Table of Contents

Online Handicapping Challenge
Belmont Stakes; June 9, 2001
Tips for the Belmont Stakes
Player Profile; Jim Hamon
Calendar
At Your Service

Think you can pick the ponies? PROVE IT! The $25,000 Brisnet.com Online Handicapping Challenge is back and better than ever! Based on customer feedback, there are now two ways to win and qualify for the $200,000 National Championship in Las Vegas. We're saving one of the two qualifying spots to the individual with the best return on investment, or highest bankroll based on $2 win wagers. There's also $1,000 cash each week to the person with the highest bankroll.

This is your opportunity to play from the comfort of home, at no charge, and qualify for Vegas. Prove what a good handicapper you are, and if you do, you will be well rewarded.

Racing's #1 website, Brisnet.com is giving away a $10,000 grand prize and $10,000 total in weekly cash prizes. Select the most winners over the 4 Saturdays or finish with the highest bankroll, and you'll be headed to the 3rd DRF National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas to compete for $200,000 in cash prizes. In the two years of this contest, Brisnet members have come home with over $150,000 in cash. Now that's domination!

The Challenge begins June 2 and runs four consecutive Saturdays through June 23. Some of the best racing in the country, such as Belmont Park, Hollywood Park, and Churchill Downs, will be included in the races offered. Online registrations are taking place now but you must register before 3 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 1 to be eligible to play all four weeks. So, please don't delay!

Visit www.brisnet.com/challenge today for more details and to sign up FREE for the Challenge. You will receive an e-mail confirmation upon signing up to participate.

In 1999 Brisnet members swept the top 3 spots in the 1st National Handicapping Championship. Here's what they had to say:

"In contests that have multiple racetracks to handicap and there's a lot of material to sift through, I find the BRIS information is helpful in allowing me to isolate the contenders." -- Steve Terelak, 2nd runner-up

"BRIS has changed the game! What I used to do by hand, I can now tap into the database at Brisnet.com." -- Maury Wolff, 1st runner-up

"If I'm real serious, if I'm in some type of tournament, I definitely use Brisnet.com. It's very valuable." -- Steve Walker, 1999 NTRA Handicapper of the Year

Table of Contents

Online Handicapping Challenge
Belmont Stakes; June 9, 2001
Tips for the Belmont Stakes
Player Profile; Jim Hamon
Calendar
At Your Service

Saturday, June 9 features the third leg of racing's Triple Crown, the 133rd running of the Belmont Stakes. Brisnet.com.com will be there with you, providing the value-added information you need to get a leg up on the competition.

With the Belmont only a week away, it's time to focus on your handicapping needs - superior information! Here's a brief look at our elite lineup of great handicapping aids:

Ultimate PPs
Two legs of the Triple Crown completed and still so many unanswered questions. Who has the pedigree to run a mile and a half? What horses have the most effective running style for the Belmont surface? Which horses can run to the Pace and Speed Pars? Only BRIS Ultimate PPs contain the answers to all these questions and much, much more. In addition to past performance lines, Ultimates contain stats for the Jockey, Trainer, Sire & Dam, and more! PPs and all handicapping reports will be available Thursday, June 7th.

Looking for a Winner in the Belmont?
Stick with Brisnet.com Selection Sheets and FREE Handicapping Software.

Brisnet.com selection sheets meet the needs of all horseplayers. If information is your game, WINNER'S CHOICE is for you. Packed with stats in a one-page format, WINNER'S CHOICE is perfect for information junkies. Looking to key in on the winner? Look no further than INSIDER PICKS & POWER PLAYS. Filled with powerful handicapping angles, including 3 Star Best Bets, INSIDER PICKS & POWER PLAYS will help you quickly identify the winner. Both of these popular selections nailed the KY Derby winner Monarchos at $23.00!

For simple, accurate selections download the SCRATCH SHEET, only $1.00.

Imagine handicapping while you sleep. Your dreams are now a reality with Brisnet.com FREE Handicapping Software. Fully programmable to interact with your personal handicapping preferences, our handicapping software gives you the control you need with the speed you desire. Download any one of our 8 handicapping packages from the FREE software page at www.brisnet.com.

Triple Crown Handicapper

People often ask me what separates the Wizard from other noted handicappers and I always say the same thing - wagering strategy. To win the war at the races you need to be skillful at both handicapping and wagering. The beauty of the Wizard is his common sense approach to handicapping coupled with his decisive wagering strategy. As evidenced in past Triple Crown events, the Wizard offers expert, detailed advice for a minimal investment.

What separates you from hitting the exacta and trifecta in the Belmont? Only $8 for the Wizard's detailed analysis & wagering strategies for the Belmont, available Thursday June 7th.

Or, for only $6 get the Wizard's Pick of the Day from Belmont Park on June 9, or his complete card coverage from Belmont. On Derby Day, the Wizard gave out Alannan, $21 to win, as his Churchill Pick of the Day. Then, he returned on Preakness Day, giving out Hap with a $664 trifecta in his Pimlico Pick of the Day sheet! The Wizard's Pick of the Day is available 7 days a week at Brisnet.com.

