1. past performances. look at the horse's past races. compare races to see if the horse is improving from race to race or if the horse is inconsisant. also, check to see if a new equipment is added to a horse (such as blinkers or shadowrolls) sometimes, it will improve/hinder a horse's performance. see if the horse is running longer or shorter than it usually does.\n2. look at the horse's physically features. look at their gait before the jockey mounts. look at the horse's body language and see if the horse WANTS to race. but then again, a horse that is bouncing all over the place usually won't do well in med/long distance races. \n3. for horses that are new in racing: pedigree, dosage, trainer. check the sire & dam & the trainer. some trainers just have knack of training good 2 year olds and other trainers are good at the fillies.\n4. check the morning line odds. the favorite is at lowest odds for a reason. ;)\n5. if all else fails.... throw darts at the program. :P