| Horse racing, like any human activity that involves | | | | jockeys are good hard working people who do a |
| money and risk, is sometimes a crooked game. In my | | | | difficult and dangerous job and do it well, but there are |
| opinion, after 50 years at the races as everything from | | | | a few riders I will not bet on and in fact, I avoid races |
| a groom to an owner, most races are not fixed and | | | | they are riding in. The reason is that they have a |
| the people who work at the race track are usually | | | | tendency to fail on favorites and the races they are |
| pretty honest. On the other hand, there is occasionally | | | | riding in often have some strange results. |
| a fixed race. | | | | A good rule of thumb, if you are really serious about |
| If you are handicapping horse races to make a profit, | | | | avoiding races that are fixed, is to avoid betting on |
| you may be very close to actually making money, but | | | | favorites, altogether, and any race with a prohibitive |
| seem to fall a little short. The reason may be that your | | | | favorite at less than even odds. By less than even, I |
| handicapping needs a little tweaking, though it may also | | | | mean odds of 1-1 or less. When that much money is |
| be that you are betting on fixed races and they are | | | | heaped on one horse, the chances of chicanery go up |
| sapping your profits. | | | | and the incentive for fair play go down. |
| It is bad enough when you lose money because your | | | | Another good rule to follow is to avoid races with |
| horse falls down or fails to run up to your | | | | small purses. If the purse is high enough, the incentive |
| expectations, but when someone steals money from | | | | to win is higher, but if there isn't much money to be |
| you by fixing a race, that is downright painful. Here are | | | | made from the purse, the riders and trainers may try |
| a few suggestions to help you avoid getting robbed at | | | | to make it by betting on or against their own horses. |
| the races. | | | | By following these few simple rules you can avoid the |
| First of all, keep track of the jockeys and how often | | | | occasional fixed race and improve your chances of |
| they fail on the favorite. The easiest way to fix a | | | | making a profit betting on horses. |
| horse race is to get a jockey to "stiff" a favorite. Most | | | | |