| As you go up through the grades in greyhound racing, | | | | you factor that in with the rest of its races? Will that |
| you'll notice that the times of the races get faster and | | | | dog run a very fast race next time without the pace |
| faster. With the occasional fluke, it's safe to say that | | | | of the Stakes race to push it along? Or will it revert |
| Time is tied to Grade. So, naturally, when you use | | | | back to the slower Speed that it shows for races that |
| Speed for a handicapping factor, you have to take | | | | weren't Stakes? |
| Grade into account. | | | | What about dogs that run slow times from some post |
| There are many mathematical systems for doing that, | | | | positions and faster times than others? If you're using |
| most of them complicated tables that add and | | | | a mechanical method to figure Speed variants, you |
| subtract seconds or even fractions of seconds to | | | | may miss this. So what's the best way to deal with |
| come up with a variant for each Grade. I've used them | | | | Speed if you want to use it as a factor without |
| all from Beyer's method for horses to obscure | | | | complicated tables and math? |
| methods from people you've never heard of. None of | | | | Well, many old-fashioned "pencil" handicappers, like |
| them impressed me enough to where I continued to | | | | myself, use a formula that has been used in horse |
| use them. | | | | racing for decades, if not centuries. We look at the |
| For me, the trouble with using these tables and | | | | latest 3 races and average them. When I do it, I omit |
| methods is that there are so many variables in a race | | | | the races where there was interference or trouble, |
| that can impact Speed, that nothing can really | | | | unless the dog has several trouble lines. I also omit any |
| compare a dog's Speed in one race to another dog's | | | | lines on days when there was bad weather. |
| Speed in a different race reliably. | | | | This doesn't take long. You don't really even need a |
| For instance, if a dog is impeded in a race, it almost | | | | calculator after you've been doing it for a while. I think it |
| always has a slower than normal time. That seems | | | | works better in higher grade races, but you can see if |
| simple enough, right? But, what if the dog is impeded in | | | | that holds true at your favorite track. Keep in mind |
| a Stakes race where the finish time is a track record | | | | though that Speed is just one of the factors in |
| or close to it? | | | | greyhound handicapping. Don't forget all of the other |
| And what if the dog has a slower time than the other | | | | variables that help you win at the dog track. |
| dogs, but a faster time than it usually has? How do | | | | |