FREE Handicapper's Edge

For year-round coverage of racing, click on the Handicapper's Edge. Our online newsletter is often imitated but never duplicated. Updated daily, the FREE Handicapper's Edge offers breaking new items, workout information, updated pedigree information, handicapping articles and more. The Edge's Track Bandit will provide in-depth analysis of the Belmont, Friday, June 8th. Don't miss his Belmont analysis.

New York Bound?

Anytime you are away from your computer, BRIS can still accommodate your handicapping needs. Call 1-800-354-9206 for our fax or overnight mail service.

To access these products follow the Brisnet.com links below:

FREE Handicapping Software,
Selections, Programs, & PPs,
FREE Handicapper's Edge

Table of Contents

Online Handicapping Challenge
Belmont Stakes; June 9, 2001
Tips for the Belmont Stakes
Player Profile; Jim Hamon
Calendar
At Your Service

The third leg of the Triple Crown is truly the Test of Champions, as Belmont Park has billed it as for years. Few horses can withstand the rigors of the entire Triple Crown and offer one last strong punch at one and a half miles. Ever fewer horses are capable of going the 12 furlongs period. For that reason, pedigree is a major factor here as it is in the Kentucky Derby.

Handicappers are advised to look for stamina, preferably on both sides of the horse's pedigree. The AWD, which is the average winning distance of the sire's progeny in furlongs, is a good indication of stamina and can be found in numerous BRIS Reports, e.g. Ultimate PPs. The higher the AWD, the more stamina the sire passes on to his offspring. AWDs are provided for both the sire and the broodmare sire of each runner.

Tactical speed has proven to be vital in the Belmont S., so it is imperative to utilize BRIS Pace Ratings and running style information to determine the likely pace scenario. Plodders or Sustained Closers (S) do not fare well in this race. Narrow the contenders down based on their ability to stay within striking distance of the leaders throughout the race. You would have to go back a long ways to find a winner who was not first, second or third at the top of the stretch in the Belmont.

Listen to what the greatest Belmont Stakes trainer of all time, Woody Stephens, had to say about the race he won an amazing five consecutive years. "It's not just stamina that wins the Belmont. You have to have a fit horse who has speed...A horse with speed doesn't have to be on the lead. You can use speed anywhere in a race. I used to take horses coming off sprints, run them long and take back with them... I love speed, and that's why I loved Conquistador Cielo coming into the Belmont off the Met Mile."

As you would with handicapping most races, demand that the runner owns competitive BRIS Speed and Class Ratings. Surprisingly, value can often be found among horses with good figs and proven ability against Grade 1 competition.

Look for a horse that enters off a good performance. Both the Preakness Stakes and the Peter Pan are key preps for the Belmont. You want a runner that was finishing well in either event. Play against any Kentucky Derby starter who did not start between May 5 and June 9. Why? Only one horse, Commendable last year, has ever won the Belmont without a start since the Derby. Many have tried and failed. It seems every year a highly regarded horse tries the Derby to Belmont route, and every year they lose at fairly short odds.

Finally, don't miss a single daily issue of the FREE Handicapper's Edge newsletter. You'll get all the latest workout information, trainer quotes, contender profiles and more. If there is one daily publication you should read, this is it! Best of luck.

Table of Contents

Online Handicapping Challenge
Belmont Stakes; June 9, 2001
Tips for the Belmont Stakes
Player Profile; Jim Hamon
Calendar
At Your Service

Player Profile

This month we are profiling James Hamon, who captured the Brisnet.com Online Handicapping Challenge last Fall.

Q. Jim, what got you into handicapping the horses?
JH: I first started going the races in 1977 when I was attending the University of Kentucky and would play as much as a student could. Walking away from the track with money in my pockets a couple of times early on peaked my interest in the game. I went to work in Shreveport, Louisiana upon graduation and with Louisiana Downs only fifteen minutes from where I was staying, I made it there as soon as I got my first paycheck. I remember most of the horses I initially bet were speedballs and I had a slight grasp of class. Jockeys I followed back then were R. Romero, P. Day, L. Snyder and S. Maple. Frank Brothers was just starting up then I believe. My job was six months of hands-on training, on call to go out in the oil field. My boss liked the races and started keeping me in the office looking at the races. Within two weeks I was transferred to Magnolia, Arkansas. Best thing that could have happened to me. I liked the town better, I was able to learn my job and still go to the races in Bossier City on some weekends. From there my interest seemed to just grow with time. Horseracing is a lot like golf, if you hit a good one...you'll come back because you want to do it again.

Q. How often do you bet the horses, and how many wagers per day will you make?
JH: It can be as much as every day depending on the other things I have to do but usually three days a week. If you count tri keys or boxes as multiple bets, the amount of wagers on a weekend day could be over a hundred different trifecta combinations alone. As far as win or win/place wagers on a good day, maybe five that I might be serious about.

