Each week I get to see how many horses I backed which were unlucky according to the Punt To Win article. This week I think I set a new PB with 5.

I do not mean to be disrespectful to any poster BUT why do punters get sucked into the "my horse had no luck" syndrome as an excuse when it gets beaten.

I hear this phrase used repeatedly by the so called experts on the radio/TV/Net when assessing races AND by most punters every day.

Luck or whatever you care to call it is just another of the Unknowables in this game and to fall back onto it as a "losing excuse" is
to be blind to the realities.

Am I too harsh?

I know what you mean and I was not intending to have a whinge. It is still useful to know why your horse got beaten, if you can figure it out. Was your judgement poor in selecting/betting or did you back the right horse in the right race at the right price but other factors were not with you on the one and only occasion the race is actually run. It is useful to know when assessing future races as bad luck in running is a legitimate excuse and reason to believe a horse can return to a previous rating all things being equal next time. I as should every other person who ever has a bet realise that sometimes you will be "unlucky" but in the next race you may be on the winner when something else is "unlucky". IMO luck is something which will even out in the long run and falls into the same category as a multitude of other factors which effect the outcome of a race but are impossible to predict or account for.

As for the 5 runners I am happy with my rating of the horse and the price I backed all of them at and that is all you can do.

One definition of "luck on one's side" is the moment when preparation meets opportunity.

Perhaps when situations are unlucky could also be considered those moments when the preparation was there but not the opportunity. Perhaps the other way round as well.

Looking for opportunities is part of being lucky as is the belief something positive will happen. I don't think of it as some sort of magic charm or excuse, more a perspective you can take.