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Sidney Harris has been in the racing game for years. During this time he has made good contacts at every level. He has been able to consolidate his knowledge & experience in his much acclaimed book ‘Horse Racing – The Essential Guide to Backing Winners’.
Having sampled the free information for two weeks, if you would like to acquire the book please contact us via the web site. The price of the book is £20 (incl. p & p).
A few words from the racing experts who have read the book...
"You need to be something of a chameleon to solve racing's colourful puzzles and this is the book to keep at hand while you do!"
Mark J. Polglase, Leading trainer and winner of the prestigious £100,000 plus 'Racing Post Ten to Follow Competition'.
"Harris clearly knows the game inside out...!"
John O'Hara, Racing Post Weekender
"Harris is the kind of man who pulls no punches and gives the punters plenty of pointers on the way he or she bets!"
Joe Conboy, Raceform Update
"Harris is a blunt no-nonsense writer and makes no bones about the various tried and tested methods he espouses"
Tony Paley, Odds On Magazine
"If someone had offered to sell me this book for £10,000 when I started backing horses it would have been a gift. Why am I giving the game away? It's quite simple, if I decided to take what I know to the grave, only the bookmakers would benefit!"
Sidney Harris
The old excuse that the racing game never came with a manual
is no longer valid!
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A Masterclass In Racing |
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Page after page of easy to understand strategy. Plus the angles to play at each individual track. The Reverse Book, Collateral Form Once Removed, The Knockout, The Dodge, Irrefutable Form, etc. etc.
Easy to understand strategy for both Flat and National Hunt Racing. |
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An overview of the main sections of the book:
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| INTRODUCTION |
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I became a professional gambler on the 26th August 1993, one day after the "Largest bookmakers in the World" decided to prohibit my betting because they thought I was winning too much money.
Since turning professional I have successfully spread my inside racing information to a syndicate of operatives who have developed into experienced and successful backers.
Throughout the years, as I have passed on racing information I have consistently explained my strategy. Many of my clients have asked me to amalgamate this strategy. I've attempted to do that here and have deliberately kept it succint. If you're looking for padding and waffle ring any 0891 number and let the Silver Lining Merchants bend your ear.
I came to racing late in life and fortunately spent only a brief apprenticeship in betting shops. I can assure you that before getting this game right you have to get it wrong. Anybody who can't admit to this, is a fool to himself and everybody he comes into contact with.
It is possible to change bad habits in gambling. But before you can even think of getting it right, you have to stop getting it wrong. If it means taking a break from racing well and good; before starting again with a clear perspective.
The most successful professional backers I know started with nothing. Although they may all go about their business quite differently, the traits they have in commmon are tenacity, resilience and a willingness to learn. They know they have to stand losses. On the first day of Cheltenham 1994. J.P. McManus, one of the biggest gamblers in the U.K. lost £200,000. He remarked tersely:
"I've had better days."
The next day he reversed his losses.
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| UNTOLD |
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If you were the connections of a horse going for a touch. Who would you tell? Would you want a tipster to advertise it in the Sporting Press as a racing certainty? I'm quite sure you wouldn't want to tell anybody, at least, not until you had placed your bet.
There are 9000 race horses owners in the U.K. Only ten percent of them make a profit from prize money. Many aren't worried about a profit, but there are a few owners who own a horse with the ultimate intention of going for a touch at a decent price. You can be sure they will not be keen on reducing the possible odds by telling the world about their forthcoming coup.
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| TALK COSTS MONEY |
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It should be quite obvious to the punter that there's much more reason for false information to surface than the real thing, as it's in the interest of both the bookmakers and the connections of a horse.
The bigger bookmakers are very pleased to lay trainers and owners bets. Once connections have their price, the bookmakers, knowing there's a trier in the race; can make it their business to shorten the odds of a different horse, to draw in punters ready and willing to bet on the wrong horse. Feeding false information to tipsters is part of the bookmaker's repertoire.
It has taken me years to build up my sources of true information. Each day I speak to every section of the Racing Community: Trainers, Jockey's, Jockey's Agents, Work Riders, Odd's Compilers and Racing Journalists. Add to this, intensive form study, and you will begin to realise how I place myself in the unique position of finding true information.
