Top 5

Now listen, there are a whole lotta handicappers out there who are sharp as a tack… and manage their money like a raccoon on Red Bull. Brilliant opinions, horrific decisions. That’s how you end up broke and confused.

A checklist ain’t there to tell you who to bet.It’s there to keep you from drivin’ straight off the damn cliff.

This is my checklist — built around my bad habits. You gotta build yours. But this’ll give you the blueprint.

✅ Checklist Item #1: Evaluate the Track

(Or as I like to call it: “Where do I actually stand a chance?”)

My favorite winter tracks are the ones I’ve made money at — not the ones I emotionally like.

You don’t get points for loyalty.You get paid for having an edge.

If I don’t feel like I have an advantage — or can’t get the prices I need — I don’t play the track. Period. End of sermon.

YOU. NEED. AN. ADVANTAGE.

Right now, my peckin’ order looks like this:

1. Oaklawn

2. Gulfstream

3. Turfway

4. Santa Anita when it actually runs

Oaklawn we have the only workout report from Oaklawn. That's an advantage.

When Santa Anita resumes after the biblical rains , it kicks Gulfstream right in the shins and takes its spot.

And listen — South Florida racing? Weak. Too many clockers, too much mainstream media, and every horse with a pulse is already public knowledge. Gulfstream’s lost its shine, y’all. Hate to say it, but that prom queen peaked.

Having spouted that out of my pie hole, there are nuggets right out of the Clockers notebook for y'all, just wait for it.

Now sure, big days change things:

• Pegasus? Maybe.

• Fountain of Youth? Possibly.

• Tampa on Sam F. Davis or Derby day? I’ll look.

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But I’m always askin’ the same question:Where do I know something the crowd doesn’t?

or what do I see that others don't?

✅ Checklist Item #2: Background on the Track

(Stop guessin’. Start knowin’.)

A) Post Position Stats

Mandatory. Non-negotiable.Go to Equibase.

And for the love of all that’s holy, separate sprints from routes. Lumping ‘em together is like sayin’ “all trucks are the same.”

Gulfstream does the players dirty by lumping all in, like mixing your grits with banana pudding.

B) Kingpin Jocks & Trainers

Who’s hot right now, not who had a good year in 2025

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Most track websites hide this info like it owes ‘em money. Go to Equibase. It’s all there.

C) Track Tendencies (Not Bias)

Where do winners usually come from?

If you keep bettin’ closers on a speed-favoring track, that ain’t bravery — that’s Einstein’s definition of insanity, and he didn’t even play the horses.

Einstein had the theory of relativity which has nothing to do with kissing your sister, in a dead heat.

D) Shippers (The Right Way)

A shipper ain’t “ran somewhere else last time.”

A shipper is a horse trained somewhere else.

• Housed at Oaklawn → ships to Fair Grounds = viceversa

• Lives at the host track, leaves, comes back = NOT a shipper

  
  

Know which barns ship in successfully and from where. This is a real edge.

And by the way — per Barry Meadow (The Skeptical Handicapper) — there is NO statistical advantage to being stabled at the host track.

Bad horseplayers auto-toss horses without a local work.Don’t be one of them. Do the homework.

✅ Checklist Item #3: Trainers

(This is the big one.)

Where does the trainer:

• Keep his main string?

• Prep his maidens?

• Bring horses back from layoffs?

Some trainers stash their best horses at the host track and hide the rest at training centers.

Others do the exact opposite.

I made a killing clocking at Hollywood Park while Santa Anita was runnin’ back in the day.

Why?

Because the prices were across town.

Same thing today:

• Pletcher → Palm Beach Downs

• Chad Brown → Payson

If you only focus on Gulfstream stables at Gulfstream, you’re missin’ the plot and lose.

How do you know where they’re stabled? Look where they work.

Most players just chase bullets. Trainers chase money. Remember that.

And yes — trainers bet.If they say they don’t, they’re lyin’, or someone’s bettin’ for ‘em.

Use recent stats:

• Last 14 days

• Last 30 days

That tells you what’s happenin’ now.

• Todd Pletcher: 32% last 14 days — way hotter than his 90-day stats

That info’s sittin’ right there. Use it.

✅ Checklist Item #4: Jockeys

Everybody knows the “hot combos.”

But what’s the jock done lately?

Even elite riders go cold.

While the mammalukes keep bettin’ the yearly average, you’re understandin’ cycles.

And cycles are where opportunity lives.

Final Word

If you’re good at handicapping but bad at managing the game, this checklist is your seatbelt.

It won’t make you smarter.It’ll just stop you from wreckin’ yourself.

Build your own list. Check it every day. And quit lettin’ habit beat you worse than the horses do.