Capper's Corner

Welcome to Cappers Corner…a blog dedicated to horse racing handicapping strategy, advice, tips, and picks.

In November 2009, I was a victim of corporate downsizing and the spiraling economy and was let go from a global systems integrator. It was not unexpected and in a way it was a good thing for me as I was feeling burned out. Knowing that IT jobs are tough to come by these days, particularly between thanksgiving and new years, I decided to pick up my job search early in 2010 and spend some time re-charging the battery. In the interim, I have decided to pursue a life long hobby more seriously and have re-dedicated myself to handicapping the ponies. I plan to fuse this endeavor with another untapped passion of mine over the years – writing. 

As a matter of introduction, my name is Bob White – also known as whitey and toolboy. I grew up in the shadows of philadelphia park and started capping horses at the age of 15 when my dad Jim, started taking me to the track. Jimmy wan’t the greatest capper but one of the greatest things he ever did was introduce me to the game, for which, I am forever grateful. I worked a few winter breaks at Philly Park mopping floors and sweeping up losing tickets. I capped the races on breaks and had a handful of clients (aka degenerates who couldn’t pick a horse to save their life and were turning to me for help) who wanted my picks because they thought they were getting inside info, when in reality all they were getting were picks from a wanna be capper who happened to get on a nice roll by just watching races, and reading between the form lines. I went on to graduate college and have spent the last 20 years in the corpoarte world. But, horse racing has remained a side hobby, hitting the local OTB on occassion and sharing my derby and breeders cup picks with friends and family. I have also visited many tracks around the country including Saratoga, santa anita, gulfstream, arlington, and local tracks in the mid atlantic region (Philly, Delaware, pimlico, and monmouth). I have been to several breeders cups as well.

As far as my overall philosophy on wagering and handicapping…I guess I have always considered myself a recreational capper who used the ponies as an outlet to escape reality. I can’t really say if I am ahead or behind because I have never kept adequate records. But, suffuce to say I have held my own in a sport where most people lose (due to the ridiculous takeout). In fact, I would say that 95 to 98% of all people that play the races everyday are losers over time. I aspire to the theory that you can beat a race but you can’t beat the races, and if you pick and choose your spots wisely, play only strong plays or locks, look for value, and wager smartly, you can rake in enormous profits. Over the next few months I will look to prove this theory and I will be blogging along the way, taking the reader on an unparalled journey into the greatest game ever, and providing insight, perspective and picks to crush the ponies.

Over the last several weeks, I have scoured the internet for handicapping articles, dusted off old capping books on the shelf, learned and implemented trip handicapping, and have built a stable of horses to watch and wager. From my initial experiences to date, with some trial and error,  I believe I have come up with a winning strategy for playing the ponies. Preliminary results over this trial period have been encouraging as evidenced by hitting 3 pick 4’s in one day, and come January 1, the whitey capping experiment – including cappers corner – will be up and running.

Specifically, my goals for the first 3 months of 2010 are as follows:

-To supplement my income while unemployed (goals forthcoming)

– To become a better handicapper

– To share my picks and lessons learned with others

I have already started to compile a list of tips, handicapping angles, strategy and lessons learned, which I look forward to sharing in coming posts.

In addition, I will be sharing some thoughts on the sport itself, some of the legends, and most memorable races. So, even if you are not a capping fool, I think you will enjoy some of my stories and perspectives.

Overall, I am looking forward to the blogging experience, and welcome comments along the way from the reader commuinity.

Whitey