Hi New Punter,

1/ Start by marking off the top 5 average prizemoney winners, then those that have won or run 2nd at the distance.

2/ Also make note of those that have a 30% strike rate or more.
An easy way to do this is to buy the sportsman and use the chart form in the middle.

4/ Where do you like to punt?
Depending on time, I'd stick to one, maybe two meetings maximum and analyse the ******** out of them. Many punters try to back every horse at every meeting. Most people simply don't have the time to assess each race in this manner.

5/ Question: Do you have a basic understanding of the ratings/class system?
Group 1 - is the best, your Black Caviar's etc.
Then Group 2, Group 3, Listed in that order.

From there it's:
Open Handicaps
Rating 95, 90, 86, ----> down to rating 50 which I recommend you leave alone.
This is a very basic outline outline, however you'll need to gage the class structure so that you can assess if a horse is well placed, well weighted etc.

6/ Regarding the 75% factor you mentioned, many races will indeed have more than 5 real live chances. If you come to that conclusion then move on and assess the next race. Unless they are all 10/1 or more, then you can consider backing them for a profit.

7/ If you want to email me your selections once you've had a chance to do some form, I'd be happy to compare them with my assessments. I'll be doing form primarily for Rosehill and Caulfield.

My email is: paully77 at gmail dot com

Finally New Punter, I don't profess to know everything about racing and the one thing that will happen in this game, is you will be proven wrong many times. Some horses can improve leaps and bounds whereas others you expect to lift will plateau. The trick is to get it right, more than you get it wrong, at a price that gives you an edge.

Keep asking questions and you're halfway there.

The Schmile