| It would be very unusual in any horse race to have a | | | | Distance |
| runner that nobody has had a bet on. For one reason | | | | Most race horses are breed to be sprinters, middle |
| or another there will be somebody who fancies each | | | | distance or "stayers" (long distance runners). Sprinters |
| horse's chance of being the winner. Each person will | | | | run distances between 5 furlongs (around 600m) up to |
| have made their selection based on some factor, | | | | 7 furlongs (850 m). Middle distances are considered to |
| whether it is the horses form, the jockey's good looks | | | | be 1 Mile up to 2 miles and staying races are 2 Miles |
| or just the fact that they liked the colour of the horse. | | | | plus. Even within these divisions you can have horses |
| Whatever the reason they will put money on their | | | | that can run well at 5 furlongs but find 6 furlongs to far. |
| selection. Whether they win or lose, providing they | | | | So you have to check that the horse you fancy has |
| have not gone silly they will have had a pleasant day | | | | form for the particular race distance. |
| at the races and gone home feeling relatively happy. | | | | Going |
| This is what many race goers do day in and day out. | | | | Although not so important in All Weather racing where |
| However, if you want to make money from horse | | | | the going tends to be standard on the turf the going |
| race betting you will need to adopt a systematic | | | | can affect a horse's performance. Most race horses |
| approach to finding winners. | | | | run well on good or good to firm ground but some are |
| Form can be an important indicator of horse's chances | | | | better on either very soft or very hard ground. This is |
| but you can not just take it at face value. Just | | | | especially true when the going gets very heavy and it |
| because a horse won its last race does not mean that | | | | is not unusual for a "mudlark" to win in these conditions |
| it is a certainty to win its next. There are many other | | | | even when they do not have the best form in the |
| factors that have to be considered. | | | | race. |