Winners Win Races
Seven weeks into the meet, Steve Zacks runs some Gulfstream stats and finds recent wins matter:
Winners win races! Be they trainers, jockeys or the horses themselves. A recent win is an important factor to take into consideration in handicapping. After eliminating the races for maidens, 249 races for winners have been offered. Of those winners, 183 had won at least one of their previous five starts, and 59 were repeating a last-out victory. From the 59 repeaters, 24 had won at least one other race in their last five.
Zacks doesn’t provide the total number of starters who won last out, but it’s probably safe to assume the percentage is lower than the 23% of winners who won last out.
