One of the oldest names in the field of handicapping, Ahmed Iqbal Shaikh has been a treasure house of information as far as the sport of horse racing is concerned. He has wealth of knowledge in the field of handicapping and has been acknowledged for his skills all over India. He wants to transfer his knowledge to those who are seeking it by organizing classes during the Bangalore Summer Season.

In 1970, Shaikh discovered a method which enabled him to find out exact penalties and drops given to each and every horse after a race is run by the official handicappers. Since then he has found a way of spotting winners by critically scrutinizing official handicapping.

Way back between 1980-84 he was associated with a racing weekly " The Turfite " edited by Mr. Saleem Fazelbhoy and later Mr. Cyrus Madan wherein he published his ratings vis-a-vis official handicaps after races, every week and these had a huge fan following. This was an era that could be termed as the age of secret handicapping and only official handicappers were aware of the official ratings of horses running at a centre and subsequent to a race result. The penalty awarded were not known till the horse was entered was a race. Also it was difficult to know the relative handicap of horses. Those were the days, Shaikh was sought after by owners, trainers and racing enthusiasts who needed to know exact penalty or drop in weight awarded by the official handicappers and the relative rating of a horse in a race much before they were officially published.

All this changed around 1996 when Mr. B. Shivaprasad of BTC released the list of official ratings at the end of each race day and with it the secret was out of the bag. Ever since most of the clubs release these ratings and now knowing the exact penalty or drop in weight awarded officially is open to all.

Mr. Shaikh says that by just knowing the official ratings, penalties and drops, it is not enough to single out a few real contenders from the lot in a race or rather winner picking. One really has to understand the nuances of weight handicapping for each race. Every race is to be analyzed with a different perspective to arrive at the right conclusion. One needs to know as to how the increase or decrease in weight would impact in a given race. Similarly post reading of a race is as important to gain in depth know-how and confidence.

The good news is that he is now going to share his technique and make you a self reliant handicapper through a series of classes. Now, one can train with him and learn the official handicapping method, understand how the allotment of penalties and drops is done, know about the formation of terms and handicap races and formation of classes, learn pre-reading and post-reading of races. Also thoroughly understand the implication of handicaps i.e how the change in weight increases or and decrease the chances of a horse; how demotion and promotion in class have an impact on a race result. This is an esoteric subject, especially taking into account Indian horse racing. However, he warns that a lot of dedication and practice is the mantra to be successful in the endeavor. With his in-depth knowledge of the subject he would be a worthy person to follow for the academically inclined follower of the sport.

Shaikh proposes to impart this knowledge to individuals who are really serious and passionate. This is possible between May 13 and May 19 at Bangalore. For details contact him on phone number +919890099656.