Adapting Horse Wagering Strategies for Efficient Markets

Key Quotes

"I'll definitely be involved... it's a little trickier I would say just getting a line on some of the foreign horses coming in but it's not a lot of them a lot of them have come before or have run against somebody who's come before so I can sort of cross reference those figures and trip set up my database and get a line on on the new ones."

Sean Boarman explains his approach to handicapping international races, such as the HKIR. Boarman indicates that he uses past performance data and cross-referencing to establish a baseline for evaluating foreign competitors, making the process less challenging than it might initially appear.

"I'll look at like pick threes and I'll look at the six up just stuff I can put in ahead of time and then any you know any sort of win bet that that I think is interesting I can put some conditional you know some conditions on it so that I know I'm going to get the price I want so I'll I'll just do stuff like that."

Sean Boarman outlines his strategy for betting on races that occur overnight, particularly when he cannot stay up to watch them live. Boarman prioritizes bets that can be placed in advance, such as Pick Threes and the "six up" (a type of jackpot wager), and uses conditional orders for win bets to secure desired prices.

"To me it allows me to just go ahead and just stone single horses that I really like right right you know because if you're you know if you're right you should be first or second and if you're not you just weren't right about that opinion so to me there's no there's no real point in spreading out just to get that place part."

Sean Boarman discusses his strategy for playing the "six up" wager, emphasizing the value of the consolation prize for finishing first or second. Boarman believes this structure allows him to confidently select single horses he strongly favors, as the consolation bet provides a safety net even if his top picks do not win outright.

"The problem isn't the c a ws themselves the problem is how they're dealt with and the problem is the tote system right they are not doing anything illegal they're not past posting they're not canceling bets they're just taking advantage of this system that's put in front of them do they get advantages for for being high volume players absolutely and that's probably the biggest problem is that you know you don't get the advantages that they get."

Sean Boarman addresses the issue of Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) systems in horse racing. Boarman argues that the core problem lies not with the CAWs themselves, but with the existing tote system and the advantages high-volume players receive. He suggests that CAWs are simply exploiting the current structure rather than engaging in illicit activities.

"It's essentially taking your final time figure and adjusting it based on other factors you know like trip and bias jockey upgrade downgrade weight carried sometimes you know sometimes I'll even throw like an extra half length on a horse that you know is just is just going to get like a really good trip today."

Sean Boarman defines his concept of "ability figures" in handicapping. Boarman explains that these figures are derived from a horse's final time, with adjustments made for elements such as race trip, track bias, jockey changes, and weight carried, aiming to project a horse's likely performance on a given day.