Most punters spend at least 10 times as long looking at the form pre-race compared to after the race.

Before the race they're quite prepared to spend 10 minutes doing the form on every runner to work out their bets.

But then once the race has been run most punters spend between 0 and 60 seconds taking a look at the form after the fact.

But this strong bias towards spending time on the pre-race analysis doesn't make a lot of sense when you have a good think about. OK you can't get any bets on after the fact, but you can still learn a lot by asking yourself any number of questions.

Did I back a horse with a poor winning strike rate?
What was the pace of the race like? Did it suit the on-pace horses or the backmarkers?
Did the winner come out of what now looks like a very strong form race?
Did the placegetters 'frank the form' from a race where other runners are appearing later today?
Is there any noticeable track bias today?
Did a fancied runner have every chance and yet still perform poorly? And if so, why?
Were there any horses that should go straight into your blackbook?
Which jockeys are in form and riding well?
Which trainers have their stable firing right now?
Did I bet on the race just because I didn't want to miss a potential winner?

Rather than the 10:1 (or higher) ratio of pre-race to post-race analysis unwittingly employed by most punters, try to get into the habit of a 1:1 ratio instead. If you spend 10 minutes doing the form and analysing the winning chances before the race, spend the same amount of time after the race looking at which horses ran well and why. I think you'd be surprised how much you'll learn.

And the most successful people I know have an unquenchable thirst for information. Our senior form analyst helps advise a leading trainer on suitable races and race plans for his horses. And do you know what our analyst gets in return? Knowledge. The deal is that every time the trainer calls in he has to teach Ed one new fact about horses. It might be about gear changes, or conformation and what makes a stayer versus a sprinter, or it might be about pedigree, or really it might be about anything at all that is horse-related. But it means that every time Ed speaks to this trainer he learns something new and quite possible something that isn't widely known.

And all of this information, just like post-race analysis, helps achieve our goal of long term punting profits.