Tip of the Week: Reading the Fine Print

Photo by Penelope Miller/America's Best Racing
One of the more overlooked factors in handicapping involves the conditions of the race.
Astute trainers study every word in a condition book that details who is eligible for a race and as a result they can sometimes find a great but not-so-obvious spot for their horse.
Just look at the 10th and final race at Churchill Downs on Sept. 20.
It was basically a “beaten” claimer, a race that limits the amount of victories each horse has to its credit. In this case, it was an $8,000 claimer for horses that had never won three races.
So how come It’ll Be Fine, the 2-1 morning line favorite, had three career victories?
The answer could be found in the conditions of the race, which read: “For 3-year-olds and upward which have never won three races or 3-year-olds.”
The “or” made all the difference in the world to It’ll Be Fine and his trainer, Ken McPeek.
As a 3-year-old, It’ll Be Fine could have entered the race even if he had 10 wins to his credit. He actually had three wins already – including a six-length score in a similar race at Ellis Park in his previous race – which painted him as a better candidate to win the race than a collection of older horses who only owned two lifetime wins.
Matched against two fellow 3-year-olds, each of whom had just two wins, and six older horses with just a maiden win and one other victory on their resume, It’ll Be Fine was sent off as the 2-1 second choice. His knack for landing in the winner’s circle, however, came to the fore as he rolled to a four-length victory, paying $6.20.
THE LESSON: By reading the conditions of a race, a handicapper can sometimes get a better understanding of why a certain horse was entered in a race and why that runner might have an advantage over its rivals.