What are past performances, and how do I use them to place bets?

While past performances aren’t necessary if you want to make money playing the races in the short run, buying them and learning how to use them are compulsory for smart bettors looking to make a profit every weekend.

We’ll discuss the finer points of reading the past performances below, before digging into how they should be implemented when playing the races.

Decoding the past performances

Our example form will be the lifetime performances of 2020 Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl, which was recently posted on the Daily Racing Form’s Facebook page.

There are numerous publications that offer past performances on a daily basis, but the DRF is among the oldest and most trusted. Their calling card is the Beyer Speed Figures, or the bold numbers in the middle of the form (100, 97, 104, etc. reading down for Monomoy Girl). These help handicappers determine how fast a horse ran that given day compared to others who may have ran at a different track at a different distance on a different day. Horses that have the highest Beyer Speed Figures typically win more, but get bet more as a result.

Reading from left to right on the top line, we see the following information: date of race (November 7^th , 2020), race number and racetrack (10^th at Keeneland), track condition (fast), distance (1 1/8-miles), fractional times (:46, 1:09 4/5, etc.) type/class of race (fillies Grade I), Beyer (100), post position and number of runners (10/10), running position related to fractional times (4^th by 1 1/2-lengths, etc.), jockey name (Florent Geroux), Lasix designation and weight (L 124lbs), odds (even-money), track variant (outmoded numbers used to compare times before Beyers came along), top three finishers, and the comment line, which can shed light on how impressive a horse was in victory, or how troubled a trip a horse may have had in defeat.

Once this information is parsed through, bettors determine who they want to wager on and go from there.

Utilizing the past performances

In races like the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which Monomoy Girl exits, bettors often gravitate toward horses who have the highest speed figures. Also important are race results, recency, and ability to handle the distance and surface of the race in question.

It is up to the bettor to determine what the wisest course of action is. A win, place or show bet on Monomoy Girl would have been a winner in that November 7^th heat, albeit for a very small profit. A bettor could have instead played Monomoy Girl on top in “exotic wagers,” like exactas or trifectas, or used Monomoy Girl in “multi-race wagers” like Daily Doubles and Pick Threes. It’s all about minimizing risk while maximizing profit at the races.