Total Victory at the Track

Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: This book is one of the classics. It is one of the best books on handicapping ever written. I have read every book there is on the sport. I have studied it since 1995. If this book isn't in your library and you are a horseplayer, then you are obviously just a lightweight that doesn't know beans from applebutter.

Rating:
Summary: Solid handicapping marred by glaring errors
Review: William L. Scott, Total Victory at the Track (Amicus, 1988)

The late Scott concludes his handicapping trilogy with Total Victory at the Track, a book that both builds on his two earlier works (Investing at the Racetrack and How Will Your Horse Run Today?) and introduces another concept that ties them together. While Scott's work isn't bad, and the foundations upon which it lays are solid enough, there are some blunders in here that a novice wouldn't make. Whether to blame Scott or his editors is an arguable point, but the effect is the same; a novice coming into this book is going to pick up some bad information indirectly. My advice: buy this book if you're experienced enough at horseplaying to know how to read the Daily Racing Form's past performances and result charts, and be on the lookout for the errors. They are everywhere.

That said, the methods outlined here are certainly solid ones, as the workout in the back of the book shows (I'm doing my own testing on it, since these things seem to change on an almost daily basis in the horse biz), and while Scott isn't promising rose gardens, nor enough money to buy the land and plant the roses, it would seem that what he offers is at least enough to turn losers into break-even types or winners, if they're willing to do a little work to get there. It just seems that the path might be a little easier to follow without the glaring Daily Racing Form-related errors that pepper the text. ** 1/2