Derick Giwner

The word “value” tends to get thrown around in any handicapping conversation. But what is value? Professional handicappers spend countless hours each day trying to find value. Casual players want to win big and falsely confuse it with big prices. But value in horse racing is simply a fair return on your money. It has nothing to do with double-digit prices and has everything to do with the chances of each horse winning versus the listed odds.

As hard as it may be to believe, until Monday I had never visited a breeding farm. That is when I trekked up the NYS Thruway to Wallkill, New York. The folks at Blue Chip Farms (www.bluechipfarms.com) were gracious enough to show me around their 648-acre facility. Blue Chip, which prides itself in standing the elite stallions in the business, has seven producers of champions on the grounds with another two – Shadow Play (Canada) and Bettor’s Delight (Pennsylvania) providing services out of state.

If the birds chirping outside your window were not enough of a clue that the harness stakes season is getting ready to heat up, then perhaps the parade of top-notch pacers in qualifying action along the east coast is a good indication.

The very nature of the word “judge” leaves plenty open for discussion and debate. Whether we are talking about a court verdict, a possible infraction on the racetrack or the final scorecards from a boxing match, the job can often be subjective. When it comes to racing, judges are often put on the hot seat. They must make tough calls and deal with the firing line from the public. Often enough calls can go either way and I’m willing to accept that fact.

The numbers don’t lie. My handicapping statistics at the Meadowlands this year have been putrid. If I was just a bettor instead of a public handicapper, I could simply switch tracks or take a few weeks off to regroup. Since I don’t have that liberty, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at where I may have gone wrong.