racing books

[don scott]

The name of our new member, Pittsberghphil, remind me a very classic horse racing book 'Racing Maxims & Methods of "Pittsburgh Phil.'
It's a book should be read!
Any other good books?

[cheesebeast]

I thought Winning More wasn't too bad!

[masun]

British writer Nick Mordin's new book "Winning Without Thinking - A Guide to Horse Race Betting Systems" is arguably one of the best, if not the best, books ever written on turf racing. In the book, Mordin makes frequent references to racing in Hong Kong, especially the computer teams.
The book can be bought at:
http://www.gamblingbooks.co.uk/
Cost of book inclusive of shipping 30.45 pounds. Delivery takes about a week.

[imaufo]

Andrew Beyer, Steve Davadivovitz ( sp?) are all good. ( all USA based)
Don Scott made frequent references to Pitsburg in all of his books.

[masun]

Rather than buying many different American books, you can just buy "Bet With the Best" by Andrew Beyer (Editor) & Editors of Daily Racing Form. The contributors include Beyer, Brohamer, Crist, Davidowitz, Liftin, Quinn, Shuback, Stich and Watchmaker.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970014708/qid%3D1020785265/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/102-4619667-9818561

[Smithers]

A few I enjoyed...
1. Champions (compilation about all the greats.)
2. Horse of a Different Color (a tale of breeding geniuses and the fastest Kentucky Derby winner since Secretariat -- by Jim Squires)
3. My Racing Heart (by Nan Mooney).

[shapke]

Hats In The Ring (Alan Aitken) was as good as any I've read.
________
DISCREET22 (http://camslivesexy.com/cam/DISCREET22)

[corkey boy]

Super Winner my favourite

[cheesebeast]

Here's a best and worst books thread from a US BB.
http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?s=260d972709a4a1157b6edaaaa3686abc&threadid=2048
http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?s=260d972709a4a1157b6edaaaa3686abc&threadid=1840

[masun]

Thanks for the links, CB. Following is taken from a post by someone nicknamed Tanda.
--------------
In reply to Bob Harris's post:
Many of the works by David Sklansky are helpful regarding handicapping.
"Getting The Best Of It" is excellent as well as his colleague's (Mason Malmuth) "Gambling Theory And Other Topics".
The former discusses bankroll management and contains many formulas needed to determine what your edge is and how much you can bet at given risk levels.
"Getting The Best Of It" contains a small section on horse racing that has some interesting ideas.
One is an apparent contradiction.
Assume that there is a ten horse field. Horse A runs a 100 speed figures every time he races. No exceptions. Each other horse runs a 100+ speed figure 25% of the time and a 90 the other 75% of the time. Assume that the speed figures will not fluctuate due to field size (as they may because of different pace scenarios, post positions, running wide, etc. as other horses are added to the field).
In a match race, Horse A is a 1:3 (75% v. 25%) favorite against any horse in the field.
Against the whole field, Horse A is the LEAST LIKELY winner.
A horse who is a huge favorite against any horse in the field is the least likely winner against them all. Why? Because if any of the field pops their occasional 110, he loses. The chances that none will run a 110 is 0.75 ^ 9 = 7.5% The rest of the field averages about a 10.3% chances to win.
This concept applies to many areas including poker. In fact, Sklansky uses it primarily in discussions of poker and refers to it as the "horse race concept". It has great relevance to that game but can be used in horse racing as well.
Sklansky also notes that any bet where you are getting the best of it is a good bet and vice versa and regardless if the bet wins or loses. If you keep risking money when you have an edge, you must win in the long-run.
In fact, he understands a very important concept that many on this board do not: Any time you invest money with an edge, you are getting paid, even when you lose. At the end of your life, the profits you make are determined by the amount invested with an edge and the amount of the edge. Every time you bet with an edge, you are increasing the first part of that equation and, therefore, increasing the amount that you will be paid before you are done with this world.
[ May 16, 2002: Message edited by: masun ]

[don scott]

There are lots of different kinds of racing books in the newspaper stands recently, are they any good? Have you read them all, Masun?

[masun]

Hello Scott, the only book I've purchased from the newspaper stands recently is Vol 12 in the "Secrets of the God of Horses" series. The only reason I bought it is that I've got the other volumes already. Most of the Chinese books I've read offer very superficial analysis based on a small dataset. For example, if the Dye and Size combo is winning, a book well tell you to look out for all Size horses ridden by Dye. Do you really need a book to tell you that?
When I walked past the newspaper stands yesterday, I noticed that Apollo Ng's horse racing paper the Saint (I think that's what it was called in English) has been re-titled "God of Soccer & Saint of Horses". I've not checked but there seems to be a trend towards combining soccer and horse racing in the same paper. In fact the format of the soccer pages in the Chinese dailies are increasingly similar to that of the horse racing pages. I'll be very surprised indeed if soccer betting is not legalised within the next 12 months.

[Scarper]

i like 'Hats in the Ring' - its not all you need to know but i covers all areas of racing quite nicely and without too much b@#$S@#$.
I advise poeple to stay away from the american books - too much rubbish - and way too many stories about who won what and what a genious they must be for coming up with it in the first place!

[corkey boy]

Masun, how do you (and the Chinese public) rate that bloke Apollo Ng ? Is he a genuis or a goose ?
I believe he brings in horses to HK for clients, are there any notables you know of ?
thanks

[fedora]

They Cogito (bled last year) is one of his best.

[corkey boy]

I thought so.

[masun]

Corkey Boy, I reckon Apollo Ng must have some fans or else his paper wouldn't have survived this long. He's a very persuasive talker. OTOH, quite a lot of people think he's got a big mouth and dislike him with passion. They see him as a bit of a joker and a shoeshine boy.

[corkey boy]

Thank you masun. Those people who dislike him may be fueled by jealousy perhaps but anyway, I hope for his clients sake he can import horses better than Cogito.