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Horseracing Betting: Top five trainers who beat the handicappers

Wayne Bailey picks the trainers who beat the handicappers and provide plenty of profit along the way.

What is it about British and Irish TV audiences? We just can't get enough of those "list" programmes.

You know the sort I mean. A crowd of Z list 'celebrities' provide their musings, as the presenter counts down the top ten greatest goals, the top 50 soap moments, the 100 greatest power ballads.

Not to be outdone by Rupert Murdoch, I thought I'd count down the top trainers who beat the handicapper year in, year out.

However, instead of paying money to BSKYB for the pleasure, you actually have a chance of making some dough here.

I'd love to do a top 20 list of trainers that beat the handicapper, but the Ed has enough work on his hands, so I've narrowed it down to five!

Handicaps are probably the most difficult type of race for the novice punter to get their head around. For the complete beginner who may be reading this, here are handicaps races explained, courtesy of a site I co-own:

"After a horse has ran a number of times, it is given an official rating (often referred to as the OR). This is simply a numerical value of how good the horse is, determined by a team of 'handicappers'. In theory, the higher the official rating, the better the horse. Every time the horse runs (no matter what type of race it is) its performance is assessed and the official rating may go up or down depending on how good or bad they ran.

In handicap races, the theory is that every horse should have an equal chance at winning. To make sure this is the case, the better horses will carry more physical weight (lead placed in the saddle) to ensure that the lesser horses also have a chance. The amount of physical weight a horse carries is determined by his official rating. The horse with the highest official rating is considered the best horse; therefore he will carry the most weight (often referred to as the topweight horse), while the horse with the lowest official rating will carry the least amount of physical weight during the race. Obviously, the actual weight of the jockey is factored in when working out the weight to be carried."

Of course, some trainers are able to 'find the right races' for their horses, whereby they know their horse has a better chance than the handicappers seem to think.

Some say it's dubious practice, some call it good tactics, but the fact remains - some are better than others at finding the handicap races that give them the best chance of winning.

I've had a look at every handicap race since 2003 in order to sort the men from the boys. So then, in my best 'Top Of The Pops' voice:

In number five - Chris Wall

C.F. Wall is based at Racing HQ (Newmarket) and while you may be waiting a while for a winner, when he lands one it's usually at a big price which makes up for any losers along the way. His record in handicaps reads:

Bets: 689
Wins: 208
Strike rate: 15.03%
Profit to £10 stakes: £1,172.90

In number four - Nick Williams

Williams has helped himself to plenty of handicap prize money down through the years:

Bets: 259
Wins: 51
Strike rate: 19.96%
Profit to £10 stakes: £1,406.60

In number three - Tom Dascombe

Tom is relatively new to the training game, but he's certainly not looking green, and is putting his years as a stable lad and then jockey to good use:

Bets: 149
Wins: 31
Strike rate: 20.81
Profit to £10 stakes: £723.20

In number two - Tim Vaughan

Vaughan is also new to the training game, but he's been around horses all his life, and knows a handicap 'good thing' when he sees it:

Bets: 69
Wins: 18
Strike rate: 26.09%
Profit to £10 stakes: £537.90

And finally... In number one, the legendary Sir Mark Prescott

Prescott should need no introduction here, and he's been training horses since 1970. With a strike-rate of over 30%, his handicap exploits have become both controversial and infamous:

Bets: 689
Wins: 208
Strike rate: 30.19%
Profit to £10 stakes: £515.70

As usual, we welcome your thoughts, comments, suggestions and tips - so feel free to make a post below. Alternatively, you can email me at waynebaileyracing@gmail.com if you prefer a private response.