Q. Do you focus your wagers on certain racetracks or do you instead look for horses that meet your criteria?
JH: I guess a little of both. Horse racing is somewhat nomadic and when they leave a race meet and go in all directions or ship for a race you are forced to look at multiple tracks to take advantage of horses on your "watch for next out" list. With all of the simulcast and internet wagering opportunities, it is fun to play race cards on big stakes weekends, when the pools are so inflated.

Q. What is your favorite handicapping angle?
JH: The five-day horse has done well in the past. A horse that has run within the last five days with a previous bad showing, being more or less a public workout in company of horses, will get my money almost every time. Especially if the PPs prior to the last race are competitive with others in today's race. The opportunity doesn't present itself often and the payouts aren't frequent but often are large when they hit. I like this particularly with trainers that you wouldn't expect showing up in three to five days with the same horse at a lower level.

Q. Which types of races are you best at handicapping?
JH: That's a tough question to answer. I should keep records of that, it would only help on the ROI but I play for fun and try to squeeze racing in as much as possible. Thanks for asking the question, I will start looking at that. I would guess maiden and maiden claiming at distances from 5f to 9f. I do believe the longer the race, (above 9f) the better the chance that it will become more of a jockey's race than a horse race.

Q. What BRIS value-added information do you find most helpful in your handicapping?
JH: By far the trainer stats. Paying attention to trainers is key to this game. Trainer angle percentages when the sample size is sufficient has helped me a great deal. A good example is the last race at Churchill Downs on May 11th. A filly named Jordy Girl was a first time starter trained by Bernie Flint, who had won with over 70 of 265 maiden claiming starters. That's information that tells me he knows how to get a horse ready and where to place it. Mr. Flint had pluses (+) all down the stats and was two for two with the bug boy riding that day. Before this information became available, I probably would have looked at the slow workouts and the break in posted workouts from March to April and passed on her. However, a $20 win mutual on top of a $382 trifecta was the result as the filly drew off in her debut.

Q. Tell us about some of your biggest scores!
JH: My biggest ticket was a superfecta at the FG the week before the Las Vegas National Championship. I got home from work and fired up my computer and got the BRIS Ultimate PPs for Gulfstream and Fairgrounds. I bet the feature at Gulfstream and hit a small win wager and shifted to Fairgrounds where I lost their feature. But the last race had a horse named Me And Thee that figured far and above the rest to me, and I was getting Elliot Walden and Larry Melancon at 7-1 coming out of the eleven hole at a route. I watched the post parade on TRN and when he came out, he was doing the "rocking horse" thing. I immediately jumped on the wager pad and played the horse straight up, in a dollar tri key with four other horses and a dollar super key with my horse over two, over three and over four for eight dollars. I watched the race and knew I had the tri but had to look at my wagers to verify the super. It paid $10,200 plus for a dollar.

Last spring during the fifth week of a six week contest, I was about four hundred up for the contest and had met my wagering obligation so I considered calling it over at the end of Saturday. I had run people away from my door for the past four weeks and knew they all thought I was a hopeless gambler. (In a sense they are right but I play hard when I'm playing on them). The track that day was Sportsman's and I found a race I liked and played a horse I liked straight up and with three others in a tri key. My horses were 5-2 (key), 5-1, 30-1 and 70-1 on the final odds flash. There was a horse that was a 8-1 morning line getting heavy play and was 3-2 towards race time. I thought I better get a saver and played it over three then four and four. The 3-2 won like her odds suggested and the 5-1 was in a photo with the 70-1 and won that photo. No trifecta bet like this for me, only the super for $18. As they ran down the lane the horse I keyed was competitive but was fading badly and I saw another set of legs come flying and knew my horse was beat. I was beside myself until they announced the fourth place finisher and it was the 30-1 shot (only name I remember, Ali Shahs Lil Girl) so I hit the super for $2,600. I picked up my approach to the contest and bet the required amount for the week and only $20 the next week. The super caused me to win first place in ROI for the contest and gave me fourth money in total net winnings.

Q. Now that there are two ways to win the $25,000 Brisnet Online Handicapping Challenge, how will that affect your strategy in playing the contest?
JH: It won't change, I had two forty dollar horses in the last one and two or three others in the eighteen to twenty dollar range, so I'll play the same. I download PPs before they have a morning line. If I am lucky enough to be in the running again but far back in wins that may change [my strategy] but for now I'm ready.

Q. If you could change one thing in racing that would best help handicappers, what would it be?
JH: I would let anybody that wanted to make a wager on a particular track and do that via any legal service available. This would also allow phone or Internet wagering to all states in the U.S. I don't think the tracks and some states understand that when they say no, some people will take their money to a bookie or offshore account. As it is now I have a multiple phone wagering accounts. I would prefer to have one account as it is inconvenient to have to keep track of multiple accounts but I don't see any relief in sight.

Thanks, Jim and best of luck again in the $25,000 Brisnet Online Handicapping Challenge.

Enter the Challenge today!! Click Here!

Table of Contents

Online Handicapping Challenge
Belmont Stakes; June 9, 2001
Tips for the Belmont Stakes
Player Profile; Jim Hamon
Calendar
At Your Service

June 2001 Racing Calendar

[Click Here] - Updated on the 1^st of every month

BRIS - At Your Service

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