How important are trainers when betting horses?

A trainer is not as important as a horse, but a talented conditioner will ensure that the runners entrusted to them put forth their best effort every time they race.

Good trainers take their time with young runners that need it and enter them where they can win. Poor trainers can almost be guaranteed to work their horses too fast or enter them in races where they will have low chances of success.

In addition to looking at basics like a trainer’s win record, it pays to know their proclivities, as even poor barns may have one or two tricks that they go to when they are desperate for a win.

Here are just a few examples of the sort of information you can look at: Does a trainer excel at routes or sprints? What jockeys does he or she use and in what situations? What workout patterns are typical when preparing a horse to race and does the barn succeed regularly with comeback runners? Do the addition or subtraction of blinkers or changes in distance or surface telegraph intent?

You can also bet on jockeys online at Twinspires or Amwager.