Casual bettors who go to the horse track will put their money on any old nag that catches their fancy. Maybe the horse has a catchy name or they’ve heard of the jockey somewhere. Regardless, they don’t implement a smart system that leads to success. If you want to start betting on horses like a pro, then you need to know a few secrets.

The favorite’s chances of winning usually fall between 30 and 40 percent. Depending on how much money you stand to win, those might sound like great odds. Notice, however, that you have a better chance of calling a coin flip.

The real problem is that the favorite usually has [...]