Thoroughbred, Harness and Greyhound Handicapping Software
Handicapping software inclusing horse racing handicapping to help predict winners, is available from many sources. There are several commercial horse software companies touting their wares with many types of systems available from as low as $50 to up to and over $1000. But, there's also an alternative way to get into horse racing handicapping using your computer. Consider trying a few of the shareware horse handicapping programs available for as low as one dollar a disk. And there are several programs for thoroughbred and harness handicapping. You'll find these software gems at your local computer shows and ham radio swap meets, where several venders will display their lists of shareware disks, and all you have to do is find the ones on horse racing.
(Almost) Free Computer Handicapping Software
Quick Thoroughbred Handicapping System or Quick Greyhound Handicapping Software $9.95. The Advanced Thoroughbred Software and Advanced Greyhound Handicapping Software are just $29.95 Software Exchange LLC: http://sportssoft.net
Another source for shareware is by mail order. There are many companies selling strictly shareware, supporting the IBM and compatible and the Macintosh computers. You'll find their advertisements usually in the back pages of popular personal computer magazines. Call for their catalog, and you'll usually receive a disk on their wares.
But the best way to find some of these horse handicapping systems is to search the Internet shareware sites before looking for them at your local computer shows or swap meets, or trying the mail order shareware companies. Since it won't cost you a cent to download any of the software here on the Internet, this is the best starting point.
Quick Thoroughbred Handicapping Software
Quick Greyhound Handicapping Software
Now, if you like what you've downloaded, it's your obligation to pay the author the registration fee required if you decide to use the software. Shareware is not free. It's free to try, but if you find a use for it, you're obligated to pay the author for his or her work. A typical registration free for shareware use is from $5 to $50. Often, registration of the software gets you a printed manual and the latest version. Sometimes the shareware version is limited, and sending in your registration fee will get you the software with more features. So, if you like what you've tried, it's to your advantage to register the software.
Just to see what's out there, I tried a few searches on the Internet. My first search was using WebCrawler for FTP Web sites that might have something on horse racing. I searched on the words "shareware horse" and came up with 47 documents matching my request. I found JQL Horse Form Lite, a horse racing prediction program for Windows from Springsoft Software.
Another way to find FTP shareware sites is to do a Gopher search. I did a Veronica search and found thousands of documents on shareware. At first, I tried searching on "shareware horse" and then "shareware horse racing" only to find a few documents, but no software. So, then I searched on the term "shareware." There are lots of shareware depositories where you'll find programs like the Cambridge Thoroughbred Handicapper and the Harness Handicapper. There's also one called Doodah for thoroughbred and harness racing, and Horsey. You'll have to browse through their directories under the categories of "sports" or "gambling" to find what you're looking for.
And finally, if you spend a lot of time on CompuServe, you can search their shareware forums for horse racing software. I've seen five or six programs on several different forums, free to download. Your cost is only the online-time usage, which is minimal.--Howard Berenbon
