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I’ve talked in recent issues about factors of form in greyhound racing. Last month, I explained how easy it is to use a simple formula to find your selections. In this article, I intend to go over once again the formula and then to suggest some final filtering.
The essence of any dog form approach simply has to be centred around speed. As punters interested in backing the dog most likely to win, we need to find which of the animals is the fastest in the race, based on past performance, and then to assess if it can run the fastest time in the upcoming race.
Last month I talked about ways and means of studying the form in greyhound races and put forward some ideas to help the form student come to grips with the intricacies of the formlines.
I outlined a five-step process, which is ideal for those (few) punters who have access to complete formguides, especially those with in-the-run position details, and information about early speed and box ability.
Unfortunately, not many punters have access to all this information. So, for the purposes of this article and in a bid to trim the approach down to the 'bones' but still retain its power, I cut out some of the 'rules' and did some workouts using mainly Times and Box Positions, and Track/Class Ability.
When we talk about the steps to take in greyhound racing form analysis, what do we really mean? Well, to my way of thinking, we're talking about factors ... the main factors that affect the outcome of any greyhound race, anywhere in the world, eight or six runners (as in the UK).
The five steps I am going to talk about here are: CONSISTENCY, GRADE, TIME, BOX and EARLY SPEED. These are the cornerstones of sensible handicapping. The problem facing the punter is how to assess such factors and put them together in such a way that the selections arising from them are good enough to win and haul in profits.