This may be a bit long winded,,,but,,,from a punting point of view i have found this advise to be worth $$$$$$$$ and lots of em....

Last year sometime I was hanging over the mounting yard fence at Taree watching the horses parade.This (really) old guy was stood next to me and he said "the nine horse looks good mate",,,I just said yair,,it does...He asked me what its form was and I told him that it had run 9th out of 9 at its last start....

Yer mean last mate ???? lol yup,,,,,He said ,,well,,it looks good today.It ran 2nd and and paid around $9 for the place.He did the same thing the next race and again the race after.I thought I had met Jesus....I said mate,,, you are a ****** genious...His name was/is Kev and we really took a bit of a shine to each other.Turned out he had trained and owned horses all of his life,including a few good metropolitan types.

After a while he said to me,,Bill,,,do you know how to pick a really fit racehorse.I thought I did, but I didnt.He said,well Bill,, I dont usually bother telling people this,,but I will show you....

I have to say here that it has taken me a year to understand and actually see what he told me.It sounds simple but it aint.But when you see it "bang",the penny drops.

Lolol ok,, here it is....He said Bill,,,look at the horses rump just behind the saddle cloth..On a fit horse (indicating one) you will see a muscle hump,,(it looks a bit like a dowagers hump)..That is the indication the horse is fully fit,,,,I said,, that one there Kev??? No,,,,,,that one there??,,,,,fer christs sake,,, no........Over the year I ran into Kev at most of my favourite tracks,every time I went over the same ground,, til one day "eureka"!!!! I could see it.

About a foot behind the saddle cloth you will see a hump.Most racehorses have a bit of a rise there,,but not a definite hump.The unfit horses look flat from the saddle cloth to the base of the tail.The ones with the "hump" are ready to win...AND THEY DO....believe me.It took me time and patience,,but it has paid off in spades.This hump is "not" on either side of the horses rump.It is directly behind the saddle cloth....

By the way,that first day at Taree Kev told me that he had a horse running in the seventh.I observed racecourse protocol and didnt ask him what it was.Just wished him luck.Anyway after he had plonked his money on (lololol yes,,it had the hump) he legged the jockey up,,, looked over at me and winked....Kevin's Delight...It bolted in... I got 7's and was happy with that.Hasn't done anything since,,shrugs....

You can meet nice people on racecourses. Cheers Bill