A little flexibility can be important also. Sometimes I think I know what my big play is going to be but the public pounds the play making it not worth it. I always have some other plays ready and everyonce in a great while a horse that I think is going to go off at horrible odds becomes the play of the day. Here of course is the where most people do not trust themselves (and maybe they should not)... they start asking whats wrong with the horse, what happened to the track, did the jock get sick, Im out of the loop. That is where the confidence needs to kick in, not self doubt. And if there is no play, I just enjoy the races themselves.

I still think the biggest problem is the desire to play too many races. 'I bought the form, I spent a good piece of time capping this race, by God im going to play it' even if the reward as determined by the public, is not worth the risk I see. This is the major downfall of most horse players I have talked to. But I am still in experimental mode. Once I get some time to really study... and I must say the polytrack is really exciting because it has so many people upset.
I just gotta make a trip in the summer and check it out.

In the meantime I play small with some exceptions, and am highly entertained.
I must say that a couple of times when I had the same horse as hooves, it made me a bit more confident in my play. I really try to make my own mistakes though.