I must be the 'old man' of the forum with [getting close to it] 40yrs. at it [punting:-)]. What I have learned is forget looking for 'the winner', look for the right price for your selection. If you can't get it, ignore the race. You will come out on top in the long run.

Look at it this way: If you average SR is 1 out of 10 or 4 out of 10, you are looking for odds for your selections that leave you in profit. Backing winners is pretty useless otherwise.
Something else to think about if you are totally bamboozled by the game, consider the fact that 31.5% of favorites win [but you'll still be out of pocket backing them]. If you can spot just 5% of favorites you think will lose and back the rest, your ahead of the game. Increase that to 10% and your making very good money. It's as simple as that :-)

The only other thing of significance I've leaned over all these years punting is that 'women and horses will always make fools of men'.

I've succeeded very, very well in achieving my last point.