Gallery
The horse's name
It is very important to choose one which resonates the most with you. Never choose boring names even if they are the favourites. Last night I chose Dougal in the first race because of the dog in The Magic Roundabout and he won me money :-)
The look of the horse
For me, I like greys, or those with a little bit of spark who don't walk but bound around the presentation ring...although I have found that the more well-behaved horses do tend to win more. I wonder why?
The Jockey
How experienced are they? Have they won races? have they raced at Windsor before? How fit are they? (And I don't mean do they use the gym a lot).
The colours need to stand out so you can recognise your horse and jockey in the race. I especially think a colourful hat is useful.
How many winners have they trained? Has the horse had famous parents?
I am reliably told that this tells you of a horse's likelihood of winning due to its previous successes, the condition of the racecourse ground, its parentage etc It's best to look at the horse's star rating provided by the racecourse which gives you an idea if the horse is likely to be in with a chance at all.
Nice name or not I rarely put money on a horse with one star - they may as well have 3 legs.
Errr - well I had two winners out of 8 races yesterday, and 1 runner-up so, no. But it makes for an enjoyable evening and we definitely had fun.
Can't wait until the next meeting!
