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Hank Moreland · Retired Kentucky trainer Everything the Barn Knows
Forty years on the backside, in one book

The grandstand sees the numbers. The barn sees the horse.

I'm Hank. I rode races until the scale retired me, then trained Thoroughbreds for forty years with a barn at Churchill Downs and Keeneland. This book is what we knew on the backside and the bettors never did: how to read a horse, a past performance and a trainer's intent, and what the tote takes before you ever cash a ticket.

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Everything the Barn Knows and the Bettor Doesn't, by Hank Moreland
I. The problem

You bet a horse at 5-2, and it pays like 6-5.

The odds dropped after the gate opened, and there was nothing you could do. You hit the trifecta and it paid less than you spent. You stared at the Racing Form until the numbers swam, threw out a horse with ugly figures, and watched it win by four.

That horse wasn't a surprise to its barn. On the backside we knew which horses were ready, which were being given a race, and which were for sale. The past performances hold some of that, if you know where to look. The paddock holds more. Nobody ever showed the grandstand how to read either.

"That board ain't the track's opinion. It's the crowd's opinion, with the track's hand in their pocket."
II. What's inside

41 chapters. Six parts. From the tote board to the shedrow.

Every chapter has a story from the barn, the facts, a worked example with real numbers, what to do, and what the barn knows that the grandstand doesn't. Takeout rates, rules and cases come from the tracks, the state rules, HISA and the court records.

Part 1 · How the money works (7 chapters)

The pari-mutuel pool, takeout at the major tracks, breakage and minus pools, the odds that drop after the bell, the morning line, favorites, and win, place and show.

Part 2 · Reading the past performances (11 chapters)

The PP line left to right, speed figures and what they leave out, pace, class, claiming races, distance and surface switches, workouts, layoffs and the form cycle, jockeys, trouble lines and replays, first-time starters.

Part 3 · Trainer intent (6 chapters)

What a trainer wants on any given day, the drop that means "for sale" and the drop that means "today", equipment and Lasix, seven signs a horse isn't ready, the business behind entries, medication and HISA.

Part 4 · Reading the horse (4 chapters)

What I looked at in the paddock for forty years, the post parade and warm-up, track conditions and bias, scratches and late changes.

Part 5 · Exotics and the big days (7 chapters)

Exactas, trifectas and superfectas, the horizontals, building a ticket you can afford, the Kentucky Derby, the Breeders' Cup and the Triple Crown trail. No picks: the questions to ask about every horse.

Part 6 · The bettor's side (6 chapters) and appendices

The computer betting teams and what you can do, bankroll, records and the new tax rules, touts and systems, famous cases, the legends, and when it stops being fun. At the back: takeout tables, PP codes, a glossary and where to get help.

III. What this book isn't

No picks. No system. No promise that you'll win.

The track takes its cut out of every pool before a horse leaves the gate, and most horseplayers lose over time. I won't pretend otherwise. What this book does is show you where your money goes, and how to read the horse and the people behind it, so you stop betting blind.

How it usually goes
  • Bet the top speed figure
  • Box five horses in the trifecta
  • Trust the morning line
  • Bet every race on the card
What this book shows you
  • How every figure was earned, and what it hides
  • How to build a ticket around your opinions
  • Why each horse is in the race today
  • What the horse is telling you before the gate
IV. Who wrote it

A Kentucky horseman with forty years on the backside.

I sat on my first racehorse at fourteen and rode races until I outgrew the scale. Then I picked up a pitchfork and learned the other end of the business. For forty years I trained Thoroughbreds at Churchill Downs and Keeneland: claimers, maidens, allowance horses and a few good stakes horses. I've been at the rail with a stopwatch at four in the morning more days than I can count.

I'm too old to be keeping secrets. So here they are.

V. The book

Pay once. Every future update is yours.

$49.99$27

$49.99 is the regular price. $27 is the launch price, while the book grows.

  • 41 chapters in six parts, plus four appendices
  • 199-page PDF and an EPUB, with a photograph for every chapter
  • Delivered by email right after payment
  • No copy protection, on all your devices
  • Pay once. No subscription.
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VI. Questions

Before you ask

Is this a picks service?

No. There's not a single pick in it. It's a book about how the game works: the pools, the past performances, the trainers, the horse itself and your own betting.

Will it make me a winner?

Nobody honest can promise that. What it will do is show you what the takeout costs you, how to read past performances and trainer intent, and how to look at a horse before you bet it. That means betting with your eyes open, and fewer bad bets.

I only bet the Derby and the Breeders' Cup. Is it for me?

Yes. There are chapters on both, on the Triple Crown trail, and on exotics, which is where most big-day money goes wrong.

Is it about American racing?

Yes. Pari-mutuel pools, American takeout, past performances, claiming rules and HISA. Racing in Britain and elsewhere works differently.

What format is it?

A PDF laid out like a printed book, and an EPUB for e-readers, tablets and phones. Both arrive by email right after payment, without copy protection.

What if I don't like it?

Write to me through the contact link on the purchase page and we'll sort it out.