A player who is a good handicapper can maintain, over prolonged periods, an average of 40% winning bets. And, while doing this, he can maintain an average price on winners of 2/1, $6 mutuel, if he is not afraid to wager on a horse that he likes for definite reasons even though none of the selectors picks the animal which goes to post at five, ten or even twenty to one. It is the occasional good-priced winner secured by a player strictly on his own that will compensate for the short prices he is often forced to accept on favorites.