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| NEED OR GREED |
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What makes so many people get it so wrong? Why are more than 98 per cent of punters overall losers? The answer is Instant Gratification. The punter believes that if he doesn't back the next horse he fancies, it will win and he will have missed backing a winner. Regardless if his selection is based on a whim or an educated guess the punter blackmails himself not to miss what he perceives to be an opportunity to prove himself right and that the Gods are on his side. The punter continually craves the momentary high of having gained something, seemingly, for nothing; whatever the cost.
Look around any betting shop and you'll see punters playing catch up. Chasing their losses.
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| BOOKMAKERS CREATE THE PUNTERS REALITY |
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Selective betting is the only way to make money. Being selective involves the greatest discipline, and it is this discipline that seperates beleaguered betting shop punters from the astute professional.
Each day an army of punters spend over Twenty Million Pounds backing race horses. So it shouldn't be suprising that the best information about the horse most likely to win a race hasn't evaded the largest bookmakers. And you can be sure, that, if they possibly can, the bookmakers will avoid making the horse favourite.
There's nothing wrong in backing a winning favourite, but you have to remember that seventy per cent of handicap favourites lose and the favourites in non-handicaps don't fare much better.
There are few secrets in racing that are not known by the larger bookmakers.
FALSE FAVOURITES MAKE THE BOOKMAKERS REAL PROFITS
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| CHAOS UNLEASHED |
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Unraced two year olds can only be backed on information. Usually, before a punter can find, that very rare thing, an honest, objective source of true information about unraced two year olds he'll have had to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. To bet or not to bet? That is the question.
The following is a quote from Luca Cumani,
"It seems to be reporters who know best, and hype up the horses. They start writing up horses as world beaters just because they have seen them finish in front in a gallop. But I can tell you, it is difficult enough for trainers to interpret home gallops."
You will never hear a truer statement in racing, than the above.
No matter how well a horse might perform at home, take the following into account. The journey to the course could well be it's first experience of travelling in a horse box. The crowd around the paddock will in itself be an awesome experience for the animal. The noise fo the race track, including the speaker systems; will frighten highly strung thoroughbreds. And although unraced two year olds will have been training with starting stalls at home the fever pitch atmosphere of a real start, is totally different to anything it might have experienced. The unraced two year old, no matter how good, is at a disadvantage to horses, who might be inferior, but have had a run or two at the race track. However, I continually make my highest profits in what would seem the most difficult area, two year old maiden races. I manage to achieve over a fifty percent strike rate with an average price of over 7/2. It should be obvious to you that I'm not backing many short priced favourites to achieve this, and very few unraced two year olds. I take advantage of the hyped, talking horses that start at lunatic short odds to get a decent price about the horse I'm backing. The value I get is increased by the lack of value taken by those who follow the herd.
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| LUCK |
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I'm often asked where luck comes into the equation. My definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity. However, I've a suspicion that Sod's Law does exist and I avoid it as best I can.
I'll leave the final word on luck to Luca Cumani, who said,
"I don't believe in luck, only fast horses."
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| ALTERNATIVE FORM |
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The individual potential of horses to carry weight is rarely taken into account by the "experts." There are dozens of relevant factors just as important as this. I regard these factors as Alternative Form. Form is important but Alternative Form is decisive to make racing pay.
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| THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS |
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I'm often asked about staking.
Staking is about common sense. Increasing your stake to cover losses is foolhardy. Decreasing your stake because your nerve has gone after a couple of losers is pathetic.
The sequence of events cannot be beaten and has to be part of your strategy. The loser's psychology, is such, that if his horse doesn't win, his brain ceases to fuction. Losses have to be endured; provision has to be made for them before you start. Your bank has to be relative to your strike rate. When you hit winning runs you must capitalise on them. A few years ago I wrote a staking plan. The Quantum Plan. It will cost you no more than a stamped addressed envelope. It's simple to follow and engenders long term doubles, trebles and accumulators; while concentrating on single win bets.
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| FORM BOOKS ARE FILLED WITH INFORMATION |
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I have been fortunate in being able to get one step ahead of the form book. Form books don't just appear they have to be written. Race readers write form books; believe me if reading the form book is enlightening, talking on a daily basis to the man that writes it is a revelation.
The punter watches a race his eyes rivetted to the horse he has backed with little concept of what is actually happening. The punter sees this race as an entity, not as part of a greater plan. The experienced race reader is unemotionally looking for the winners of future races.
