Most players are at a loss when it comes to watching horses, either at the track, or on a monitor at a satellite wagering facility, and truly understanding what they're seeing. I willingly admit that this is the weakest part of my own handicapping. 

On a trip to California several years before she died, I was fortunate enough to accompany Bonnie Ledbetter one absolutely miserable, rainy, cold winter afternoon at Santa Anita. She was incredible. She pointed out good and bad ankles, legs, muscling, and to me, the easiest of the nuances of body language to master, overall disposition. 

What has worked best and most consistently for me is to observe the horses in races for two-year-olds and maidens, specifically, fields loaded with first-time starters and/or horses with only a couple of races in their records. 

I find it easier to assess the disposition of these horses than their older counterparts, perhaps because the signals that a horse sends that say "I don't want to be here!" are more blatantly obvious than with their older counterparts. 

Recently, two friends badgered me into taking in the last race at Del Mar via local OTB, although I had little interest in that day's card and none whatsoever in the 5 1/2 furlong maiden claiming race for 3 & up that closed it. Scrounging a discarded Daily Racing Form, I tried to handicap the dreadful field, and could not find any likely contenders, other than the public favorite, the only horse in the race with any early speed at all. 

Then I thought, "Watch 'em." And I did. From as much of the paddock as the Del Mar video crew showed, through the post parade, and into the pre-race warmups. Most of the horses appeared to be dragging their feet; heads down, not interested in what was happening around them. 

The 8-5 favorite appeared to be the only one who had any life at all, although he was certainly not snorting fire and ready to demolish the field. And only two others, one of which was a first-time lasix user and a first-time starter to boot, looked like they had any energy at all. At least they were were picking their feet up and noticing what was going on around them.

I advised my friends that the smartest thing we could do, since they insisted on betting one race, and this was all we had, was to use the favorite as a key over the other two in an exacta. 

The favorite led wire-to-wire to win, and to my pleasant surprise, the other two ran second and third! The first-time lasix first starter ran second at 35-1, and we split a $92 payoff. 

Then, the next afternoon, while attending the simulcast of Del Mar alone, I was presented with an almost identical race. Using the same approach, I hit again, with the exacta returning $32. 

I am certainly no expert on the body language of horses. But I do believe that using a little common sense and paying attention to what your eyes tell you about the horses in the types of races I describe here will help to sharpen your visual skills and provide occasional plays on otherwise unbettable races. 

With the imminent arrival of races carded for 2-year-olds at racetracks across North America, now's a good time to start watching how they look in those races that have very little information available in print. You might be as surprised--and lucky--as I was at Del Mar.