Greyhound Handicapping: An Early Speed Method

While every greyhound handicapper has a different opinion, most consider early speed a factor in picking winners. There are many ways to find early speed, including complicated calculations and computer software programs.

I’ve actually seen people stand at the first turn to clock first to turn times in every race. Me, I don’t have that much time or dedication to give to it, so I do it the lazy way. It’s simple, fast and you can do it with a pencil and your program.

Simply look at the break and 1/8th calls – they’re the numbers usually after the dog’s weight and post position in the program. For instance, if the dog is in the 1 box, the calls will start with 2 – the post position – and then go to the break call – where the dog was when the boxes opened. The next number after the break call is the 1/8th call – the position the dog was in relative to the other dogs when they passed the 1/8th pole.

Dogs with early speed will have low number for those two calls. So, if you add up those two numbers for each dog, you’ll be able to see which dogs have the best early speed. Just look for the dogs with the lowest numbers.

Some people get fancy and divide the sum of the two calls by the number of races to get the average early speed numbers. Some separate the two columns, because they want to see what type of early speed the dog has. Does is break fast and also get to the 1/8th call fast?

Or does it break fast, then fade? Or, and this is one kind of early speed, does it get out more slowly, but then gain speed quickly so that it’s ahead or close to the lead at the 1/8th call? This can all be figured out by adding those columns.

It takes minutes for each race and, if you use early speed in your handicapping, can make you money. Just remember that early speed isn’t everything. Use it along with the other factors of basic greyhound handicapping and see if it makes a difference in your bank account.