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| IT'S GOOD TO TALK |
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Every evening I discuss the day's form with my form man. He'll have watched every race of the day, and relevant races two or three times. Constantly looking for improving horses that only need to be placed in the right race with the right jockey on board. This way we're always ahead of the game.
At any given point we're waiting for dark horses that need a change of going on the right track at the correct distance to do the business. Then we verify the horse with our stable contacts, hoping to get a few negatives for the other runners in the race.
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| GETTING THE WAGES |
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Once you've found the potential winner of a race, getting the best price about a horse isn't easy.
When there is no early price available and we are at the mercy of relayed prices there is no substitute for experience in gaining the best price. A volume could be written on the machinations of the market, but my intention is to enlighten you not to bore you.
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| TAKE THE FIRST SHORTENING SHOW |
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If the horse you intend to back opens up at 3/1 then shortens to 11/4 - take the 11/4.
If the horse you intend to back opens at 3/1 then drifts to 7/2 then 4/1. Let it continue to drift and put your money on a couple of minutes before the off. Take the price at this point, as you'll note that many winners return less than the last price shown on the screen; few return more.
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| DRIFTERS |
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Don't worry if your horse starts to drift, just wait for the bigger price. The best example I have of a drifter was Java Queen in the 5.20 at Sandown on August 21st 1993. Java Queen opened at 6/1 on the SIS screens and continued to drift to 20/1. I backed the horse on my accounts (this was before the bookmakers were wise to me). The horse won in a pillar to post victory pulling the proverbial cart. To make money in this business you have to back big priced horses with big money when the opportunity arises.
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| LATERAL THINKING PAYS |
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The average punter will have a large bet on a horse that's even money and scale his bets down if the price of the horse is bigger. This is one of the biggest mistakes punters continually make. My rule is stake evenly, doubling your bet when the price is bigger than 5/1.
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| THE BIGGER THE FIELD |
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I'm always being asked how I manage to locate big priced winners in big fields. In truth it's not as difficult as it seems. My approach is to make sure that every horse in the field is checked out. In a field of twenty or so runners, I'm looking to eliminate two thirds of the field on the following criteria: trainers out of form, wrong going, wrong distance, wrong track, poor draw and a few other factors that are best not mentioned. I'm probably now looking at, what seems to some people as a difficult twenty plus runner handicap, that I've narrowed down to something like six runners. Now I ring my stable contacts about the remaining horses.
The real bonus in these races comes when the favourite and second favourite are eliminated in the first instance. This ensures a good few. 10/1 plus winners.
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| OFF COURSE COUPS |
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Attempting to have a large bet on course, especially at, price sensitive, smaller courses is a pointless excercise. Immediately you begin to put the money down the price shortens; 3/1 will become 6/4 faster than you can move to the next bookmaker. Creating your own diminishing returns makes no sense. Subsequently, the successful backer needs a team of backers placing the bet up and down the country with the larger bookmakers. This has minimal effect on shortening the price.
When I go to the track it's to meet connections and to watch races. Chasing up and down from bookmaker to bookmaker destroying prices, just because I'm a known face would be a lamentable waste of time and prove nothing.
Hopefully, I've managed to call a spade a rusty shovel. The self promotion stakes are run daily in your Sporting Newspapers, and it would be all to easy to decry advertisers who call a spade an unbreakable piece of earth moving equipment that comes with a twenty year guarantee. I'm afraid it's all par for the course and an integral part of the racing game. The more tipsters putting out the wrong horse, works in your favour (regarding price) as long as your on the right horse.
I've made my living out of horse racing for some years now. And I know that if you can supply patience and follow my strategy, you will be in a position to profit, contact me and I'll mark your card.
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| ABOUT SIDNEY HARRIS |
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Sidney Harris became interested in horse racing in his mid 40's. Prior to becoming a full time professional gambler, Sidney was involved on the Stock Market; trading in options. Although Sidney's biggest gamble netted over £300,000, the Stock Market gamble that proves his acumen was on 19/10/87. The Stock Market Crash - Black Monday, when so called "Financial Advisers" set frozen at their VDU screens losing fortunes. Sidney had a bet at midday; certain that the market would continue to free fall and that the general panic would continue. Sidney bought: 20 Nov puts for......£27,500.00, selling them 24 hours later for - £90,000.00. Since retiring from the Stock Market, Sidney has devoted his time to racing, developing the best contacts in the business.
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