces? There is a key and it is often hidden to the public. Here are some things that work when trying to pick winners on poly tracks…

First of all, look for a horse who had one effort on the poly track or who has been working regularly on the poly track surface. Often times a horse will do better on its second outing on the synthetic surface because it is familiar with it. Horses are like people, they do better when they know what to expect. If you look at the winners at your local track with a poly surface, you’ll find that many of them ran decently on the synthetic track the first time out and improved of that race to win the second go around. The same is true of juveniles. Give the edge to a maiden first time starter if it has been working on the synthetic surface. I know that sounds like common sense and it seems so easy that anyone should get it, but a lot of people will miss that when they see more impressive works from another runner who has been training on dirt.

Secondly, check those internal fractions. Closers and horse who can come from off the pace do seem to win a lot of races on the poly surface. So if a horse made a big move but failed to win last time out, look for that horse to win. Pace handicappers are doing well with synthetic race surfaces because they look at the hidden fractions that the general public usually misses. The way to check to see if your runner made a good move is to compare the speed in the last quarters to the speed in the earlier part of the race. Also, look at the overall pace of the race itself.

Winning at the races isn’t impossible, but it is challenging. You can look at the introduction of synthetic surfaces as an obstacle or another chance to get an edge. Use these simple steps and you will see that the poly track can produce some nice payoffs. Like any other kind of handicapping, though, winning on the poly surface takes discipline and a winning method. A good system of determining the best runner is still the key to race track profits and going home a winner.

If you still haven’t developed a good method to pick winners to start with I recommend using a system tht comes with amoney back guarantee, the rest are junk. Here is a list of systems that offer a money back guarantee, so you know they must be pretty good to start with and just need a little tweaking