I collected data last year for six months on the blinkers off angle.
There is definitely some value to watching this angle as I think its generally over-looked. especially compared to blinkers-on.
some things i picked up, just from memory,
look for blkrs off combined with another factor like, trainer change, jockey change, drop from MSW to MCL, recent sharp work that occured after last blinkers on race, etc.
something odd that I can't explain, is that Blkrs/off seems to work best in California, mainly SA and HOL but also NoCal. On the other hand, at NY tracks its almost never a good factor.
its not something to look for in higher end races, alw or stakes, you're looking at maidens or claimers
if a horse has raced at a higher level in the not too distant past, look for blkrs off to perhaps allow a horse to get comfortable and to race back up to that higher level. on the other hand do not count on blkrs off to move a horses performance level up to a new high. In other words if it is going to take a lifetime top performance from a horse to win on a particular day, the blkrs off won't be enough. but if you see a longshot that if he could just race to a level that he was at in the last 1-2 years would be a good play, and if there are no other telltale signs of unsoundness, then you might want to throw that one in the mix.
Sometimes you can see where blkrs are added, the horses running lines go sour, and they just leave the blinkers on. After awhile if this goes on everyone just assumes the horse isn't the same anymore. When I find a horse that looks like he is being hindered, or is uncomfortable in the blinkers i put him in a watch list so i can watch entries and see when they finally might decide to take them off.
I have seen many bombs come in on this angle but in the right spots, it's not an across the board type thing.
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